Tim Norton

A classic late bloomer, Norton didn't even start playing baseball until eighth grade and garnered little attention out of high school, so he spent a year honing his game at Suffield (Conn.) Academy, a prep school. Norton joined the Huskies as a walk-on and was finally rewarded with a full scholarship after emerging in the second half of his junior season in 2005, though he still was not drafted. He went 5-1, 1.77 for Falmouth in the Cape Cod League last summer and continued to improve his stock in early April with a one-hitter against Villanova's Kevin Mulvey, with plenty of scouts on hand. Norton's background means he is old even for a college senior and his mechanics are unorthodox, but his arm is strong and relatively fresh. He relies upon a heavy, sinking 92-94 mph fastball that touches 96, and he complements it with an average split-finger that he uses as a swing-and-miss pitch. He struggles to locate his below-average slider, which has spin but lacks movement. Norton tends to dip on his back leg during his high-effort delivery, and he is not particularly athletic--one scout said he saw Norton fall off the mound onto his behind three separate times. But he is aggressive and competitive and figures to be a budget-saving senior pick in the top five rounds for some team.