Matt Wieters has yet to sign with the Orioles after they selected him fifth overall in the 2007 draft, but his college teammate, Wally Crancer, is already in full swing in the Baltimore's farm system.

The outfielder, who batted fourth behind Wieters for most of his senior year at Georgia Tech, has landed in Aberdeen. With the IronBirds, he got off to a slow start in the New-York Penn League, but has slowly been creeping his average toward .300 and before Tuesday's action at home against the Brooklyn Cyclones was hitting .289.

“I would imagine he is a pretty good hitter,” said Aberdeen manager Andy Etchebarren, who has not had much time to evaluate Crancer's full potential. “He has started to come around now.”

His breakout game came on Monday night in a disappointing 6-3 loss to Brooklyn. Batting third, Crancer was 3-for-4, with two singles and his first professional home run. The homer, a solo shot that came in the bottom of the third, gave the IronBirds their only lead of the game.

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“I have been seeing it good for the past week,” Crancer said. “The guy up there had good velocity on his fastball so I got the bat out there and got a good swing on it.”

The change from college baseball into the professional game is tough and each player handles it differently. Crancer's goal is to get used to playing baseball every day.

“It is the same game, but it is better competition,” Crancer said. “You have to play on a different level, that is the only adjustment. The game is going to pick up and you have to handle it.”

In his senior year at Georgia Tech, Crancer batted .363 with 52 RBIs and eight home runs. He was behind only Wieters in RBIs as the switch-hitting catcher and closer had 59. Crancer admits there is a level of comfort for him knowing that he and his friend are still in the same organization, even if Wieters has not signed with the Orioles yet.

“We are pretty good friends,” Crancer said. “I am really looking forward to playing with him. I don't know when it is going to be, but I can't wait for him to get out here because he is good.”