Sleep deprivation sometimes comes with a reward.

In the case of Belfast High School alumnus and Lions multi-sport standout Sazi Guthrie, it’s in the form of a contract to play professional baseball.

Guthrie, who led the Lions to the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference baseball title in 1998 and the LTC Class B football title in 1997 as a senior, has been drafted and signed by the Gary (Indiana) Southshore RailCats, a member of the independent Northern League.

The story behind Guthrie’s chance to live a minor league dream is reminiscent of a recent Hollywood script.

After mixing up the date of a tryout with the Kansas City Royals organization, Guthrie found out about a mass independent league tryout in Phoenix. Despite the fact it was 5 p.m. on the first day of tryouts, he decided to hop in his Isuzu Rodeo, drive six hours from San Diego, grab three hours of sleep in his car, and take a chance that he’d be allowed to try out on the second day.

“I had thrown about 90 to 92 [miles per hour] at a previous tryout in Atlanta and told them about it, so the guy said ‘Well, that’s what you’d better throw today’ and then he let me in,” Guthrie recalled. “I was feeling tired and didn’t think I threw well, but they said I threw in the lower 90’s.”

The RailCats selected the 23-year-old righthander two weeks ago in the Northern League’s Arizona Tryout draft.

The son of Larason and Susan Guthrie was signed by Gary manager Garry Templeton, a two-time Major League Baseball All-Star who played 16 big league seasons, primarily with St. Louis and San Diego.

“He told me one of the reasons he likes me is I throw a sinking fastball and give up a lot of ground balls,” Guthrie said. “He said I had a chance to be in the starting rotation.”

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Guthrie reports to the team May 9. The team’s four-month season starts May 23.

Guthrie went 18-12 with a 3.74 earned-run average in four seasons with Ithaca College (N.Y.), an NCAA Division III school. Guthrie ranks fifth on Ithaca’s all-time strikeout list with 180 in 202 innings pitched.

The bleary-eyed road trip paid off for Guthrie, but so did his decision to pass up two offers from other independent league teams after the Atlanta tryout in February.

“I knew the Northern League was the best of the leagues, with the best visibility and a big following, so I really wanted to try to get in there,” he said. “I guess it worked out.”

In 2002, Guthrie went 6-6 with a 3.04 ERA in 77 innings covering 13 appearances, 12 of which were starts. He led the Bombers to an Empire 8 Conference title. Guthrie was named a first-team all-New York-region and first-team Empire 8 selection and earned second-team honors from the ECAC.

The RailCats played their first season last year, finishing fourth in the 10-team league’s southern division with a 35-55 record. The team is owned by former Major League Baseball player and current Pittsburgh Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon, a native of Gary who was a member of the Gary Little League team that played in the 1971 Little League World Series, along with Dr. David E. Ross.

Guthrie was an all-LTC first-team selection as a quarterback and an LTC All-academic member in 1997 and a Maine Senior baseball all-star in 1998.

Far East comes Down East

The Bangor Lumberjacks, the newest team in the independent Northeast League, have reached out to the Land of the Rising Sun for its two newest player acquisitions.

Japanese players Mitsuru Kobayashi and Kenichi Miura re-signed with the Lumberjacks, formerly based in Glens Falls, N.Y., Wednesday. Contract terms were not disclosed.

The 24-year-old Kobayashi played shortstop for Adirondack last year, batting .270 with 23 RBIs and 18 steals. The 5-foot-8, 160-pound leadoff hitter was second in the league with 73 runs.

Miura is a rookie who comes to Bangor right out of Japan’s International Baseball Academy. The second baseman is expected to battle for the starting job and form a double-play combination with Kobayashi.

The Northeast League, which has been operating continuously since 1995, merged with the Northern League prior to the 1999 season. It is currently operating independently of the Northern League for the first time since 1998. This is Bangor’s second involvement with the NEL as the Bangor Blue Ox played two seasons (1996 and 1997) before the franchise was purchased and moved to Quebec City.