Former Jesuit ace first local selected in MLB draft

Posted Jun 8, 2010 by Adam Adkins

Updated Jun 8, 2010 at 01:41 PM

Former Jesuit pitcher Sam Dyson has become the first player with local ties selected in the 2010 Major League Baseball draft.

Dyson, a right-hander now at the University of South Carolina, was taken in the fourth round (126th overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday afternoon.

This is the third time Dyson was been selected in baseball’s amateur draft. He was a 19th round pick by the Washington Nationals as a high school senior in 2006, and last year was a 10th round pick by the Oakland Athletics. He was unable to agree to terms both times.

Dyson was rated the nation’s 106th best prospect in this year’s crop of talent by Baseball America. He is 5-5 with a 4.00 ERA in 15 starts this season for the Gamecocks. He’s tossed three complete games and struck out 93 in 87 2/3 innings pitched.

South Carolina is still alive in the NCAA postseason. The Gamecocks will face Coastal Carolina in an NCAA Super Regional in Myrtle Beach, S.C., with a trip to the College World Series on Omaha, Neb., on the line. The best-of-three series begins Saturday.