The Major League Baseball draft concluded last weekend, and nine players who played at one of the local high schools were drafted: McIntosh’s Trevor Pippin and John King, Starr’s Mill’s Casey Bond and Brian Fletcher, East Coweta’s Brad Emaus, Brett Butts and Rico Reid, Northgate’s Will Smith and Fayette County’s Joseph Edens.

Pippin was the highest drafted local player. The Anaheim Angels selected Pippin, an outfielder/first baseman, with the 148th overall pick in the fourth round. It was the second time Pippin was drafted; the Arizona Diamondbacks drafted Pippin following his senior season at McIntosh with the 861st overall pick in the 29th round of the 2005 draft.

While at McIntosh, Pippin was voted onto the 2004 Perfect Game All-Star Team as a first baseman, was rated the No. 7 player in Georgia and was an all-county and all-region selection both his junior and senior years.

Pippin will start playing with the Orem Owlz in Orem, Utah next Tuesday. Life for him, as well as all of the players who were selected in the draft, has been crazy since being picked. Pippin stated that his phone has been ringing off the hook, but it was nice to re-connect with his former coaches, who were excited for him.

The next local player drafted was Emaus, a junior second baseman at Tulane and a four-year letterman at East Coweta. The Toronto Blue Jays picked Emaus with the 355 overall selection in Round 11. Like Pippin, it was the second time Emaus was drafted; he was picked by the Atlanta Braves in the 18th round in 2004.

Emaus hit .329 with five home runs, 35 RBIs and 43 runs scored last season at Tulane.

Emaus was a four-time All-Region 4-AAAAA honoree at East Coweta, and he led the Indians to a combined 92-25 record in four years as a prepster, with four playoff appearances and a state runner-up finish as a junior. Emaus, a Street & Smith All-American in 2004, was a career .426 hitter at East Coweta and finished his high school career with 27 doubles, 13 triples, 25 home runs, 122 RBI and 68 stolen bases. He was named team MVP, Silver Slugger and Gold Glove winner as a senior after hitting .509 with eight homers, 60 RBI and 40 stolen bases.

Right-handed pitcher John King, who played his high school ball at McIntosh and college ball at Lipscomb, was the next local player drafted. The San Francisco Giants selected King with the 524th overall pick in Round 17. King was an all-region selection and defensive MVP at McIntosh.

McIntosh coach Toby Black was elated to hear that two of his former players were drafted.
“Trevor Pippin and John King are both good ballplayers,” Black said. “They both have a lot of talent and are hard workers. I was lucky enough to coach both of them.”

Auburn junior and former East Coweta standout Brett Butts, a right-handed pitcher, was drafted in the 19th round by the Atlanta Braves with the 588th overall pick. As a junior in 2007 for the Tigers, Butts was 2-2 with a 2.83 ERA and was Auburn’s top relief pitcher, recoring a team-high six saves and 54 strikeouts.

Butts was a three-year letterman at East Coweta. He helped lead East Coweta to the most successful three-year period in school history with an 82-20 record during those three years and set school records for wins in 2003 with 29 and broke that record in 2004 with 31.

In the 25th round, two more local players were drafted: Lipscomb center fielder and former Starr’s Mill standout Casey Bond, who was picked by San Francisco with the 764th overall selection, and Reid, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher who was drafted by Braves with the 768th overall pick.

Bond, who was born in San Francisco, had a terrific workout for the St. Louis Cardinals prior to the draft. Bond, was a pitcher and outfielder at Starr’s Mill, shipped out with his college roommate and teammate King on Sunday and is currently in Scottsdale, Ariz., going through another screening process.

Reid was one of the primary reasons the Indians reached the quarterfinals last season. He went 6-4 with a 1.94 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 72 innings pitched in his senior season.

Starr’s Mill shortstop and Auburn signee Brian Fletcher was drafted next, going to the Houston Astros in Round 39 with the 1,180th overall pick. Fletcher hit .412 with eight home runs and 25 RBI, a .598 on-base percentage and a .838 slugging percentage in his senior season.
Fletcher was excited to be drafted, but he is leaning heavily toward playing for Auburn and bypassing the majors.

“It feels pretty neat to be drafted; I’ve wanted to play in the major leagues since I was a kid,” Fletcher said. “Playing at Auburn would be great, too. It’s a win-win situation for me. Right now, it’s more than likely that I will be playing at Auburn.”

If he attends Auburn, Fletcher could start right away as a middle infielder.

“Coach [Tom] Slater likes to bring in new kids and have them play early,” Fletcher said. “So I should have a chance to play, and maybe even start, right away.”

The last two local players who were drafted were Northgate left-hander Will Smith (Round 40, 1,192 overall, Tampa Bay Devil Rays) and Samford right-hander Joseph Edens (Round 44, 1,305 overall, Giants).

Smith was 13-1 his senior season and 39-4 in his four seasons at Northgate.

In his Samford career, Edens set a school record with 22 saves. He is also tied for second in school history in wins with 17.

Sports editor Michael Boylan contributed to this story.

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