2011 MLB Draft


The Coastal Plain League announced Friday that 99 players, both former and players signed for the 2011 season were selected during the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Kes Carter (picture courtesy of Ralph Wood), a former Peninsula Pilot in 2009 and 2010, highlighted this year’s CPL draft class after hearing his name called in the first supplemental round, 56th overall to the Tampa Bay Rays. A total of 18 CPL players were taken in the first 10 rounds of this year’s draft, the third highest total during the league’s 15-year history. The CPL has had 314 players drafted in the last three years alone.

All of the CPL’s 15 clubs had a player taken in the 2011 draft. The Peninsula Pilots led the way with 15 former and current players selected. Florence and Edenton tallied the second-highest amount with 11 each, while Fayetteville followed with nine. Columbia and Thomasville were next with eight each, while Forest City (including Spartanburg), and Morehead City both witnessed seven players taken off the board. Martinsville had six, followed by Gastonia, Wilmington and Wilson with five each. Finally, Asheboro, Outer Banks and Petersburg rounded things out with four selections apiece.

The complete list of CPL players – both former and players signed for the 2011 season – taken in this year’s draft is below:

Coastal Plain League Alumni Drafted In 2011 Major League Draft 
Round Overall Player College/University MLB Team Drafted By CPL Team(s)
1-S 56 Kes Carter Western Kentucky Tampa Bay ‘09 Peninsula
2 83 Will Lamb Clemson Texas ‘09, ‘10 Peninsula
3 94 Mike Wright East Carolina Baltimore ‘09 Asheboro
3 103 Pratt Maynard N.C. State Los Angeles (NL) ‘09 Forest City
2-S 121 Carter Capps Mount Olive Seattle ‘09 Martinsville / ‘10 Fayetteville
4 128 Mark Lowery James Madison Cleveland ‘10 Petersburg
4 137 Jason King Kansas State Detroit ‘08 Fayetteville
5 175 Ryan Wright Louisville Cincinnati ‘09 Thomasville
6 209 Jake Cave LSU New York (AL) ‘11 Peninsula
7 215 Trent Howard Central Michigan Baltimore ‘09, ‘11 Wilson
8 247 Greg Holt North Carolina Washington ‘08 Asheboro / ‘10 Wilson
8 249 Taylor Dugas Alabama Chicago (NL) ‘09 Thomasville
8 263 Kevin Quackenbush South Florida San Diego ‘08 Fayetteville
9 300 James Rice Western Kentucky Tampa Bay ‘10 Peninsula
10 302 Taylor Lewis Maine – Orono Pittsburgh ‘09 Florence
10 310 Kyle Hallock Kent State Houston ‘09 Peninsula
10 326 Logan Robbins Western Kentucky Atlanta ‘10 Peninsula
10 327 Kentrell Hill Arkansas Baptist San Francisco ‘11 Edenton
11 334 William Locante Cumberland Arizona ‘09 Florence
11 344 Drew Wingo South Carolina Los Angeles (NL) ‘08 Gastonia / ‘09 Columbia
11 359 Mark Montgomery Longwood New York (AL) ‘10 Edenton / ‘11 Peninsula
12 368 Steven Sides Samford Cleveland ‘08 Martinsville
12 376 Xavier Macklin North Carolina A&T Oakland ‘09 Wilson / ‘10, ‘11 Asheboro
12 382 Deshorn Lake East Carolina Boston ‘11 Peninsula
13 415 Nickolas Fleece Texas A&M Cincinnati ‘08 Fayetteville
13 418 Steven Evans Liberty Minnesota ‘08 Wilson
14 434 Justin Bourdreaux Southeastern Louisiana Los Angeles (NL) ‘10 Martinsville
15 463 Jhiomar Veras Western Oklahoma State Florida ‘10 Gastonia
15 468 Timothy Smalling Virginia Tech Colorado ‘07 Wilson
15 470 Matthew Williams Liberty St. Louis ‘09, ‘10 Columbia
15 476 Francis Cornely Wofford Atlanta ‘08, ‘09, ‘10 Outer Banks
16 501 Chris Bassitt Akron Chicago (AL) ‘10, ‘11 Edenton
16 511 John Black Kentucky Philadelphia ‘08 Forest City / ‘10 Columbia
17 517 Esteban Guzman San Jose State Washington ‘11 Edenton
17 522 Jonathan Clark Lee New York (NL) ‘11 Gastonia
17 532 Blake Forslund Liberty Boston ‘11 Columbia
18 548 Shawn Armstrong East Carolina Cleveland ‘10, ‘11 Morehead City
18 556 David Powers Sam Houston State Oakland ‘11 Morehead City
18 560 Kyle Hald Old Dominion St. Louis ‘10 Peninsula
18 562 Andrew Jones Samford Boston ‘08 Martinsville
18 568 Corey Kimes Illionis Minnesota ‘11 Fayetteville
19 586 Eric Potter Maryland Oakland ‘09 Outer Banks
19 590 Nick Gillung Mercyhurst St. Louis ‘09 Florence
19 596 Troy Snitker North Georgia Atlanta ‘10 Outer Banks
19 600 Matthew Ramsey Tennessee Tampa Bay ‘09 Thomasville
21 633 Joseph DiRocco Seton Hall Seattle ‘10 Edenton
21 649 Peter Mooney South Carolina Toronto ‘10 Florence
22 663 John Taylor South Carolina Seattle ‘09 Florence
22 676 Rhett Stafford Marshall Oakland ‘09 Edenton
23 705 Zachary Borenstein Eastern Illinois Los Angeles (AL) ‘10 Morehead City
23 710 Patrick Deese Western Carolina St. Louis ‘08 Wilmington / ‘09, ‘10 Florence
24 726 Spencer Patton SIU-Edwardsville Kansas City ‘07 Spartanburg / ‘08, ‘09 Forest City
24 740 Jonathan Cornelius Florida Tech St. Louis ‘10 Martinsville
25 756 Mark Threlkeld Louisiana Tech Kansas City ‘11 Thomasville
25 757 Erick Fernandez Georgetown Washington ‘10 Peninsula
25 766 Chad Oberacker Tennessee Tech Oakland ‘10 Morehead City
25 775 Justice French Mercer Cincinnati ‘08 Wilmington
25 776 Will Skinner Middle Tennessee State Atlanta ‘08, ‘09, ‘10 Forest City
26 787 Shawn Pleffner Tampa Washington ‘11 Fayetteville
26 801 Grant Buckner West Virginia Chicago (AL) ‘09, ‘10 Forest City
27 837 Steven Snodgrass Austin Peay State San Francisco ‘08 Martinsville
27 838 Chris Mazza Menlo College Minnesota ‘10, ‘11 Wilmington
28 852 Jharel Cotton Miami Dade C.C. New York (NL) ‘10 Peninsula
28 856 Thomas Girdwood Elon Oakland ‘08 Thomasville / ‘10 Morehead City
28 866 Matthew Talley The Citadel Atlanta ‘10 Wilmington
29 877 Sean Cotten Tusculum College Washington ‘08, ‘09 Asheboro
30 908 John Polonius Genessee C.C. Cleveland ‘11 Edenton
30 914 Adam McConnell Richmond Los Angeles (NL) ‘10 Peninsula
31 933 Kyle Hunter Kansas State Seattle ‘10 Petersburg
31 954 Matthew Leeds College of Charleston Texas ‘09 Columbia
32 967 Billy Burns Mercer Washington ‘10 Edenton
32 969 Peter Levitt Mount Olive Chicago (NL) ‘11 Gastonia
32 987 Michael Mergenthaler Richmond San Francisco ‘09, ‘10 Peninsula
32 990 Ryan Turner Tarleton State Tampa Bay ‘11 Edenton
32 991 Gregory Herbst St. Mary’s Philadelphia ‘10 Edenton
33 1012 David Chester Pittsburgh Boston ‘09, ‘10 Gastonia
34 1026 Ali Williams Charleston Southern Kansas City ‘09 Florence
35 1054 Ross Gerdeman Bowling Green Arizona ‘11 Columbia
35 1057 Alex Kreis Jamestown College Washington ‘10 Florence
35 1068 Richard Pirkle Georgia Coll. & State Colorado ‘09 Florence
35 1075 Samuel Kimmel Indian River St. College Cincinnati ‘11 Morehead City
36 1110 David Kubiak Albany Tampa Bay ‘09, ‘10 Outer Banks
37 1136 Ryne Harper Austin Peay State Atlanta ‘09 Wilmington
38 1155 Frank DeJiulio Tampa Los Angeles (AL) ‘11 Fayetteville
38 1161 Keegan Linza Liberty Chicago (AL) ‘08 Columbia
39 1182 Charles Thurber Tennessee New York (NL) ‘09 Thomasville
39 1190 Tyler Melling Miami St. Louis ‘09 Thomasville
40 1206 Ben Waldrip Jacksonville Kansas City ‘11 Forest City
41 1250 Michael Knox Mount Olive St. Louis ‘10 Fayetteville / ‘11 Morehead City
41 1257 Steven Neff South Carolina San Francisco ‘09 Florence
42 1280 Cody Poarch Walters State St. Louis ‘11 Forest City
45 1360 Christopher Epps Clemson Houston ‘09 Thomasville
48 1451 Michael Francisco Villanova Milwaukee ‘09 Petersburg
48 1465 Jon Webb South Carolina Cincinnati ‘10 Columbia
48 1467 Jacob Smith Campbell San Francisco ‘10 Florence
49 1475 Ronnie Shaban Virginia Tech Baltimore ‘09, ‘10 Petersburg
49 1493 Ryan Hutchison Western Kentucky San Diego ‘11 Peninsula
50 1525 Kevin McKague U.S. Military Academy Atlanta ‘08 Fayetteville
50 1529 Ian Tomkins Abilene Christian Tampa Bay ‘10 Edenton