State First Baseman Connor Powers Drafted By Los Angeles Dodgers
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State junior first baseman Connor Powers was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday in the 11th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Powers, from Naperville, Ill., was the 337th overall selection in this year’s draft and the first State player tabbed by the Dodgers since 1999.
After two seasons as MSU’s starting third baseman, Powers moved across the diamond and started 53 of MSU’s 54 games at first base. A
.315 career hitter, Powers compiled a .301 batting average in 2009, tying for fifth in the SEC with 19 home runs and seventh in the league with a .668 slugging percentage. He paced the Bulldogs with 49 runs scored, 15 doubles and 63 RBI.
In just his first season at first base, Powers registered a .998 fielding, committing but one error in 422 defensive chances and having a hand in 46 of State’s 56 doubles plays.
Powers belted eight home runs as a freshman in 2007, 11 in 2008 and 19 in 2009, the most by a Bulldog player since 2004 (Brad Corley). He swatted 14 home runs in SEC competition, tops in the league, and in three seasons totaled 38 roundtrippers, ninth-most in MSU baseball history.
Two members of MSU's 2008-09 baseball recruiting class were also taken onthe second day of the draft. Junior college outfielder Runey Davis from Georgetown, Texas (Howard College) was selected in the 12th round by the Chicago Cubs while left-handed pitcher C.C. Watson of Heflin, Ala., (Cleburne County HS) was a 29th-round pick of the Texas Rangers.