APPLESOX KESTON HIURA BECOMES HIGHEST MLB DRAFT PICK IN WCL HISTORY

The Milwaukee Brewers took Keston Hiura with the 9th overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, to make him the highest MLB Draft pick in WCL history.

SECAUCUS, N.J. – Keston Hiura (2015) was selected No. 9 overall in the 2017 MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, Monday. At No. 9, Hiura is now the highest-drafted former WCL player and the league’s 10th player to be selected in the First Round of an MLB Draft.

The AppleSox now lead the WCL in former players selected in the First Round of MLB Drafts, with four. That mark leads the WCL, ahead of Bellingham (3), Corvallis (2), and Kelowna (1).

Hiura joins Clayton Mortensen (2007, St Louis, 36th), Marco Gonzales (2013, St. Louis, 19th), and James Kaprielian (2015, New York Yankees, 16th) as former AppleSox to be selected in the First Round.

Hiura hit .442 this spring for the UC Irvine Anteaters, and won the NCAA Division I batting title, while also leading the country in on-base percentage.

In Wenatchee, during the 2015 summer, he earned first-team All-WCL honors. He hit .356 for the Sox with 21 doubles, 6 homers and 42 RBIs; and a league-leading 6 triples, 119 total bases and .623 slugging percentage.

If the AppleSox can work in a second selection in the First Round of the 2017 MLB Draft, they will become the first team in WCL history to have two former players taken in the First Round of the same MLB Draft.