Four PBC Baseball Players Selected in Major League Draft

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Four Peach Belt Conference baseball players were selected in the recently completed Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Georgia College & State University’s Andrew Reichard and Michael Antonini were chosen along with Francis Marion’s Dylan Owen and Armstrong Atlantic State’s Jeremy Horst.

Reichard was the highest PBC player selected with the 404th pick in the 13th round by the San Francisco Giants. A 6-foot-4 righthander, Reichard has played one season for the Bobcats after transferring from Glouster County College, going 6-2 with a 2.95 ERA as the No. 2 starter for GCSU. He also compiled 38 strikeouts over his 61 innings, including a brilliant start at the NCAA South Atlantic Regional, going 7 1/3 innings in the win over Armstrong Atlantic State University.

Antonini was taken in the 18th round with the 573rd pick by the New York Mets. It is the second time Antonini has been drafted in his two seasons with the Bobcats, as he was picked in the 41st round by the Philadelphia Phillies a season ago. Antonini was an All-American in 2006 and in his two seasons after transferring from Glouster County, went 18-7 with a 3.42 ERA. Antonini also fanned 152 in his 192 innings over that two-year span as the Bobcat ace.

Owen was the 633rd player selected also by the Mets in the 20th round. This past season, Owen was 10-1 with one save and a 1.14 earned run average. He struck out 121 batters in 102.1 innings pitched, walked only 19, and opponents hit just .208 against him, including a .178 figure by right-handed batters. He recorded three complete games, had six contests with double-figure strikeouts, and established a new PBC career record for strikeouts with 334. Owen was named the 2007 NCAA Division II national Pitcher of the Year by two different voting groups. He earned first-team Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association All-America honors each of the past two years. He was also selected as the Peach Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year for both 2006 and 2007.

Horst was selected moments later with the 649th pick in the 21st round by the Cincinnati Reds. Horst pitched in 24 games as a senior in 2007, going 4-0 with a 5.88 ERA and one save. He struck out 42 batters in 33.2 innings pitched and, in his two-year career as a Pirate, went 8-2 with 102 strikeouts in 96.2 innings pitched. The 6-4, 220-pounder was previously drafted out of high school by Pittsburgh in the 34th round in 2003.

63 Divsion II players were selected overall in the 50-round draft.