In spite of the fact that 2010 was an historically bad year for the Georgia pitching staff, three of the Diamond Dogs’ hurlers were selected in the major league baseball draft.
The present Red and Black roster remained unrepresented after the first 165 picks before junior right-hander Justin Grimm was taken in the fifth round by the Texas Rangers. He was followed by senior Jeff Walters, whose seventh-round selection by the New York Mets marked the fifth time in his career his name was called in the draft. Fellow senior Alex McRee, who was sidelined last year with mononucleosis, fell to the fourteenth round before being picked by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Also chosen in the draft was Ralston Cash, a right-handed pitcher from Cornelia and Bulldog signee. Cash was a second-round pick of the Dodgers, and was taken 78th overall. He was joined by fellow Red and Black signees Drew Cisco (Cincinnati Reds, sixth round) and Jeff Shields (Arizona Diamondbacks, seventh round), both pitchers.
Georgia has sent at least one player to the professional ranks in each of the last 37 seasons, and the eleven Athenians drafted in 2009 were the most selected from any school in the country.
SB Nation’s continuing coverage of the major league baseball draft is available here.
Go ‘Dawgs!