June 8, 2013
Six Hokies taken in 2013 MLB draft
Tech has three more chosen on final day

BLACKSBURG, Va. – On the final day of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Virginia Tech Hokies had three players hear their names called, bringing the total number of Tech players chosen in the 2013 draft to six – the second most ever in a single draft for the school.

The first player taken on Saturday was junior pitcher Eddie Campbell, chosen in the 15th round with the 447th pick by the Seattle Mariners. It’s the third time the Mariners have taken a Hokie, as the other two were Brian Fitzgerald (1996) and Brian Rupe (1981).

This is the second time that Campbell has been selected in the MLB draft, as he was a 44th round pick by the Cincinnati Reds, as the 1,327th selection back in 2010.

In the 27th round with the 816th pick, the Detroit Tigers chose senior pitcher Joe Mantiply. With this selection, Mantiply became the first Hokie player to be chosen three times in the MLB draft.

Out of high school, the New York Mets took him in the 48th round of the 2009 draft, and in 2012, the Philadelphia Phillies selected him in the 28th round, 62 picks later than this year.

Mantiply becomes just the second Tech player selected by the Tigers, as pitcher Ian Ostlund was taken back in 2001.

The third Tech player taken on the final day of the draft was junior pitcher Colin O’Keefe, who was selected in the 33rd round with the 997th overall pick by the Los Angeles Angels.

This was the fourth Hokie ever taken by the Angels organization, but the first by the “Los Angeles” team. California took Bimbo Coles in 1990 (54th round), while Anaheim took two – Larry Bowles in 2000 (30th) and Joe Saunders (12th overall pick).

O’Keefe was the fourth Tech player taken this year that was not drafted out of high school, joining Chad Pinder, Tyler Horan and Jake Joyce, while Campbell and Mantiply both improved their draft pick by more than 600 spots from their high school selections.

The six picks in the 2013 draft trailed only the 2010 draft for the number of overall picks (8) and was one better than the 1982 draft. The six picks also brought the total number of Hokies taken in the MLB draft to 84 total selections.

For updates on Virginia Tech baseball, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Baseball).

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