Three SAC Baseball Players Picked in Final Day of 2019 MLB Draft
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – In the final day of the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft, three South Atlantic Conference baseball players were selected.
Catawba's Peyton Williams was drafted in the 20th round, the 607th overall pick, by the Atlanta Braves; Carson-Newman's Ethan Goforth was selected in the 25th round, the 754th pick overall, by the Pittsburg Pirates and Tusculum's Charles Hall was drafted in the 33rd round, the 1,004th overall pick, by the Oakland Athletics.
Williams posted a dozen saves for Catawba this season over 31 appearances. He had a 4-1 record and a team low 2.43 ERA. Over his 37 innings, the transfer from Pfeiffer, allowed just 23 hits with 17 walks and 55 strikeouts. Opponents hit just .181 against the right-hander.
Williams becomes the 28th draft pick in school history and the 19th under Head Coach Jim Gantt. He is the second Catawba player to be selected by the Braves, following Brian Boltz, who was a second round pick in 1989.
Goforth was a unanimous all-region pick in 2019, two-time All-South Atlantic Conference selection and a two-time SAC all-defensive team pick. He posted a .376 batting average, 11 homers, 42 RBIs, 70 runs scored and 15 stolen bases this season.
Goforth is the 21st draft pick in Carson-Newman history and is the fourth catcher from C-N to be drafted. He becomes the sixth Eagle to join the Pirates organization, including 2018 draft pick Will Gardner.
Hall posted a 6-3 record and continues to lead the nation in strikeouts with 148. The 2019 South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Year finished the season with a 2.31 earned run average, which was the second lowest in the league and 30th in NCAA Division II. He tossed 89.2 innings with two complete games and notched a 14.86 strikeouts per nine innings pitched which is the fourth-best average in the country.
Hall established a new NCAA II national record with his 22 strikeouts against Queens University of Charlotte on March 15, 2019. For his efforts, he was named the NCBWA Division II National Pitcher of the Week. In his 13 starts, he posted 10 or more strikeouts on 10 occasions and was tabbed SAC and Region Pitcher of the Week, twice each.
Hall becomes Tusculum's 31st player to be drafted or sign professionally during the NCAA Division II era of the program (1998-present).
These three players join Lincoln Memorial's Ethan Elliott, who was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 10th round of the 2019 MLB Draft on Tuesday (June 4).
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