Poythress Heads List of 102 Coastal Plain League Alumni Selected

The Coastal Plain League announced Friday that 102 players, both former and players signed for
the 2009 season, were drafted in the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. A list that featured nine players selected in the first 10 rounds was highlighted by Rich Poythress of Georgia, who played for the Thomasville HiToms in 2007, and went in the second round, 51st pick overall to the Seattle Mariners.

The 102 players drafted is the second-most CPL alumni total drafted since the league started back in 1997. In 2008, 115 CPL alums were selected in the draft - giving the CPL 217 drafted players in the past two years alone. All 30 MLB teams selected at least one CPL alum in 2009; and all exisiting clubs of the current 15 CPL franchises had at least one alum drafted. The Thomasville HiToms led with 11 players drafted, while the Fayetteville SwampDogs and Forest City Owls (Spartanburg included) each had 10 players drafted. The Florence RedWolves and Wilson Tobs each recorded nine drafted alums, while the Edenton Steamers and Petersburg Generals were next with eight each. The Gastonia Grizzlies followed with seven draftees, and then the Asheboro Copperheads, Columbia Blowfish, New Bern River Rats, and Wilmington Sharks each had six. The Outer Banks Daredevils posted five drafted alums, while the Peninsula Pilots followed with four and the Martinsville Mustangs rounded things out with one alum taken in the draft.