The Yankee organization is getting a tremendous person and a player who has big league-type stuff on the mound. Once Kolton puts everything together, the sky will be the limit for him. – BYU baseball coach Mike Littlewood
For the second straight year, BYU right-handed pitcher Kolton Mahoney found himself being taken in the Major League Baseball draft.
On Wednesday, the New York Yankees selected the junior in the 16th round of the draft with the 483rd overall pick. Mahoney was drafted in 23rd round last year by Milwaukee but did not sign with the team.
He has until July 17 to sign with the Yankees. According to a BYU news release, Mahoney said he will sign with the organization.
“The entire Cougar baseball family is happy for Kolton and his family,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said in the BYU release. “He's worked hard every single day since returning home from his mission and I really believe Kolton's best days are ahead of him. The Yankee organization is getting a tremendous person and a player who has big league-type stuff on the mound. Once Kolton puts everything together, the sky will be the limit for him. We wish him the best as he begins his professional career.”
Mahoney was rated the No. 173 overall prospect in this year's draft by Baseball America. He went 4-8 in 13 starts this season for the Cougars, striking out 91 and earning a 5.27 ERA in 85 1/3 innings pitched.
Despite not signing with the Brewers last year, Mahoney did play amateur short-season ball for the Orleans (Massachusetts) Firebirds in the Cape Cod League last summer. He finished his stint there with six starts, a 3-2 record, one save, a team-high 47 strikeouts and a 1.97 ERA in regular-season play. Three times, he had double-digit strikeouts for Orleans, including 13 in a playoff victory.
Mahoney, a West Point native, is third-highest MLB draft pick for BYU in the past five years. In 2013, outfielder Jacob Hanneman was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the third round and third baseman Adam Law was picked by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 12th round.
Mahoney was the ninth pitcher selected by the Yankees in the 2015 draft. The last Cougar to be taken by the Yankees in the draft was outfielder Matt Carson in 2002.
Other Utah ties to be drafted Wednesday include:
— Dixie State left-handed pitcher Porter Clayton was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 19th round (568th overall). Clayton went 5-5 in 13 starts last season as a junior, with a 5.20 ERA and a team-high 60 strikeouts.
— Makay Nelson, a right-handed pitcher from who prepped at Maple Mountain High, was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 20th round (589th overall). He was 6-6 in 2015 with a 3.82 ERA as a sophomore at the College of Southern Idaho.
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