Loveland’s Alec Hansen, now at Oklahoma, was selected in the second round of the 2016 MLB Draft on Thursday night. (OU athletic communications)
Alec Hansen is leading the way for Colorado baseball in the 2016 MLB Draft.
Hansen, a graduate of Loveland High School who is now a junior at the University of Oklahoma, was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the second round of the draft on Thursday night.
A 6-foot-7 right-handed pitcher, Hansen went with the No. 49 overall pick to become the first Colorado product taken in this year’s MLB Draft. He was the lone local taken on the first day of the three-day event.
This is the highest a Loveland player has ever been drafted. Previously, the school’s top pick was Scot McCloughan going in the 10th round directly out of high school in 1989.
Hansen is Colorado’s highest draft pick since Thomas Jefferson alum Kyle Freeland went in the first round of the 2014 draft. There were no in-state players selected on the first day of last year’s draft.
Hansen was also drafted out of high school after he graduated in 2013, going in the 25th round to the Colorado Rockies. He opted to play at Oklahoma instead of signing.
The hard-throwing pitcher went 3-5 with a 5.40 ERA at Oklahoma this season, and struck out 75 batters against 39 walks in 51 2/3 innings.
“I know I’m one of the best pitchers in college baseball,” Hansen told CHSAANow.com in May. “That just pushes me to work harder to achieve my potential.”
The MLB Draft began on Friday with the first 77 picks — spanning the first, second, compensation and lottery rounds — on Thursday. It continues with rounds 3-10 on Friday, and things wrap up with rounds 11-40 on Saturday.
Follow all of this season’s local picks in the 2016 MLB Draft here.