MLB Draft: Recap of the ACC and America East Conferences

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For the first time, the 2021 MLB draft was held during the league’s All-Star festivities in Denver, Colorado. The three-day event was held around the mid-summer classic, and by all accounts, it went well. Although we cannot say for certain, this could be the way that major league baseball handles the draft for at least the near future. This notes column will focus on two leagues that we spend time with during the college baseball season, the Atlantic Coast Conference and the America East Conference. Let’s take a look at how they did on draft week.

For the ACC, draft week went very well. The league had a total of 63 players taken in the 20 rounds of the draft. The ACC was the only league in all of college baseball to have at least one player taken in every round. Each of the 14 schools in the league has at least one player drafted. North Carolina State led the way with eight players taken. Twelve players were selected in the first 100 overall picks.

In the first round alone, the league had three players selected in the first 25 picks including the number one overall pick catcher Henry Davis going to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The selection of Davis by the Pirates marks the fifth player from a current ACC school to be taken at #1. The three picks in the first round make it thirty straight years that the conference has had at least one player taken in the opening round of the draft. Davis becomes the first Louisville player to be taken with the number one overall pick. Louisville is the first school in NCAA history to have a player chosen number one overall in MLB, NBA, WNBA, and MLS. Twenty-seven of MLB’s thirty teams took players from the ACC. The Cincinnati Reds and the Detroit Tigers led with five players chosen.

America East did not have the same impact in the draft that the ACC did. But that is not to say they were left out. In the seventh round, with pick number 206, the San Francisco Giants selected Maine Black Bears right-handed pitcher Nick Sinacola. He becomes the league’s highest pick since 2018. Sinacola was this season’s conference pitcher of the year, setting a single-season record for strikeouts with 139 in 79 innings pitched He also ranked second in the nation in K/9. Maine would be the only school in the conference to have players sign with MLB teams.

Alex McKenney signed a free-agent deal with the Philadelphia Phillies after the draft was completed. McKenney had a solid season as the number 2 man in the starting rotation. He was twice named conference pitcher of the week, throwing 56.1 innings with 43 strikeouts and a 3.67 ERA. Since Nick Derba became the head coach of the Black Bear program, they have had multiple players sign professional contracts in every season except 2020. Overall, Maine now has 118 players signed into pro ball.

Stay with us for more news from both of these conferences.