Former Pitt-Johnstown All-American pitcher Ben Watkins is a recipient of a 2009 NCAA postgraduate scholarship.
The Conemaugh Township High School graduate is only the fourth UPJ student-athlete to receive this prestigious scholarship that provides financial assistance for a student-athlete to attend graduate school.
Watkins, a first-team/ESPN The Magazine/Academic All-American, was a West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) male-scholar athlete in 2009. He has a 3.9 grade-point-average in electrical engineering technology.
Watkins is scheduled to earn his degree from Pitt-Johnstown in 2010.
Athletically, Watkins was the 2009 WVIAC Pitcher of the Year on his way to leading NCAA Division II in earned run average and being named a third-team All-American.
He was drafted in the 40th round of June’s Major League baseball draft by the New York Yankees. Watkins is currently pitching for the Class A Staten Island Yankees in the New York-Penn League.
Previous Pitt-Johnstown recipients of a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship include: Tony Albertelli (wrestling, 1997), Lindsay Baker (women’s basketball, 2002) and Melissa Patterson (women’s basketball, 2005).
