Palmeiro, Gallen and Wilson among local college and high school players in Friday’s MLB Draft

N.C. State junior Preston Palmeiro will have a chance to play where his father Rafael starred for seven of his 20 seasons. The left-handed hitting first baseman was taken by the Baltimore Orioles in the seventh round (211th overall) of the Major League Baseball Draft on Friday.

He was one of several area college and high school players taken in the MLB Draft’s second day. The draft began Thursday with the first two rounds and continued with 3-10 on Friday. It concludes with 30 more rounds on Saturday.

NCAA juniors, junior college players and high school seniors have the option to turn down MLB teams if the two sides cannot come to an agreement.

North Carolina junior right-handed pitcher Zac Gallen was taken in third round (106th overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals and junior center fielder Tyler Ramirez was taken in the seventh round (202nd) by the Oakland Athletics.

Both of those Tar Heels could have Wolfpack teammates.

The Cardinals took N.C. State junior catcher Andrew Knizner a few picks after Palmerio in the seventh round (226th) and the Athletics picked left-handed senior reliever Will Gilbert early in the eighth (232nd). Gilbert was also prep standout at Green Hope High School.

North Carolina had a third player taken when junior right-handed pitcher A.J. Bogucki was taken by the Washington Nationals in the eighth round (244th).

Duke junior right-handed pitcher Bailey Clark, whose fastball has reached 99 miles per hour, was taken in the fifth round by the Chicago Cubs (164th).

High schoolers

So much for specialization. Two-sport stars Bryse Wilson of Orange and D.J. Daniels of Fike High in Wilson were the only two high school players selected from North Carolina in the draft’s first 10 rounds.

Wilson, a right-handed pitcher committed to North Carolina, threw three no-hitters this year including a perfect game. His fastball tops out at 96 miles per hour. Wilson, who was taken by the Atlanta Braves in the fourth round (109th), was all was also an all-state football player who lined up at quarterback, running back, receiver, linebacker and kicker.

Daniels was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the sixth round (192nd). Daniels, an outfielder, is a two-sport star who has signed with James Madison to play both baseball and football.

Among the area high school players who were not taken are Bunn High’s Spencer Brickhouse (an East Carolina recruit), Orange’s Brad Debo (a South Carolina recruit) and D.H. Conley’s Bryant Packard (East Carolina).

This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Palmeiro, Gallen and Wilson among local college and high school players in Friday’s MLB Draft."