Rounds 2-15 of MLB draft yields 10 with Az high school ties

June 5, 2012 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Two players who just wrapped up their prep careers in Arizona and eight others with Arizona prep ties attending Arizona colleges were selected Tuesday on the second day of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.

Just concluding their prep careers and chosen Tuesday were Chaparral outfielder Dylan Cozens in the second round to the Philadelphis Philles (77th pick overall) and Mountain Pointe outfielder Joey Curletta by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth round.

Cozens slammed 19 home runs in the 2012 season for Division I state champion Chaparral, including the game-winning homer in the bottom of the seventh to nail down a win over Brophy. Cozens has signed with the University of Arizona, where he can play footbal. He indicated after being drafted he plans on signing with Philadelphia. Same goes for Curletta, who had a huge junior year (2011) with the bat in helping the Mountain Pointe win the big-school crown. His power numbers tailed off in 2012 , but his potential and size were appealing enough to be nabbed by the Dodgers.

Hamilton High's Mitch Nay was the only other 2012 prep grad in the state to be selected. He was chosen with a sandwich pick at No. 58 on Monday night by the Toronto Blue Jays. Nay, who has signed with ASU is likely going to sign with Torono before the mid-July deadline.

Rounding out Arizona prep grads who were drafted Tuesday from either the junior college or college ranks were Arcadia's Joey DeMichele, (2B ASU, 3rd round); Desert Ridge's Jake Barrett (pitcher ASU, 3rd round Arizona Diamondbacks); Skyline's Trey Lang (pitcher Gateway CC, 6th round Chicago Cubs); Cienega's Seth Mejia-Brean (3B-UofA, 8th round Cincinnati); Globe's Brady Wager (pitcher Grand Canyon U, 9th round Baltimore); Sunnyside's Julio Felix (pitcher Pima CC, 12th round Detroit); Millennium's Tyler Booth (pitcher Central Arizona CC, 13th round Cleveland) and Gilbert High's Erick Gonzalez  (pitcher Gateway CC, 15th round, Houston).

The final day of the draft is Wednesday (June 6) with rounds 16-40 completing the three-day marathon. Selections begin at 9 a.m. Arizona time.