Drew Rom Tabbed O's Pitcher of the Month

SALISBURY, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds, in conjunction with the Baltimore Orioles, are pleased to announce that left-handed pitcher Drew Rom has been named the organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Month for May.
Rom, a 19-year-old from Fort Thomas, Kentucky, made five starts last month, going 3-0 and allowing just one earned run over 25.2 innings, good for a 0.35 ERA. The Orioles' No. 27 prospect peppered his shutdown May with 32 strikeouts (11.22 K/9) against just eight walks (0.857 WHIP). By the time he gave up his only run on May 30, Rom had strung together a scoreless streak of 25.1 innings dating back to April 27.
After finishing one out shy of qualifying for a win in a combined two-hitter on May 4 in Asheville, Rom strung together four straight scoreless starts of five innings or longer. He spearheaded shutouts in back-to-back outings against Hagerstown on May 11 and at Kannapolis on May 17, giving up just one hit in the former.
Rom reached his peak for the month on May 23 with his first career six-inning night, scattering two hits and fanning seven against Lakewood to pick up his second win of the month. Win number three came in Rom's final outing on May 30 at Greenville, in which he went five innings and gave up three hits. In it, he gave up his only run, a solo home run to Red Sox No. 1 prospect Triston Casas, with two out in fourth. The tally was the first earned run Rom had surrendered since April 20, a span of 30.1 innings.
One of eight Shorebirds named to the South Atlantic League All-Star Game earlier this week, Rom kept his hot surge going with his first appearance of June on Wednesday, working in tandem with fellow starter Gray Fenter and going four scoreless three-hit innings for the save in a combined four-hit shutout at Kannapolis. As of this writing, Rom leads the SAL with a 1.36 ERA; the second place mark sits at 2.02.
The Orioles drafted Rom out of Highlands High School (Fort Thomas, Ky.) in the fourth round of the 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft. His signing scout was Adrian Dorsey.
Minor League Player of the Month went to Norfolk outfielder D.J. Stewart, himself a former Shorebird from 2016.
This is the second straight month the Shorebirds have seen one of their own named Orioles Pitcher of the Month; right-hander Grayson Rodriguez boasted the laurels in April, with shortstop Adam Hall joining him as Player of the Month. Behind Rom and company, Delmarva went an astounding 23-8 in May, increasing its stranglehold on the SAL Northern Division. The Shorebirds' Magic Number to clinch the first half title and their first postseason berth since 2005 currently stands at six with 11 games to go.