BILLINGS — Pitcher Richie Cortese, a former American Legion baseball standout with the Laurel Dodgers, was selected in the 17th round of the 2025 Major League Baseball amateur draft on Monday by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Cortese was drafted out of NCAA Division II Lander University in Greenwood, S.C. Cortese played the past two seasons at Lander after spending the previous two years as a two-way player with the program at Dickinson State in North Dakota.
How about 2⃣ Bearcats to the South Side of Philly!
— Lander Baseball (@Lander_BSB) July 14, 2025
Richie Cortese is the 13th draft pick in program history as he joins his teammate on the @Phillies!#cLawsUp pic.twitter.com/YzRIvYVqVR
Cortese, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound right-hander, appeared in 14 games for Lander as a senior in 2025, striking out 30 in 16.2 innings to go along with with 14 walks and nine earned runs allowed. Opponents hit .200 against Cortese.
The Bearcats went 43-15 overall this past season and won the Peach Belt Conference tournament title for the first time since 2014, and won an NCAA tournament game for the first time in nine seasons — a game in which Cortese pitched the final two innings while striking out four.
Cortese, the 521st overall selection, was one of two players drafted from Lander, joining teammate Tyler Bowen, who was drafted in the 12th round also by the Phillies. Cortese is the latest player from Montana to be draft into Major League Baseball; Missoula's Hunter Omlid, a right-handed pitcher, was picked in the 20th round of last year's draft by the Colorado Rockies out of Arizona State University.
Cortese starred in Legion ball with the Class A Laurel Dodgers under coach Joe Studiner.
