( Photo by John Kelley )
The Bulldogs among the 1,215 players selected in this year’s draft were pitchers Ryan Lawlor (Atlanta Braves, 8th round), Sean McLaughlin (Atlanta Braves, 19thround) and Jared Cheek (Chicago Cubs, 21st round), catcher Zack Bowers (San Francisco Giants, 24th round), pitchers Taylor Hicks (Detroit Tigers, 26th round) and David Sosebee (N.Y. Yankees, 28th round) and first baseman Jared Walsh (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 39th round). Cheek, Hicks and Walsh were seniors this year while Lawlor, McLaughlin, Bowers and Sosebee were juniors.
McLaughlin and Sosebee were the only two Bulldogs among the seven who had been drafted earlier in their career, both after their senior year of high school. In 2011, the Red Sox selected Sosebee in the 48th round, while in 2012, the Braves drafted McLaughlin in the 38th round.
Additionally, two Bulldog baseball signees and one Georgia football signee were drafted this year. Pitcher Dakota Chalmers (North Forsyth HS, Gainesville, Ga.) was a third round pick of Oakland while outfielder Chad Smith (South Gwinnett HS, Snellville, Ga.) was a fifth round selection of Texas. Bulldog football signee Terry Godwin, a 5-11, 170-pound wide receiver out of Callaway High School in Hogansville, Ga., was drafted as an outfielder by the Braves in the 33rd round.
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Georgia pitcher David Sosebee has been selected by the New York Yankees in the 28th round of the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft.
As a redshirt junior in 2015, Sosebee posted a 4-3 record and 2.98 ERA in 11 appearances including eight starts. In 54.1 innings, he had 21 walks and 55 strikeouts. This past season, his signature wins included beating No. 8 Florida, No. 11 Florida State and No. 20 Arkansas.
A 6-2, 221-pound native of Cleveland, Ga., Sosebee is 7-8 with a 3.42 ERA and 1 save in his Bulldog career. A three-year letterman, he has appeared in 37 games with 21 starts, covering a span of 129 innings.
[su_spacer size=”20″]As a junior in 2015, McLaughlin posted a 4-5 record and 4.67 ERA in 15 appearances including nine starts. In 71.1 innings, he had 31 walks and 57 strikeouts. A 5-11, 198-pound native of Johns Creek, Ga., McLaughlin is 9-12 with a 4.24 ERA in his Bulldog career.
A three-year letterman, he has appeared in 31 games as a pitcher with 25 starts, covering a span of 155 innings. Also, he played in 59 games as a hitter with 32 starts with a .240 batting average and 10 RBI in 120 at bats. In 2015, he saw action exclusively as a pitcher and recorded key Southeastern Conference road wins over No. 7 South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky.
McLaughlin is the second current Bulldog to be drafted by the Braves this year. Junior pitcher Ryan Lawlor was Atlanta’s eighth round pick on Tuesday. Also of note, following his senior year at Northview High School in 2012, the Braves drafted McLaughlin in the 38th round.
On Tuesday, two Bulldog signees were selected in the draft. Pitcher Dakota Chalmers (North Forsyth HS, Gainesville, Ga.) was a third round pick of Oakland while outfielder Chad Smith (South Gwinnett HS, Snellville, Ga.) was a fifth round selection of Texas.
[su_spacer size=”20″]As a senior in 2015, Hicks posted a 0-0 mark and 1.52 ERA in 16 games including one start. In 29.2 innings, he had 23 strikeouts and only nine walks.
A 6-3, 213-pound native of Statham, Ga., Hicks was a three-year letterman for the Bulldogs with a career record of 2-2 with a 3.14 ERA in 25 games and seven starts. He ended the 2015 campaign with 8.2 scoreless innings pitched and graduated with a degree in Sport Management.
Hicks is the fifth Bulldog to be selected in the 2015 MLB draft, joining pitchers Ryan Lawlor (Atlanta Braves, 8th round), Sean McLaughlin (Atlanta Braves, 19th round) and Jared Cheek (Chicago Cubs, 21st round) along with catcher Zack Bowers (San Francisco Giants, 24th round). Two Bulldog signees have been selected in this year’s draft. Pitcher Dakota Chalmers (North Forsyth HS, Gainesville, Ga.) was a third round pick of Oakland while outfielder Chad Smith (South Gwinnett HS, Snellville, Ga.) was a fifth round selection of Texas.
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Junior catcher Zack Bowers was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 24th round.
As a junior in 2015, Bowers batted .252 with 13 doubles, eight home runs, 27 RBI and a team-best 37 walks in 51 games with 45 starts. He made starts at first base, catcher and designated hitter. A three-year letterman from Acworth, Ga., the 6-1, 206-pound Bowers has 17 career home runs and 64 RBI in 136 games.
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Georgia pitcher Jared Cheek was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 21st round.
As a senior in 2015, Cheek made a team-high 24 relief appearances and went 2-2 with a 2.64 ERA and six saves. He tossed 34.2 innings and had 31 strikeouts and 16 walks. He allowed just two of 12 inherited runners to score and did not allow a run in 20 of 24 appearances. A 5-11, 184-pound native of Athens, Ga., he was a two-year letterman for the Bulldogs. For his career, he posted a 7-8 record, 3.32 ERA and nine saves in 46 games.
[su_spacer size=”20″]As a senior in 2015, Walsh was a co-captain who enjoyed a career-year as a two-way standout for the Bulldogs. He made 14 appearances on the mound with eight starts plus appeared in 43 games as a hitter with 41 starts (18 at first base, 18 as a designated hitter, five in right field). He posted a team-best 5-2 record and 2.60 ERA plus hit a career-best .306 with 14 doubles, three home runs and 22 RBI.
A 6-1, 213-pound native of Duluth, Ga., Walsh was a four-year letterman. He hit .271-7-58 in 139 games with 116 starts and 468 at bats. On the mound, he went 8-7 with a 3.18 ERA in 35 appearances including 16 starts. Walsh ended the regular season leading the SEC in lowest opponents batting average at .185 and ranked third in ERA (2.60).