Brewers select C Clint Coulter and OF Victor Roache in the first round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft
Milwaukee selects OF Mitch Haniger in the supplemental first round
The Milwaukee Brewers tonight selected C Clint Coulter from Union (WA) High School with the 27th overall pick and OF Victor Roache from Georgia Southern University with the 28th pick overall in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft. The Brewers also drafted OF Mitch Haniger from Cal Poly (California) in the supplemental first round with the 38th overall selection. Milwaukee received the 27th and 38th selections as a result of the Detroit Tigers signing first baseman Prince Fielder via free agency.
Coulter, 18, batted .405 (17-for-42) with three home runs, 11 RBI and 18 stolen bases as a senior at Union (WA) High School. He was named the 2012 Class 4A Greater St. Helens League’s Player of the Year. His manager was former Major League catcher Tom Lampkin, who played for the Brewers in 1993.
A multi-sport athlete in high school, Coulter was the Washington Class 3A state wrestling champion at 189 pounds after going 39-1 as a sophomore. He gave up wrestling last year to concentrate on baseball. Coulter, who played in the 2011 Under Armour All-America Baseball Game at Wrigley Field, committed to play baseball at Arizona State University.
Roache, 20, missed the majority of the season with a broken left wrist after diving for a ball in February. He batted .412 (7-for-17) with 2 HR and 5 RBI in six games this past season. As a sophomore in 2011, he batted .326 with 30 home runs and 80 RBI while starting all 62 games for the Eagles. His 30 homers led the nation. He spent the summer of 2011 in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Cotuit Kettleers (43g, .309, 6hr, 28rbi). Roache was a First Team All-State selection at Lincoln (MI) High School. He was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 25th round out of high school in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, but did not sign.
Haniger, 21, was named the 2012 Big West Conference Player of the Year. He batted .346 and led the league in home runs (13) and RBI (64) during his junior season at Cal Poly. The center fielder was a Second Team Louisville Slugger Division I All-America selection. He also led the conference in slugging percentage (.626), total bases (132) and sacrifice flies (7).
In 2010, he was named the Big West Freshman Player of the Year and he led Cal Poly in doubles and home runs as a sophomore in 2011. He played summer ball for the Green Bay Bull Frogs of the Northwoods League in 2011, where he hit .277 with seven doubles, five home runs and 22 RBI. Haniger, who also played football as a wide receiver in high school, set the school receiving record at Archbishop Mitty (CA) High School, catching 85 passes for 888 yards and seven touchdowns. His brother, Jason, was a four-year catcher at Georgia Tech and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2008.
The 2012 First-Year Player Draft, which is comprised of 40 rounds, will continue tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT for Rounds 2-15. The Draft will resume on Wednesday for Rounds 16-40 at 11 a.m. CT and will continue through its conclusion (ending approximately at 4 p.m.).