MLB Draft: Two make history as first-ever picks from their schools
Woodland Park’s Jeremy Gwinn and Windsor’s Jake Greenwalt made history on Saturday, becoming the first-ever alums of their respective schools to be selected in the MLB Draft.
In all, 16 more products of Colorado products were drafted on the final day of the 2016 draft, bringing the total to 22 players. That figure is tied for the seventh-most in state history since the draft began in 1965.
Six high school seniors were drafted this year, as well as 16 former Colorado high school baseball players who are now playing in college.
Gwinn started the day off for locals as a 12th-round pick of the Kansas City Royals, going with the No. 373 overall selection. He graduated from Woodland Park in 2013, and is now a 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher who just finished his sophomore season at Colby Community College in Kansas.
Woodland Park was founded in 1890, and, according to CHSAANow.com research, it has not previously ever had a player taken in the MLB Draft.
Gwinn went 8-2 with a 3.53 ERA in 79 innings this season at Colby CC, which included a team-best five complete games in nine starts. He struck out 104 batters, and walked 21. After the season, he was named first-team all-conference and first-team all-Region VI.
Windsor’s Greenwalt, meanwhile, became Windsor’s first-ever selection when the right-handed pitcher was taken by the San Francisco Giants in the 23rd round at No. 695 overall.
He was also the first 2016 graduate to be selected in this year’s draft.
A right-handed pitcher who stands 6-foot-2, Greenwalt was 9-0 with a 0.89 ERA in 55 1/3 innings for Windsor as the Wizards reached the Class 4A Final 4. After the season, he was named first-team all-state in 4A.
Greenwalt is committed to Northern Colorado.
Two rounds prior, in the 21st, Chaparral alum Max Kuhns was drafted by the New York Mets at No. 640 overall.
Kuhns, a 2013 graduate of Chaparral, just finished his junior season as a right-handed reliever at Santa Clara in which he went 1-4 with a 2.21 ERA in 40 2/3 innings. He made 28 appearances, and struck out 37 batters, while walking 16.
Kuhns is the fourth draft pick in history from Chaparral, where he starred in both football and baseball.
In the 24th round, 2012 Fort Collins graduate J.D. Hammer — now a senior at Marshall — was selected by the Rockies at No. 710 overall.
Hammer, a right-handed pitcher, was 4-2 for Marshall this spring, and had a 4.88 ERA in 66 1/3 innings. He had 56 strikeouts against 24 walks.
Hammer is the sixth draft pick out of Fort Collins High School.
Highlands Ranch alum Nick Shumpert, who graduated in 2015, was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 28th round. A second baseman, he spent this past season at San Jacinto College North in California.
He hit .284 with a home run and 16 RBIs, and also stole 15 bases this spring.
Shumpert was also drafted out of high school, going in the seventh round of last year’s draft.
After Shumpert, three locals were drafted in the 29th round.
First, Conifer alum Earl Henderson was drafted by the White Sox at No. 866 overall. Henderson, a first baseman, is a redshirt sophomore at Central Arizona College, and hit .406 with six home runs and 47 RBIs this season.
Henderson graduated from Conifer in 2013, and is the school’s second-ever draft pick.
Seven picks later, 2013 Pine Creek graduate Dane Hutcheon was drafted by the Minnesota Twins. A shortstop at Montevallo in Alabama, he hit .365 with three home runs and 43 RBIs this season.
Just five picks after that, Regis Jesuit senior Bo Weiss was drafted by the New York Yankees. A right-handed pitcher, and member of the 5A all-state team this spring, he went 7-1 with a 2.91 ERA, striking out 61, and walking just 15.
Weiss, the son of Rockies manager Walt Weiss, is a North Carolina commit. His older brother, Brody, was drafted in the 22nd round in 2013.
Things kept up at a furious pace in the 30th round.
Nick Highberger, a 2012 graduate from Rye who is now at Creighton, went to the Oakland A’s at No. 892 overall. A senior, he went 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA in 39 1/3 innings pitched this season.
Highberger is the second alum from Rye to be drafted, following former teammate Denton Keys, who went in 2013.
Later in the round, 2014 ThunderRidge graduate Brody Westmoreland was selected by the Houston Astros. In his lone season at the College of Southern Nevada following a transfer from San Diego State, Westmoreland hit .375 with 11 home runs and 40 RBIs.
Westmoreland was drafted out of high school, going in the 35th round in 2014.
Two high school seniors were next.
Cherry Creek’s Nate Sweeney went in the 33rd round to the Chicago Cubs. An Arizona commit, Sweeney was drafted as a right-handed pitcher.
He appeared in nine games for the Bruins this season, and was 1-3 with a 4.85 ERA in 21 2/3 innings. Sweeney also plays infield and outfield, and hit .389 with four home runs and 26 RBIs. He was a first-team all-state pick in 5A.
Sweeney is Cherry Creek’s 50th all-time draft pick, which is the most in state history.
Green Mountain senior Wyatt Featherston was drafted by the Rockies in the 34th round as a center fielder. He is committed to Western Kentucky.
Featherston, a member of 4A’s all-state first team, hit .472 with 12 home runs and 29 RBIs this season. He also stole 14 bases.
This is Green Mountain’s third time having a player drafted, and first since 1991.
In the 36th round, the Yankees drafted 2012 Legend grad Tyler Honahan, who is now a senior left-handed pitcher at Stony Brook.
He went 5-6 with a 5.25 ERA as a starter, throwing 70.1 innings with 62 strikeouts and 36 walks.
Honahan is the second Legend product taken in the 2016 draft, after Arizona’s Bobby Dalbec (fourth round), and third in program history.
In the next round, the 37th, 2014 Pueblo South graduate Cory Voss was drafted by the Washington Nationals. Voss is a sophomore catcher at McLennan (Texas) College, and hit .384 with 11 home runs and 53 RBIs this season.
Voss was previously drafted out of high school, in the 34th round.
Regis Jesuit had another senior selected when outfielder Quin Cotton was drafted by the Rockies in the 38th round. Cotton, a first-team all-state pick in 5A, is committed to Grand Canyon University in Arizona.
Cotton hit .514 with three home runs with 28 RBIs this spring, and stole a team-high 14 bases.
The 39th round saw the Rockies take another local senior — Fruita Monument catcher Cuba Bess. Bess, a Grand Canyon commit, hit .507 with a home runs and 19 RBIs this season.
He is Fruita Monument’s seventh all-time draft pick, and first since 2009.
Six alumni of Colorado high school baseball were selected on the first two days of the MLB Draft, including Loveland alum Alec Hansen going in the second round on Thursday, and five additional college players drafted on Friday.
