Date Posted: 6/6/2006

Twenty-one Atlantic Sun Conference standouts were selected in the 2006 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. First Team All-Atlantic Sun selection Chris Johnson of Stetson was the highest drafted league player, going in the fourth round to the Houston Astros. Day one included 18 rounds with the remainder of the draft concluding with 32 more rounds on Wednesday.

Johnson was the 129th overall pick in the draft and the fourth selection by the Astros. He is the fifth highest (June) draft pick in school history. Johnson, a third-team All-American (Collegiate Baseball) batted .376 with 11 home runs and 66 RBI this past season. He played in all 62 games for the Hatters (38-24) and ranked among the league leaders in several offensive categories, including first in hits (92) and RBI (66). Johnson earned NCAA and Atlantic Sun all-tournament team honors in 2006. He batted .455 with nine homers and 44 RBI in 30 A-Sun games. Overall he hit safely in 49 of his 62 contests and has collected 29 multi-hit games. After two seasons, Johnson owns the highest career batting average (.379) in school history.

Full Listing of A-Sun Players Chosen
Rd. 4 – 129 (HOU) 1B Chris Johnson, Stetson
Rd. 5 – 146 (SF) OF Mike McBryde, FAU
Rd. 9 – 266 (SF) SS Brian Bocock, Stetson
Rd. 11 – 345 (CWS) RHP Andrew Urena, Mercer
Rd. 13 – 394 (NYM) IF Daniel Murphy, Jacksonville
Rd. 15 – 447 (ARI) SS Matt Oxendine, UNF
Rd. 16 – 491 (CLE) OF Stephen Douglas, ETSU
Rd. 17 – 500 (PIT) RHP Mike Crotta, FAU
Rd. 17 – 522 (LAA) SS Tadd Brewer, Lipscomb
Rd. 18 – 535 (BAL) LHP Nathan Nery, Stetson
Rd. 19 – 569 (CHC) LHP Jeremy Papelbon, UNF
Rd. 20 – 616 (STL) RHP Brandon Cooney, FAU
Rd. 21 – 626 (SF) LHP Steven Calicutt, ETSU
Rd. 22 – 665 (BAL) LHP Chris Salberg, FAU
Rd. 22 – 671 (CLE) SS Chuck Hargis, ETSU
Rd. 25 – 747 (ARI) OF Shane Byrne, ETSU
Rd. 27 – 815 (FLA) LHP Jeremy Hall, ETSU
Rd. 27 – 823 (BOS) RHP Brantley New, Mercer
Rd. 36 – 1092 (LAA) SS Alex Fonseca, FAU
Rd. 48 – 1443 (BOS) RHP Josh Papelbon, UNF
Rd. 49 – 1470 (LAA) 1B Gordie Gronkowski, Jacksonville

LISTING BY TEAM
ETSU (5) – Stephen Douglas; Steven Calicutt; Chuck Hargis, Shane Byrne; Jeremy Hall
FAU (5) – Mike McBryde; Mike Crotta; Brandon Cooney, Chris Salberg; Alex Fonseca
Jacksonville (2) – Daniel Murphy; Gordie Gronkowski
Lipscomb (1) – Tadd Brewer
Mercer (2) – Andrew Urena; Brantley New
UNF (3) – Matt Oxendine; Jeremy Papelbon; Josh Papelbon
Stetson (3) – Chris Johnson; Brian Bocock; Nathan Nery

Related Links:
 • MLB.com