Kennesaw State catcher Max Pentecost was selected by Toronto with the No. 11 pick in the first round of baseball’s first-year player draft on Thursday.
Pentecost, a native of Winder, becomes the highest-selected player in school history. Chad Jenkins was formerly the school’s top pick, going 20th to Toronto in 2009.
“I’m absolutely thrilled,” Pentecost said.
Pentecost is batting .423 with a Division I-leading 110 hits, including 23 doubles, nine homers, 58 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. He had a slugging percentage of .631. Playing in all 62 games, he also had a 36-six game hitting streak. He has thrown out 21 of 41 base runners this season.
Pentecost and the Owls will play at Louisville in a best-of-three Super Regional that starts Friday. Pentecost, his dad Maxwell, mom Wanda and sister Britt joined the team to watch the draft in a hotel room in Kentucky.
Pentecost and coach Mike Sansing thought the Blue Jays would likely take him. Sansing said they scouted Pentecost on consecutive days more than any other team during the season. Pentecost hit for them before one of the games in last week’s Tallahassee regional.
Sansing said the Blue Jays have given no indication that Pentecost will play anything other than catcher. If catcher doesn’t work out, Pentecost said his athleticism will help him move to another position.
Pentecost was named the Atlantic Sun Conference player of the year and an All-American by Louisville Slugger, two of many awards he received.
He was selected by the Rangers in the seventh round of the 2011 draft after a standout career at Winder-Barrow High School. Coming off surgery to repair a stress fracture on his arm, he chose to sign with Kennesaw State instead.
He said it was a gamble that worked out.
“Coming to college and showing I can play healthy, that I can possibly prove my athleticism was the goal and that’s what we were able to do,” he said.
Pentecost’s stock began to rise again after a solid showing in last summer’s Cape Cod League, where he hit .346 with six homers and 29 RBIs.
Sansing said Pentecost will become a good pro because it seems he already acts like a pro.
“Always conscientious in his weight training, his practice schedule, his diet, his stretching,” Sansing said. “Everything you need a player to do, he’s never taken shortcuts with anything.”
Pentecost didn’t want to know what Toronto’s bonus slot allowance is ($2.88 million), saying that he was going to let his dad handle that. He did say that he would eventually like to buy a new truck.
Now, Pentecost can switch his focus back to the season. The winner of the Super Regional will advance to the College World Series.
“The draft is done with now,” he said. “We are still playing ball. I’m going to enjoy it and try to make it to Omaha.”
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