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.

FMU’s Josh Edgin taken by Braves in MLB Draft

Francis Marion University junior left-handed pitcher Josh Edgin was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 50th round of Major League Baseball’s 2009 First-Year Player Draft, Thursday (June 11).

Edgin was selected as the seventh pick in the 50th round (No. 1498 overall). A total of approximately 1,521 players were selected.

Edgin, a native of Three Springs, Pa., posted a 4-2 record this past season with a 4.04 earned run average. He appeared in 16 games, making 11 starts, and struck out 57 batters in 69 innings. Opponents batted .234 against him.

His two best starts may have been the final two of the season. He allowed only three hits and one run in seven innings while fanning nine in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship game, leading FMU to the title and earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Four days later, he tossed a two-hit shutout (5-0 FMU win) against nationally ranked Tusculum College in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Southest Regional.

Edgin has the option of signing with the Braves or returning to Francis Marion for his senior year.

Edgin is the eighth FMU player to be drafted over the past eight years, joining senior center fielder Justin Greene, selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 20th round (No. 600), and junior right-handed pitcher David Walters, picked by the Atlanta Braves in the 47th round (No. 1412) of the 2008 draft; right-handed pitcher Dylan Owen, chosen by the New York Mets in the 20th round (No. 633 overall) of the 2007 draft; left-handed pitcher Lee Tabor, taken by the Cincinnati Reds in the 30th round (No. 894 overall) of the 2006 draft; center fielder Quentin Davis, chosen by the Atlanta Braves in the 13th round of the 2005 draft; right-handed pitcher Erin Jones, chosen in the 31st round of the 2004 draft by the New York Mets; and left-handed pitcher Hal Chafey, chosen by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 20th round of the 2002 draft.

Francis Marion posted a 38-15-1 record in 2009 and finished second during the PBC regular season, won the PBC Tournament title, and earned its fourth NCAA Division II national tournament bid in the past seven years, placing third at the Southeast Regional. The Patriots were ranked 14th in the final 2009 Collegiate Baseball Magazine NCAA Division II Top 30 poll.