By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

MONMOUTH – Tip Fairchild is getting restless.

The 2005 Major League Baseball Draft is next Tuesday, and the University of Southern Maine standout needs to burn off some nervous energy.

“I’ll probably have to go out and play golf just to relax,” he said. “I’m starting to jump around because the (college) season’s over and I’m not playing.”

Fairchild is expected to be taken in Tuesday’s draft, known officially as the First-Year Player Draft. He’s worked out for the Marlins, Astros and Red Sox, has been scouted by 17 other teams, and has had contact with 18 teams overall. As many as 10 have indicated a strong interest in selecting the right-handed junior sometime in the first 15 rounds.

“They all say they’re going to take me before the 15th round. Some teams say higher,” said the Monmouth Academy graduate and 2002 Sun Journal Player of the Year.

Teams are vague about where they’ll draft Fairchild because they don’t want word getting back to the competition. Fairchild said it doesn’t matter to him anyway.

“As long as it’s a fair chance for me, I’m going to sign, regardless of the round,” he said.

Coming off an outstanding sophomore season, Fairchild expected to draw the interest of Major League scouts this spring, “but I never would have thought anything above the 25th round. I thought it would be way down, and then I would go back to school,” he said.

During the regular season, one or two scouts would typically watch Fairchild in action. He pitched in 14 games, including five starts for the Huskies, posting a 5-2 record with a 1.80 ERA. He allowed just 44 hits and seven walks while fanning 66 in 50 innings.

Fairchild earned All-New England and All-Little East honors and was a third-team All American, so the interest from scouts exploded during the Little East conference tournament. Since then, he’s been getting a couple of calls per day from different teams.

Last week, he worked out for the Astros and Marlins at USM. Last Sunday, he participated in a workout for the Red Sox at Fenway Park along with three other highly-ranked draft prospects, including a former member of the Cuban National team.

Pitching in front of 40 or 50 scouts and front office personnel from the club, including general manager Theo Epstein, Fairchild threw about 50 pitches. Then he had a 10-minute chat with the Boston GM.

“It went pretty well. I was going on three days rest, and they knew that, so my velocity was a down a little,” said Fairchild, who’s been known to throw his fastball up to 93 miles-per-hour. “I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be because there are other teams that are interested in me if it didn’t go well with the Red Sox.”

NCAA eligibility rules preclude Fairchild from signing with an agent before he decides to turn pro, but he does have an advisor helping him with the ins-and-outs of the process.

Since USM was eliminated from the LEC tournament on May 13, Fairchild has been working out at Monmouth Academy and Oak Hill High School, where his father, Bill, is the athletic director and the former varsity baseball coach.

He isn’t sure what he’ll do Tuesday. Unlike its NFL and NBA counterparts, the MLB draft is not televised by a major cable network. Potential draftees usually follow it over the Internet. He said he may be on the golf course, keeping his cell phone handy, of course.

If he somehow slips through the cracks, Fairchild will still have a busy summer filled with baseball. He has a temporary contract to play with Hyannis of the Cape Cod League. He also has an offer to play in the Alaskan League, or he could return to playing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League for the Sanford Mainers, whom he helped lead to the league championship in 2004.

“I’ve got tons of options,” he said, “but the main option right now is getting drafted and playing pro ball.”