Miami's Yonder Alonso will finish his Miami career in June in the CWS before joining the Reds.

Major League Baseball clubs selected 79 former and current Valley Baseball League players during the recent 2008 First-Year Player Draft held on Thursday, June 5 and Friday, June 6.  Five free agent signings run the grand total to 84.

After having its highest pick in 2007 in the supplemental round, the Valley League saw a former player picked seventh overall when Yonder Alonso of the University of Miami was selected by the Cincinnati Reds.  Alonso, who helped lead the Luray Wranglers to the Jim Lineweaver VBL Championship in 2006, is currently leading Miami into the College World Series.  He was one of four Hurricanes to play in the VBL and be picked in the first three rounds.

The draftees included each of the last two Valley League MVPs in Auburn star Luke Greinke and West Virginia’s Tyler Kuhn.  Greinke was the 2007 MVP with the Winchester Royals and was picked by the New York Yankees in the 12^th round.  Kuhn was the 2006 league MVP and was taken in the 15^th round by the Chicago White Sox.

Luray headlined the list of draft selections with 19 former players taken by MLB organizations.  Staunton had 12 selections and Covington added nine.  Waynesboro tallied eight, Harrisonburg and Winchester each had seven, Woodstock added six, and New Market chipped in five.

National League clubs chose 50 Valley Leaguers, compared to 29 taken by American League teams.  The Florida Marlins, New York Mets, Houston Astros, and Cincinnati Reds each selected five to lead the way.  The closest franchise to the VBL, the Washington Nationals, selected three.  The Baltimore Orioles, which led all teams in 2007 with six draftees, was one of only three MLB teams to not pick a Valley League player in 2008, along with the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians.


Valley League Selections in 2008 MLB Draft
Name, College, Round#/Overall Pick#, (VBL team and year) MLB Team

Yonder Alonso, Miami, 1/7 (Luray ’06), Cincinnati Reds
Carolos Guitierrez, Miami, 1/27 (Luray ’07), Minnesota Twins
Ryan Flaherty, Vanderbilt, 1A/41 (Waynesboro), Chicago Cubs
Dennis Raben, Miami, 2/66 (Staunton ’06), Seattle Mariners
Craig Kimbrel, Wallace State C.C., 3/96 (Harrisonburg), Atlanta Braves
Blake Tekotte, Miami, 3/101 (Woodstock ’06), San Diego Padres
Jason Kipnis, Arizona State, 4/135 (Covington ’07), San Diego Padres
Pete Andrelczyk, Coastal Carolina, 5/148 (Waynesboro ’07), Florida Marlins
Collin Cowgill, Kentucky, 5/168 (Covington ’05), Arizona Diamondbacks
John Gaston, Arizona, 7/212 (Harrisonburg), Houston Astros
Eric Campbell, Boston College, 8/254 (Luray ’06), New York Mets
Ryan Verdugo, Louisiana State, 9/267 (Staunton ’08), San Francisco Giants
Jared Bolden, VCU, 9/273 (Luray ’08), Texas Rangers
Steven Caseres, James Madison, 9/277 (Staunton ’07, ’08), Los Angeles Dodgers
Michael Bowman, VMI, 9/278 (Staunton ’06), Milwaukee Brewers
Billy Morrison, Western Michigan, 9/282 (Winchester), Seattle Mariners
Charles Leesman, Xavier, 11/330 (Staunton ’07), Chicago White Sox
Dominic de la Osa, Vanderbilt, 11/336 (Waynesboro), Minnesota Twins
Brandon Turner, Mississippi State, 12/358 (Covington ’07), Florida Marlins
Corey Young, Seton Hall, 12/363 (Covington ’06), Texas Rangers
Matthew Wright, Shippensburg, 12/369 (New Market), Toronto Blue Jays
Braulio Prado, St. Leo’s, 12/379 (Woodstock), Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Luke Greinke, Auburn, 12/380 (Winchester ’07), New York Yankees
Michael Harrington, Charleston, 13/396 (Luray ’05), Minnesota Twins
Mike McKenna, Florida Atlantic, 14/413 (Haymarket ’05), Tampa Bay Rays
Michael Schwimer, Virginia, 14/436 (Winchester ’06), Philladelphia Phillies
Tyler Kuhn, West Virginia, 15/450 (Luray ’06, ’07), Chicago White Sox
Phil Disher, South Carolina, 15/452 (Front Royal ’05), Houston Astros
Joey Butler, New Orleans, 15/453 (New Market), Texas Rangers
Mitch Herold, Central Florida, 16/502 (Luray ’06), Boston Red Sox
Addison Maruszak, South Florida, 17/530 (Woodstock ’06), New York Yankees
David Genao, Oral Roberts, 18/533 (Haymarket ’07), Tampa Bay Rays
Jared Bradford, Louisiana State, 18/545 (Luray ’06), St. Louis Cardinals
Ben Guez, William & Mary, 19/583 (Covington ’06), Detroit Tigers
Zach Rosenbaum, Charlotte, 19/584 (Woodstock ’07), New York Mets
Trey Sutton, Southern Mississippi, 20/597 (Covington ’05), San Francisco Giants
Wade Korpi, Notre Dame, 20/598 (Staunton ’05, ’06, ’07), Florida Marlins
Michael Hollander, Louisiana State, 20/603 (Luray ’07), Texas Rangers
Bryan Woodall, Auburn, 21/648 (Winchester), Arizona Diamondbacks
Karim Turkamani, Miami-Dade, 22/669 (Luray ’08), Toronto Blue Jays
Neil Schenk, Memphis, 23/683 (Woodstock ’06, ’07), Tampa Bay Rays
Ryan Sontag, Arizona State, 23/701 (Winchester ’07, ’08), Chicago Cubs
Evan LeBlanc, Santa Clara, 23/704 (Harrisonburg ’06), New York Mets
Enrique Garcia, Miami, 24/719 (Winchester ’05, ’06), Cincinnati Reds
Shane Moody, Charlotte, 24/730 (Woodstock ’06, ’07), Atlanta Braves
Robert Taylor, Arkansas-Little Rock, 25/748 (Harrisonburg ’07), Florida Marlins
Joseph Garrett, Charleston, 25/751 (Luray ‘07/Staunton ’07), Washington Nationals
Trey Barham, VMI, 25/754 (Front Royal ’06), Oakland Athletics
Rebel Ridling, Oklahoma State, 25/761 (Covington ’05), Chicago Cubs
Adam Severino, Miami, 26/786 (Luray ’07), Minnesota Twins
Ryan Bergh, Old Dominion, 26/796 (Front Royal ’06), Philadelphia Phillies
Elih Villanueva, Florida State, 27/808 (Luray ’05, ’07), Florida Marlins
Danny Rodriguez, Miami-Dade, 26/816 (Staunton ’08), Arizona Diamondbacks
Tommy Johnson, Marshall, 27/822 (Fauquier ’07), Seattle Mariners
Jeff Flagg, Mississippi State, 27/824 (Covington ’07), New York Mets
Nick Arata, Florida Atlantic, 28/841 (New Market), Washington Nationals
Chris Jackson, VCU, 29/872 (Luray ’08), Houston Astros
Matt Baugh, San Francisco, 29/887 (Harrisonburg ’05, ’06), Colorado Rockies
Jeremy Thorne, Florida Southern, 29/889 (Staunton ’05, ’06/Waynesboro ’06), Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Andrew Frezza, Barry, 31/952 (Luray ’07), Boston Red Sox
Matt Payne, North Carolina State, 34/1014 (Staunton ’07), Pittsburgh Pirates
Brian Pruitt, Stetson, 34/1021 (Luray ’05), Washington Nationals
Jacob Elmore, Arizona State, 34/1038 (Winchester), Arizona Diamondbacks
Ross Vagedes, Wright State, 35/1061 (Waynesboro ’05), Chicago Cubs
Matt Way, Washington State, 36/1077 (Harrisonburg ’08), San Francisco Giants
Ricky Bowen, Mississippi State, 38/1139 (Covington ’06), Cincinnati Reds
Michael Roberts, VMI, 38/1148 (Staunton ’08), Milwaukee Brewers
Bobby Hernandez, Barry, 38/1162 (Staunton ’07), Boston Red Sox
Nate Nelson, Worcester State, 40/1209 (New Market), Toronto Blue Jays
Tyler Howe, Kentucky, 41/1244 (Luray ’06), New York Mets
Ryan Danbury, North Florida, 42/1262 (Waynesboro), Houston Astros
Ryan Wood, East Carolina, 42/1268 (Harrisonburg ’07), Milwaukee Brewers
Kevin Ferguson, Tampa, 43/1309 (Luray ’05), Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Chris Taylor, Charlotte, 45/1354 (Luray ’05), St. Louis Cardinals
Mike Modica, George Mason, 46/1379 (Haymarket ’07), Houston Astros
Brandon Sizemore, Charleston, 46/1382 (Waynesboro ’06, ’07), St. Louis Cardinals
David Torcise, South Florida, 47/1403 (Staunton ’05, ’06), Cincinnati Reds
Zack Foster, Pitt-Bradford, 49/1452 (New Market), Pittsburgh Pirates
Kevin Leslie, Faulkner, 50/1484 (Waynesboro), Cincinnati Reds

Free Agent Signings
Brandon Beachy, Indiana Wesleyan, (Woodstock '08), Atlanta Braves
Shane Buriff, Saint Leo, (Woodstock '07), Chicago White Sox
Shawn Joy, Southern Illinois, (Harrisonburg '06), New York Yankees
Brett Sellers, James Madison, (Front Royal '07), Washington Nationals
David Wagner, Old Dominion, (Winchester '06), Texas Rangers


To report any corrections to this list or omissions, please email the Media Relations Director.