Boston Red Sox Select Augusta State’s Shannon Wilkerson In 8th Round of MLB Draft

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta State junior outfielder Shannon Wilkerson was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the eighth round of Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft Wednesday afternoon.

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.