Fifty-Two CPL Players Taken in 2024 MLB Draft July 19, 2024 11:27 am https://coastalplain.com/fifty-two-cpl-players-taken-in-2024-mlb-draft/

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Fifty-Two CPL Players Taken in 2024 MLB Draft 

  

 

July 19, 2024 11:27 am

HOLLY SPRINGS – The Coastal Plain League (CPL) had 52 current and former players selected in the 2024 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft. This was the most players drafted since the draft lowered to 20 rounds. Leading off was Ryan Waldschmidt (Kentucky), who was taken by Arizona with the 31st pick. Waldschmidt played for the Asheboro ZooKeepers during the 2022 season.

In all, 26 players went in the first 10 rounds. Highlighting the draftees was 2022 CPL Pitcher of the Year, Dalton Pence (North Carolina) and 2023 CPL Hitter of the Year Brandon Eike (VCU). The Texas Rangers took Pence in the 11th round, while Eike went in the 13th round to the Seattle Mariners.

Pence spent the 2022 season with the Forest City Owls and led all league starters in 2022 with a 0.88 ERA to go with a 5-0 record and one save. In 41 innings of work, he surrendered just six runs – four earned – on 25 hits, while he walked nine and struck out 35. Numbers like those saw him selected a CPL All-Star and the starter on the mound for the West Division. He was also honored as a All-CPL First Team member following the season. Meanwhile, Eike played for the Tri-City Chili Peppers from 2021-23 and had a decorated career in the CPL, including two All-Star selections and two All-CPL First Team honors. In 2023, he led the league with a .398 average and .708 slugging percentage, and finished among the Top 5 in three other offensive categories: home runs (9), RBIs (36), and OPS (1.158). On the summer, Eike also tallied 45 hits, eight doubles, 12 walks, 27 runs scored and had an on-base percentage of .450.

The High-Point Thomasville HiToms led the CPL with eight player drafted, followed by Holly Springs with seven. Asheboro, Florence, Lexington County, Macon, and Morehead City each tallied four selections, while Peninsula, Tri-City, and Wilmington recorded three apiece. Next was Forest City, Martinsville, and Wilson with two, and first-year club, Greenville, with one. Former CPL teams, the Savannah Bananas and Spartanburgers, also saw alums taken with two and one respectively.

On the MLB side, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners each selected four CPL players, while seven clubs – Colorado, Los Angeles (AL), Minnesota, Philadelphia, San Diego, St. Louis, and Texas – were next with three draftees apiece.

A complete list of CPL players taken is below.

2024 CPL DRAFTED PLAYERS

Name Round Number Position School Major League Team CPL Team

Ryan Waldschmidt PPI 31 OF Kentucky Arizona Asheboro ‘22

Jacob Cozart 2 48 C NC State Cleveland HPThomasville ‘23

Cole Mathis 2 54 3B College of Charleston Chicago (NL) Lexington County ‘22

Billy Amick 2 60 3B Tennessee Minnesota Lexington County ‘22

Daniel Eagen 3 102 RHP Presbyterian College Arizona Holly Springs ‘22

Blake Wright 4 106 3B Clemson Colorado Forest City ‘21

Josh Caron 4 121 C Nebraska Seattle HPThomasville ‘23

Carson DeMartini 4 130 SS Virginia Tech Philadelphia Peninsula ‘21

Lebarron Johnson Jr. 5 139 RHP Texas Colorado Lexington County ‘21

John Holobetz 5 156 RHP Old Dominion Milwaukee Martinsville ‘22

Josh Kross 6 171 C Cincinnati St. Louis Holly Springs ‘23

Darrien McDowell 6 180 OF West Florida San Diego Greenville ‘24

Derek Bender 6 188 C Coastal Carolina Minnesota Tri-City ‘22

Carson Dorsey 7 219 LHP Florida State Baltimore Savannah ‘22

Luke Craig 7 224 LHP UNC Wilmington Arizona Asheboro ‘21

Rafe Perich 7 225 3B Lehigh Texas Wilson ‘23

Will Riley 8 243 RHP Virginia Military Institute Seattle Tri-City ‘23

Sam Garcia 8 245 LHP Oklahoma State Milwaukee HPThomasville ‘22

Zach Evans 9 270 SS Lenoir-Rhyne San Diego Asheboro ‘24

Bryce Madron 10 291 OF Oklahoma St. Louis Savannah ‘22

Ryan Nicholson 10 292 1B Kentucky Los Angeles (AL) Holly Springs ‘21

Derek Berg 10 294 C Army West Point Pittsburgh Florence ‘21

RJ Sales 10 296 RHP UNC Wilmington Detroit Wilmington ‘23

Trey Pooser 10 306 RHP Kentucky Tampa Bay Wilmington ’21 / Lexington County ‘22

Jacob Kroeger 10 311 LHP Maryville Atlanta Morehead City ‘23

Trent Youngblood 10 314 OF Transylvania University Arizona Asheboro ’22 / Morehead City ’23, ‘24

Blake Shepardson 11 319 RHP San Francisco Chicago (AL) Florence ‘22

Merritt Beeker 11 320 LHP Ball State Washington HPThomasville ‘23

Nick Roselli 11 323 2B Binghamton New York (NL) Wilmington ‘22

Jacob Bimbi 11 324 LHP Western Kentucky Pittsburgh Holly Springs ‘23

Patrick Clohisy 11 341 OF St. Louis Atlanta Macon ‘23

Dalton Pence 11 345 LHP North Carolina Texas Forest City ‘22

Alexander Meckley 12 350 RHP Coastal Carolina Washington Morehead City ‘24

Fran Oschell III 12 352 RHP Duke Los Angeles (AL) Holly Springs ‘22

AJ Wilson 12 372 LHP Charlotte Philadelphia HPThomasville ‘23

Riley Huge 13 376 LHP Winthrop Oakland Florence ‘23

Nolan Sparks 13 381 RHP Rochester St. Louis Spartanburg ‘21

Brandon Eike 13 393 3B Virginia Commonwealth Seattle Tri-City ’21, ’22, ‘23

Alex Bouchard 14 417 RHP Lehigh Boston Wilson ’22, ‘23

J.R. Freethy 14 427 2B Nevada Toronto Macon ‘24

Tyler Davis 15 437 LHP Mississippi State Kansas City Peninsula ‘21

Jonathan Todd 15 457 RHP Western Carolina Toronto Martinsville ‘23

Luke Gabrysh 15 462 RHP Saint Joseph’s Philadelphia Holly Springs ‘23

Brooks Fowler 15 465 RHP Oral Roberts Texas Florence ‘22

Will Gervase 16 472 LHP Wake Forest Los Angeles (AL) HPThomasville ‘23

Kasen Wells 16 480 OF Weatherford College San Diego Macon ‘24

Aidan Layton 17 496 RHP Seton Hill Oakland Morehead City ‘24

Nolan Clifford 17 498 SS Creighton Colorado Macon ‘23

Gus Hughes 18 541 RHP High Point New York (AL) HPThomasville ‘21

Michael Caldon 18 549 RHP Felician College Baltimore Peninsula ‘23

Logan Whitaker 19 578 RHP NC State Minnesota HPThomasville ‘19

Ryan Picollo 20 603 OF Saint Joseph’s Seattle Holly Springs ‘23

<strong>About Coastal Plain League:</strong>

The Coastal Plain League is the nation’s premier summer collegiate baseball league. The CPL is currently comprised of 15 franchises playing in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. To date, the CPL has had over 1,800 alumni drafted, and 193 alums make their Major League debut. Most notable alumni include Justin Verlander, Ryan Zimmerman, Mark Reynolds, Kevin Youkilis, Chris Taylor, Alec Bohm, Jake Cave, Chas McCormick and NFL Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson. For more information on the Coastal Plain League, please visit the league website at www.coastalplain.com, and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok @CPLBaseball.

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