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Baseball: Trio of former Coppell players selected in MLB draft
By Justin Thomas, Jthomas@starlocalnews.com
One of the highlights from the 2012 District 8-5A baseball season was an April 5 extra innings duel between Flower Mound and Marcus in which starting pitchers Cody Gunter and Colin Poche' struck out 16 batters apiece as the Jaguars secured a 1-0 victory in eight innings.
If scouts hadn't taken notice of Gunter and Poche' previously, they sure did following the showdown and the results were the pair being among a handful of local prospects which were selected in the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
Marcus' Poche' went on the second day of the draft as his rights were snagged by the Baltimore Orioles with the 162nd pick overall.
Also selected in the draft were a trio of 2009 Coppell graduates as Austin Elkins, Jonathan Walsh and Jacob Morris each saw their names taken off the board.
Walsh, an outfielder at Texas, was selected in the 11th round (No. 357) by the Los Angeles Angels while Elkins, a second baseman at Dallas Baptist, went in the 19th round (No. 579) to the Houston Astros. Morris, meanwhile, was selected in the 37th round (No. 1,133) by the Cleveland Indians after playing outfield in college at Arkansas.
Carroll product and Texas A&M pitcher Ross Stripling, meanwhile, was chosen by the Los Angeles Dodgers (No. 176).
"I haven't gotten a chance to talk to Jacob or Jonathan yet, but I know Austin [was signing last Friday]," said former Coppell head baseball coach Don English, who coached the trio. "The other two could very well sign too. They're all three great athletes with good skill sets that I can see staying in the game for a while.
"Jacob has great speed, Jonathan has all the tools and can switch hit, and Elkins is another switch hitter that has some pop. He kind of reminds me of a Dustin Pedroia type."
English said two other players from the '09 squad -- which was ranked No. 1 in the state for most of the season before being upended by Grapevine in the first round of the playoffs -- had a chance to be drafted as well but were not.
"Zak Hermans was our ace pitcher and I thought he might go as well," he said. "He was the Ivy League Pitcher of the Year at Princeton. And Chad Kettler was playing very well at Oklahoma before he had to stop playing early in his career because of an injury."
Kettler, who was selected in the 2009 draft, is now a student at North Texas.
This year is the second time Walsh and Morris have been selected. In 2009, Walsh went in the 18th round to the San Francisco Giants (No. 537), while Morris went in the 35th round to the Washington Nationals (No. 1,042).
English's inkling proved to be correct as Walsh signed and sent in his contract to the Angels on Monday.
"I'm excited," Walsh said, "and I just want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to fulfill my dream of playing professional baseball."
Walsh will head to Tempe for a minicamp after which he will be shipped off to his playing destination.
"I got to Tempe Thursday and we'll see from there," he said. "My family and I are just ecstatic. I had a good idea I was going to be selected and I just wanted to go as high as possible. To be selected by an organization like Angels is a blessing."
Walsh said that while growing up in the Metroplex he was a fans of the Rangers and other Metroplex teams.
"I know [the Rangers and Angels] are rivals," he said. "But to be honest, I'm just glad to be in professional baseball. If I happen to be playing against the Rangers, then things have gone very well."
Walsh also acknowledged he was pleased with his decision to bypass signing out of high school and attend Texas.
"I had three incredible years in Austin," he said. "It was a great experience. Our season didn't end how we wanted this year, though. We missed out on the postseason, which was the only time that happened when I was there. So I've already had a couple of weeks off and I'm ready to start playing again and get out on the right path."
Walsh believes he will play either left or right field.
Elkins, who found out he was drafted when he was bombarded with texts while eating lunch with a DBU teammate, signed with the Astros and will play middle infield.
"I'm excited for this new opportunity and new point in my life," he said. "I signed my contract last Friday and I fly out to New York [Tuesday] for a seven-day training camp. Then our season starts on June 20."
Elkins will play for the Tri-City Valley Cats in the New York Penn League (A).
Morris, meanwhile, is currently busy helping his Arkansas squad reach the College World Series.
The Razorbacks dropped Game 1 of their NCAA Super Regional series against Baylor but rallied to win Games 2 and 3 to advance to the CWS. Morris was one of eight Razorbacks selected in the draft.
The players selected from Flower Mound, meanwhile, aren't quite as clear on their intentions at this point.
"I'm proud of both Cody and Jack and it couldn't go to two more deserving kids," said Marte Amrine, former Flower Mound head baseball coach. "They're both great kids and in addition to what they can do on the field, they bring a lot of intangibles off of the field. I've texted back-and-forth with both of them and I'm not sure what their decisions are, but it's great they'll both get the opportunity."
"Cody is a great two-way guy. He can pitch and I'm not sure what they are going to do with him, but I know he wants to get a chance to play third and swing the bat. He has also committed to Kansas State, though, so he has a tough decision there. Jack has a decision to make too, but he has great stuff and I think both of them have a chance to be successful at the next level."
While Gunter said he will take the next week to decide on whether to sign or attend Kansas State, Moffit has already decided he will not sign and instead play in college at Navarro.
"It was a cool feeling," Moffit said of being selected. "I wasn't really expecting to be drafted, so when I heard I was, it was kind of surprising. I was just hanging out with some buddies and doing a little fishing when I got a call from somebody with the Pirates."
Moffit said he opted to attend Navarro to get the college experience and an opportunity to improve his draft status.
High school players who are selected in the draft but choose to attend a Division I college must go to school for three years before they are eligible to be selected again. Players attending a junior college are eligible to re-enter the draft at any point.
"I'm still not sure what I am going to do," Gunter said. "It's a tough decision whether I want to go play in college and get that experience or if I want to try and get my pro career going. I thought I might get picked a little higher, but this is still great. They drafted me as a third baseman, so I'm pretty sure that's where they will have me to start."
Gunter said he was playing Xbox when his mom told him he had been selected. He then received a call from his advisor and began discussing the options. Gunter has until Friday to decide if we wants to sign or attend college. If he chooses the latter, he will head to Manhattan in late July.
2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft
Local players selected
Player, Round, #, Team, Position, College, Hometown
Alex Yarbrough, 4 (147), Los Angeles Angels, 2B, Ole Miss, Allen
Colin Poche', 5 (162), Baltimore Orioles, LHP, Marcus
Ross Stripling, 5 (176), Los Angeles Dodgers, RHP, Texas A&M, Southlake Carroll
Jonathan Walsh, 11 (357), Los Angeles Angels, Outfield, Texas, Coppell
Austin Elkins, 19 (579), Houston Astros, 2B, Dallas Baptist, Coppell
Cody Gunter, 19 (587), Miami Marlins, 3B, Flower Mound
Bo Altobelli, 21 (640), Minnesota Twins, C, Texas Tech, Plano Senior
Kale Kiser, 23 (711), Chicago White Sox, OF, Nebraska, Plano West
Jacob Johansen, 27 (826) Pittsburgh Pirates, RHP, Dallas Baptist, Allen
Jason Coats, 29 (891), Chicago White Sox, OF, TCU, Plano West
Jack Moffit, 31 (946), Pittsburgh Pirates, RHP, Flower Mound
Jacob Morris, 37 (1,133), Cleveland Indians, OF, Arkansas, Coppell
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