South Dakota State University outfielder Zach Coppola and pitcher Adam Bray were each selected by National League teams on Wednesday, the final day of the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft.
A native of Windsor Heights, Iowa, Coppola was selected in the 13th round (384th overall) by the Philadelphia Phillies. During the recently completed 2015 season, Coppola earned first-team all-Summit League honors after leading the league with a single-season school-record 39 stolen bases in as many attempts, and compiling team bests of a .373 batting average, 78 hits, 53 runs scored, 38 bases on balls and a .475 on-base percentage. He also ranked among the national leaders in outfield assists with 11 from his center field position.
A three-year starter, Coppola has tallied 157 hits in 156 career games en route to posting a .327 career batting average. His 62 career stolen bases rank second on the all-time Jackrabbit charts. He would have one year of eligibility remaining should he opt not to sign with the Phillies.
Bray, a right-hander from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, was selected by Los Angeles Dodgers in the 33rd round (1,002nd overall). A three-time all-Summit League honoree, Bray finished his collegiate career last month as the Jackrabbits’ career leader in strikeouts (264), innings pitched (326 2/3) and games started (51), while ranking second in wins with a 23-16 career record. He posted an 8-4 record during the 2015 season with a 2.96 earned run average in 14 starts, striking out 80 and walking only 25 in 91 1/3 innings.
Coppola and Bray are the 12th and 13th Jackrabbit players to be selected in the Major League Baseball draft since its inception in 1965. They are the sixth and seventh different SDSU baseball players to be selected since 2007, and the first since pitcher Layne Somsen was picked in the 22nd round of the 2013 draft by Cincinnati. Somsen has since been promoted to the Reds Triple-A affiliate in Louisville, Kentucky.
The 2015 draft marks only the second time two Jackrabbit players were selected in the same draft. In 1985, pitchers Rich Morehouse and Greg Kallevig were drafted by the California Angels and Chicago Cubs, respectively.
In addition, Jackrabbit signee Will McAffer, a right-handed pitcher from North Vancouver, British Columbia, was selected in the 32nd round (955th overall) by the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday afternoon.
