The Coastal Plain League had 38 current and former players taken in the 2022 Major League Draft. Leading things off was former Peninsula Pilots outfielder Gavin Cross (Virginia Tech), who went ninth overall to the Kansas City Royals. It was the seventh consecutive year that the CPL heard one of its alumni taken in the first round of the MLB Draft.

Cross spent part of the 2020 summer in Hampton, Va., with the Pilots. He batted .313 in 16 at-bats with five hits, including a triple. He scored three runs and tallied four RBIs to go with five walks and two stolen bases. Cross also finished with a .438 slugging percentage and a .476 on-base percentage. More recently, for the Hokies this past spring, Cross started 57 games, batting .328 with 80 hits, 70 runs scored and 50 RBIs. He connected on 14 doubles, eight triples, 17 homers and walked 30 times. He was also perfect on the base paths with 12 stolen bags to go with a 1.071 OPS.

In all, 23 players went in the first 10 rounds, including the likes of Carson Whisenhunt (East Carolina/High Point-Thomasville HiToms, 2020) and Tanner Schobel (Virginia Tech/Peninsula, 2020). Whisenhunt threw six innings across five appearances for the HiToms in 2020. He surrendered six runs – three earned – on eight hits, walked six and struck out 10. The freshman lefty finished with a 4.50 ERA. Meanwhile, Schobel batted .462 in three games for the Pilots the same summer. He had one home run, a pair of runs and RBIs, and stole one bag.

Peninsula and Savannah led the way with seven drafted alums each, followed by High Point-Thomasville and Holly Springs with six apiece, Macon with four and Lexington County and Martinsville both with three. Morehead City and Wilson each tallied two draftees, while Asheboro and Tri-City added one each.

A complete list of CPL players taken is below.

About Coastal Plain League:
The Coastal Plain League, brought to you by FloSports, is the nation’s premier summer collegiate baseball league. Now in its 26th season in 2022, the CPL features 14 franchises playing in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. To date, the CPL has had nearly 1,750 alumni drafted and 157 alums make their Major League debut – including 2017 ALCS MVP, 2017 World Series champion, 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander, as well as 2017 NLCS MVP Chris Taylor. For more information on the Coastal Plain League, please visit the league website at www.coastalplain.com, and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok @CPLBaseball.