MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Isle baseball hopefuls wait to hear from bigs
The first day of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft went into the books yesterday without a player with Hawaii ties among the 202 prospects selected.
Six rounds were completed over 7 hours, one round ahead of last year's pace, with the 50-round draft set to resume today at 5:30 a.m. Hawaii time.
The Tampa Bay Rays selected Tim Beckham, a high school shortstop from Griffin, Ga., with the No. 1 pick. The Pittsburgh Pirates then chose Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez. Florida high school first baseman Eric Hosmer went third to the Kansas City Royals. The Baltimore Orioles took top college pitching prospect Brian Matusz out of San Diego and Florida State catcher Buster Posey went to the San Francisco Giants with the fifth pick.
Two players out of the Western Athletic Conference, both Fresno State pitchers, were drafted yesterday. Tanner Scheppers went to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second round with the 48th pick. Lefty Justin Wilson also went to the Pirates with the 144th pick.