Cherry Creek alum Griffin Jax, now at Air Force, was drafted in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft. (Courtesy of Air Force athletic communications)
The second day of the MLB Draft was Friday, and the first local off the board was Cherry Creek alum Griffin Jax.
Jax was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the third round with the No. 93 overall pick. He just finished his junior season as a right-handed pitcher at Air Force, in which he went 9-2 with a 2.05 ERA and struck out 90 batters in 105 1/3 innings.
It is the second time Jax has been drafted. He was picked in the 12th round out of high school in 2013, but opted to play at Air Force instead of starting a pro career.
His selection also adds to the legacy of Cherry Creek. This is the 49th time a player who went through that program has been drafted, which is most in state history, but it is the first time since 2013 that a Cherry Creek player was taken — when four Bruins were selected. That group included Jax.
Jax’s selection followed Loveland alum Alec Hansen in this year’s draft. Hansen went in the second round on Thursday night.
Legend alum Bobby Dalbec, now at Arizona, was drafted in the fourth round. (Stan Liu/Arizona Athletics)
A round after Jax on Friday, in the fourth, 2013 Legend graduate Bobby Dalbec was selected by the Boston Red Sox with the 118th overall pick.
Dalbec is now a junior two-way player at the University of Arizona, who plays third base and is also one of the team’s best pitchers. He is hitting .266 with six home runs and 38 RBIs this season.
He also is 9-4 with seven saves, a 3.28 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 71 1/3 innings as a pitcher, but was drafted as a third baseman.
Dalbec is just the second player from Legend to ever be drafted, following Greg Pickett last season.
The next Colorado product off the board was 2013 Broomfield graduate Brandon Bailey, who was drafted by the Oakland A’s in the sixth round. A right-handed pitcher, he is now a junior at Gonzaga University.
This spring, Bailey helped the Bulldogs reach the Regional round by going 10-3 with a 2.42 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 100 1/3 innings of work. He held opposing hitters to a .214 batting average.
Bailey is Broomfield’s 10th pick in MLB Draft history, and the first since 2011.
After a few rounds of silence, Regis Jesuit alum Peter Bayer was taken by the Tampa Bay Rays in the ninth round. Bayer just finished his senior season at Cal Poly Pomona where he went 2-2 with a 4.39 ERA. He did however lead the team in opposing batting average with opposing hitters only batting .198 off him.
At Regis Jesuit, he was an All-Continental League pick in his junior and senior seasons and helped the Raiders come away with the 2011 5A state championship.
Only 17 picks later, Fossil Ridge alum Julian Garcia. Garcia, a sophomore at Metro State, was taken by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Garcia went 5-6 in his freshman campaign, one of the better freshman seasons in school history.
He is just the second player from Fossil Ridge to ever be drafted.
As a senior with the Sabercats, he threw 32 innings, finishing with an impressive 2.19 ERA. He also showed he wasn’t bad swinging the bat as he hit .510 with three home runs and 14 RBIs.
A complete list of locals taken so far in the 2016 MLB Draft is available here.