NEW ORLEANS - Four Sun Belt Conference student-athletes were selected on day two of the 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Three pitchers and one shortstop heard their names called on Thursday with Coastal Carolina's Zach McCambley coming off the board with the 75th pick in round three to the Miami Marlins. McCambley becomes the 14th Chanticleer to be taken in the first five rounds of the annual MLB draft and the first since Michael Paez was taken in the fourth round by the New York Mets in 2016.
As the Chants' Friday night starter in 2020, McCambley was 3-1 with a 1.80 ERA, which included three quality starts on the mound. He threw 25.0 innings over four starts, striking out 32 batters, walking seven, and allowing just five earned runs. He held his opponents to a .208 batting average on the season, struck out six batters or more in each contest, and matched his career-high with 10 punch-outs versus Saint Joseph's on Feb. 21.
Over his three years at Coastal Carolina, McCambley went from the bullpen to the ace of the rotation. He posted a 12-4 overall record with one save and a 3.89 ERA over 44 appearances, including 22 starts. He fanned 158 batters over 141 innings while allowing just 59 walks, a 2.7-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He recorded five quality starts and over his 22 starts, the Chants posted a 16-6 record overall.
Appalachian State's Jack Hartman was next off the board from the Sun Belt, going in the fourth round (pick 108 overall) to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was the second college senior taken in the entire draft.
Pittsburgh made Hartman the fourth-highest selection of an App State player in school history and the highest pick of a Mountaineer since outfielder/pitcher Tony Welborn went 70th overall as a third-round selection of the Montreal Expos in 1986. Hartman had a solid debut for the Mountaineers while throwing 21.2 innings in 2019. Hartman excelled in a pandemic-shortened senior year, striking out 22 batters in 12.0 innings and posting a 3.00 ERA with a 1-0 record and league-leading four saves for an 11-6 team.
His 10 appearances were highlighted by a victory during a five-out relief effort in which he struck out four batters, including the final three, on a rainy night at No. 24 Wake Forest with lots of MLB scouts in attendance.
Troy's Levi Thomas went with the next pick, 109th overall, to the San Diego Padres. Thomas is the sixth Trojan in program history to be selected in the top five rounds of the draft.
The Cullman, Ala., native, burst onto the national scene with an impressive 2020 season, despite making just four starts before the season was abruptly ended due to COVID-19.
The Collegiate Baseball All-American posted a miniscule ERA of 0.39, a top-15 mark in the country in 2020. Thomas amassed 42 strikeouts in 23.0 innings – the 10th-most nationally – while holding opposing batters to an average of .117. His WHIP of 0.65 was the 17th-best in the nation this season.
Thomas earned back-to-back Sun Belt Pitcher of the week honors to open the season and was also named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week after beginning the year with seven consecutive strikeouts en route to fanning a career-high 14 batters in five innings on Opening Night.
Louisiana's Hayden Cantrelle was selected in the fifth round (pick 151 overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers. He was the only non-pitcher selected in the draft from the Sun Belt. Cantrelle is the first Ragin’ Cajun selected in the top five rounds since 2018.
Cantrelle, a switch-hitting shortstop, was a mainstay on the field, starting 135 consecutive games for the Cajuns while hitting .280 for his career with 14 home runs and 59 runs batted in. He also had a .440 slugging percentage and a .405 on-base percentage.
Cantrelle etched his named into the Ragin' Cajun record books after tallying a three-home run game on March 16, 2019 against Little Rock, becoming the 10th player in program history to do so, and hitting for the cycle on March 19, 2019 against Northwestern State, making him the fourth player in program history to accomplish that feat.
Zach McCambley, Coastal Carolina, RHP
Round 3, Pick 75 - Miami Marlins
Jack Hartman, Appalachian State, RHP
Round 4, Pick 108 - Pittsburgh Pirates
Levi Thomas, Troy, RHP
Round 4, Pick 109 - San Diego Padres
Hayden Cantrelle, Louisiana, SS
Round 5, Pick 151 - Milwaukee Brewers