Wilkerson, Edgin Selected in Major League Draft

NEW YORK, NY – Augusta State’s Shannon Wilkerson and Francis Marion’s Josh Edgin were both selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, which concluded on Thursday. Wilkerson was taken in the eighth round by the Boston Red Sox while Edgin was selected in the 50th round by the Atlanta Braves.

The 258th pick overall, Wilkerson is the highest draft pick in the 45-year history of the Jaguar baseball program. Wilkerson is also ASU’s first draft pick since 2002, when lefthander Mitch Douglas was taken in the 12th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks. His selection also marks the highest a PBC player has been drafted since the Florida Marlins took GCSU’s Matt Goyen in the third round in 2005.

A Dacula, Ga., native, Wilkerson was named the Division II National Player-Of-The-Year by the NCBWA (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) on June 4 and by Rawlings/ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) on May 26. He was previously selected the NCBWA Southeast Region Player-Of-The-Year, the ABCA Southeast Region Player-Of-The-Year and the Peach Belt Conference Player-Of-The-Year.

He was tabbed to the Rawlings/ABCA National Gold Glove Team on May 29 and to the Southeast Regional Gold Glove team. He did not commit an error in 146 chances, posting a 1.000 fielding percentage, and he paced ASU with five assists.

Wilkerson enjoyed a monster season offensively, setting five new, single-season records. He led the PBC in hitting (.441), slugging (.891), runs scored (82), hits (101), home runs (24) and triples (7). He also ranked second in the league with 82 RBI and paced ASU in 13 different offensive categories. He established new standards for batting average, runs scored, hits, RBI and total bases (204). His 101 hits were the fourth-highest, single-season total in PBC history while his 24 homers rated as the third-highest mark in conference annals. He also tied an ASU mark for most at-bats (229) while his 24 homers ranked as the third-most in single-season history.

Wilkerson jacked three home runs, setting a PBC tournament record in the process, in ASU’s 12-11 loss to North Georgia in the conference tourney semifinals on Sunday, May 10. Along with senior outfielder Tim Rawlings, he was named to the all-tournament squad.

Edgin was selected as the seventh pick in the 50th round (No. 1498 overall). A total of approximately 1,521 players were selected.

Edgin, a native of Three Springs, Pa., posted a 4-2 record this past season with a 4.04 earned run average. He appeared in 16 games, making 11 starts, and struck out 57 batters in 69 innings. Opponents batted .234 against him.

His two best starts may have been the final two of the season. He allowed only three hits and one run in seven innings while fanning nine in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship game, leading FMU to the title and earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Four days later, he tossed a two-hit shutout (5-0 FMU win) against nationally ranked Tusculum College in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Southest Regional.

Edgin has the option of signing with the Braves or returning to Francis Marion for his senior year.

Edgin is the eighth FMU player to be drafted over the past eight years, joining senior center fielder Justin Greene, selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 20th round (No. 600), and junior right-handed pitcher David Walters, picked by the Atlanta Braves in the 47th round (No. 1412) of the 2008 draft; right-handed pitcher Dylan Owen, chosen by the New York Mets in the 20th round (No. 633 overall) of the 2007 draft; left-handed pitcher Lee Tabor, taken by the Cincinnati Reds in the 30th round (No. 894 overall) of the 2006 draft; center fielder Quentin Davis, chosen by the Atlanta Braves in the 13th round of the 2005 draft; right-handed pitcher Erin Jones, chosen in the 31st round of the 2004 draft by the New York Mets; and left-handed pitcher Hal Chafey, chosen by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 20th round of the 2002 draft.

Francis Marion posted a 38-15-1 record in 2009 and finished second during the PBC regular season, won the PBC Tournament title, and earned its fourth NCAA Division II national tournament bid in the past seven years, placing third at the Southeast Regional. The Patriots were ranked 14th in the final 2009 Collegiate Baseball Magazine NCAA Division II Top 30 poll.