By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Central Georgia draft picks

Pos./Name School Round/No. MLB team

P Austin Cox FPD/Mercer 5/152 Kansas City

IF Logan Simmons Tattnall 6/167 Philadelphia

P Robert Broom Mercer 10/313 Cleveland

P Christian Vann Mercer 25/761 Washington

OF Logan Mattix Ga. College 25/762 Houston

1B Brandt Stallings Ga. College 28/829 Cincinnati

C Brandon Purcell Ga. College 32/963 St. Louis

OF Trey Truitt Mercer 34/1015 Baltimore

The Peach Belt Conference’s player of the year got the call, as did two teammates, and a pair of Mercer Bears.

Mercer’s Christian Vann was joined one spot later by Georgia College’s Logan Mattix, in the 25th round, and three rounds later by the Bobcats’ Brandt Stallings, and then teammate Brandon Purcell plus Mercer outfielder Trey Truitt in Wednesday’s Major League Baseball draft.

The end of the three-day, 40-round affair came a few minutes after 7 p.m.

Bleckley County pitcher Carter Raffield, a Clemson commit, went undrafted.

Carter was a top-400 prospect by Baseball America –and was a preseason All-American with Tattnall’s Logan Simmons - but battled tendonitis early in the season and only threw 18 innings, according to head coach Brad Davis.

Of course, he struck out 28 batters with only three walks, going 1-0 with a save.

He told The Clemson Insider website over the weekend that he was feeling the pull of college ball over the pros.

“As of now I plan on going to Clemson,” Raffield said. “There are great benefits with both going pro and going to college, but I think God is leading me to college. But whatever God’s plan is I will be happy no matter what.”

Clemson’s season was ended at home by Vanderbilt in the Clemson Regional, the Tigers finishing 47-16, their highest win total since 2006.

The Tigers lose one senior pitcher, Ryan Miller, but had underclassmen Jake Higginbotham, Ryley Gilliam and Mitchell Miller drafted.

Atlanta rival Washington picked Vann late in the 25th round.

Vann, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound went 5-3 win 22 games, 11 starts, with a 3.93 ERA in his senior season.

The transfer from Chattahoochee Valley CC in Alabama fanned 83 in 68.2 innings in 2018. The Parkview grad had 30 appearances in 2017, and struck out 50 in 37 innings.

Mattix, the PBC’s player of the year after batting .400 with nine homers and 67 RBI, was picked by World Series champ Houston in the 25th round.

The first Bobcats player to earn All-America honors for academics as well as his play, the Loganville grad is a two-time All-Region pick and Division II Conference Commissioners Association region player of the year.

Stallings, a junior picked by Cincinnati, transferred from Georgia Tech and was a second-team All-PBC pick after hitting .355 with seven home runs, 39 RBI, and 35 runs. He started playing regularly at the start of March, and soon embarked on a 10-game hitting streak.

In two seasons at Tech, Stallings hit 13 home runs and had 47 RBI, also earning ACC all-academic and freshman academic All-American in 2016.

Purcell, picked by St. Louis in the 32nd round, started in 53 of 55 games in 2018, fielding 1,000 from the catcher spot and batting .383 with five homers, 55 RBI, and 19 doubles.

The senior Tattnall County grad was a PBC second-team pick in 2017, with 10 homers and a .327 average.

Truitt is a career .317 hitter who is one of two Southern Conference players ever to earn three All-Tournament selections, also being named all-conference twice. He hit a career-high .373 in 2018 with 12 homers and 44 RBI, after starting his career with a Louisville Slugger freshman All-American selection.

They join Mercer junior pitcher and FPD grad Austin Cox, Tattnall infielder Logan Simmons, and Mercer junior pitcher Robert Broom as Central Georgia picks, those three selected on the second day.

For the full list of Atlanta Braves’ picks Wednesday, visit here.

Underclassmen can choose to stay in college, and high school picks can decide to play in college instead. Nothing is official until something regarding pro baseball – including hiring an agent – is signed.

Draft-eligible players not picked are now open for free-agent negotiations.

Players from Georgia picked Wednesday:

Georgia State catcher Nick Gatewood by San Diego in the 11th round
North Hall pitcher Reese Olson by Milwaukee, 13th
River Ridge pitcher Christopher Williams by Cincinnati, 15th
Georgia catcher Michael Curry by San Diego, 16th
Eagles Landing pitcher Jonathan Edwards by Texas, 16th
Mountain View shortstop Chase Chaney by the L.A. Angels, 16th
Georgia Highlands pitcher Noah Bryant by Kansas City, 17th
Columbus State pitcher Justin Evans by Miami, 19th
Gordon State outfielder Datren Bray to the L.A. Angels, 19th

Redan third baseman Kelvin Smith by Detroit, 20th
Georgia Southern pitcher Blakely Brown by the New York Yankees, 24th
Heritage outfielder Caleb Ramsey by Boston, 25th
Troy pitcher C.J. Carter of Arabia Mountain by Miami, 29th
Walton pitcher Luke Bartnicki by Arizona, 29th
Duke pitcher Mitch Stallings of Lovett by Atlanta, 30th
Cartersville third baseman Devin Warner by Arizona, 30th
Troup County shortstop Ryan Bliss by Boston, 30th.
Florida Tech pitcher Ty Cohen of Etowah by St. Louis, 31st
Georgia Tech second baseman Wade Bailey by the L.A. Angels, 33rd

Cedartown catcher Jack Haney by Washington, 33rd
Stanford infielder and McIntosh grad Duke Kinamon by the New York Mets, 34th
Mill Creek third baseman Davis Sharpe by Pittsburgh, 34th
Sequoyah pitcher Justin Wrobleski by Seattle, 36th
North Gwinnett outfielder Lavoisier Fisher by Pittsburgh, 37th
Cross Creek outfielder David Hollie by Kansas City, 37th
Heritage pitcher Cole Wilcox by Washington, 37th
Brookwood outfielder Matthew Klug by the Chicago White Sox, 38th
North Oconee pitcher Kumar Rocker by Colorado, 38th
Pinecrest catcher Micky Mangan by Atlanta, 40th
Georgia Gwinnett College pitcher Cole Uvila by Texas, 40th