West Coast League alum Adley Rutschman of Oregon State was selected as the No. 1 overall pick of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Baltimore Orioles. The former Corvallis Knights standout becomes the first WCL alum in league history to be taken as the first overall pick in the MLB Draft.
Not only did Rutschman play for Corvallis in 2016, he spent a lot of his formative years in the dugouts and bullpens for the Knights. His dad, Randy, coached for the Knights from 1999-2004. Prior to playing for Corvallis he also caught bullpens for the team when he was an underclassman in high school. He appeared in ten games in 2016 with the Knights before getting hurt. He was selected to play in the WCL All-Star Game, but did not play because of injury. He did attend the game at Cowlitz. He hit .256 during his time with Corvallis.
In addition to Rutschman, Victoria HarbourCats alum Andrew Vaughn was selected No. 3 overall by the Chicago White Sox. Vaughn appeared in seven games for the HarbourCats in 2017 before leaving to join the USA National Collegiate team.
Rutschman and Vaughn are now the two highest selected alumni in the WCL’s history. They surpass Nick Madrigal, who was taken with the fourth overall selection of the 2018 MLB Draft.
Rounds 3-10 of the MLB draft will be held Tuesday, with rounds 11-40 set for Wednesday, June 5.
