TEMPE, Ariz. — When Dom Duggan ended his athletic career at Seneca Valley High School four years ago, he was undersized, underrated and under the radar.

"Nobody knew much about him then,"said former professional baseball scout Scott Grinder of Zelienople.

They know plenty about him now.

Duggan, a senior center fielder at Coastal Carolina of the Big South Conference, was the 32nd-round selection of the San Francisco Giants in baseball's amateur draft last month. He is currently hitting .310 while batting leadoff for the Arizona Giants in the Arizona Rookie League.

During his senior year in high school, Duggan led the Raiders football team with 19 receptions for 467 yards and seven touchdowns. He led the basketball team in assists and steals. He led the baseball team in hits and stolen bases and was named the squad's MVP.

The best college offer Duggan could get was a chance to play baseball at Division IIIJohn Carroll University near Cleveland.

"I weighed some Division IIand IIIoffers in football, but my size was against me,"Duggan said. "I was only 5-foot-7, 155 pounds coming out of high school.

"My size was best suited for baseball, so that's what I went with."

An all-Ohio Athletic Conference performer his freshman year at John Carroll, Duggan returned to play Eagle County League baseball for Zelienople that summer — and envisioned a transfer to a bigger school.

Duggan's younger brother, Zach, was a baseball teammate of Grinder's son, Gabe, that summer.

"I was scouting then and had a few collegiate contacts,"Grinder said. "Dom's mother approached me and said Dom wanted to transfer.

"What Dom had going for him was foot speed. I thought he had the natural tools to play Division I baseball, so I sent some information on him out to three or four schools."

Coastal Carolina — located in Myrtle Beach, S.C. — was the first one to bite.

"He came to us sight unseen,"Coastal Carolina coach Gary Gilmore said. "During his sophomore year, he became one of the best players on one of the best teams we've ever had around here."

Duggan hit .348 that season and was third in the Big South with 17 doubles. He stole seven bases and had 11 sacrifice bunts.

His average slipped to .262 during his junior campaign, however, with two homers and 14 RBI, though he stole 13 bases. His season was curtailed by a broken ankle after 44 games.

"I ran into the wall in right-center field,"Duggan recalled. "I didn't have a good year at all. Coach Gilmore recommended me to a summer league in Anchorage, Alaska, and that got me back on track."

Duggan hit over .300 with 15 doubles that summer and was noticed by major league scouts.

This spring, he hit .325 with 20 doubles, nine homers, 34 RBI, 11 stolen bases and 27 sacrifice bunts — three shy of the NCAAsingle-season record.

"I hit in the No. 2 hole and you bunt a lot there at Coastal Carolina," Duggan said. "I was fine with it. It's all about winning and we won a lot of games."

The Chanticleers finished 50-13 this season and reached the championship game of their NCAAregional for the third time in six years before losing to Clemson.

Duggan hit .471 in the regional and hit the game- winning home run against Liberty in the Big South championship game.

"Dom had some power with these aluminum bats and that threw him a little bit,"Gilmore said. "It took him a while before he bought into the type of player he needed to be.

"If he hits 100 ground balls without striking out, he'll hit .500 in pro ball. That's the kind of speed that kid has."

Defensively, Duggan committed only one error as a sophomore and two errors during his senior campaign.

"He is the best defensive outfielder I've had in my 22 years of coaching college baseball,"Gilmore said. "Dom Duggan can get to fly balls that human beings just can't get to."

Gilmore has won 710 games in 18 years at Coastal Carolina.

A business management major, Duggan plans to return to Coastal Carolina this fall to get his degree. Had he not been drafted, his hopes were to work in professional baseball on the administrative side.

"But this side is a lot more fun,"he said of playing.

Now 5-9, 185, Duggan is stronger physically and can handle the everyday wear and tear of playing baseball in the Arizona sun.

"I matured physically late," he said. "When I first went to Coastal Carolina, I wasn't even dreaming of getting drafted. I was looking forward to the challenge of competing in Division I baseball.

"All I wanted to do was make the team."

Now he wants to climb the ladder and make the grade with the Giants.

"After seeing the way things have worked out for me, I'm not ruling anything out,"Duggan said. "I was drafted Thursday, signed a contract Friday and was in Tempe on Sunday.

"When I put on that (Giants) uniform and took the field, all I could do was think to myself ... 'This is unbelievable.'"