ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals selected eight players on the second day of the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft, taking six pitchers (5 RHP & 1 LHP), an outfielder and a catcher among their selections in rounds 3-through-10 that were held today. All eight players selected were Division 1 college players and two of them on our teams that will be playing in the NCAA Super Regionals this coming weekend.  The following is a look at the team’s selections from earlier today:

Tony Locey (low-SEE), 3rd round (96th overall) from University of Georgia, 6-3, 239 lb., right-handed pitcher. Locey was the ace of the Bulldogs weekend rotation posting a record of 11-2 with a 2.53 ERA during his junior year, pitching 84.0 innings and striking out 97 batters while yielding only 51 hits to go along with four 10+strikeout games. The two-time Southeastern Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week (April 8 & May 13) was also Collegiate Baseball’s National Pitcher of the Week on April 8. His 11 wins were the most by a Georgia pitcher since 1990. On May 8, 2017, Locey experienced his first glimpse of life in a Major League setting, earning the start for Georgia against Georgia Tech at SunTrust Park in front of 23,737 fans, one day after the St. Louis Cardinals finished a three-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves at the new ballpark. Locey is the first Georgia player drafted by the Cardinals since Mitchell Boggs in 2005. He helped pitch Houston County High School to the Georgia state baseball championship in 2016 where he attended school with current Bulldogs quarterback Jake Fromm, his roommate at Georgia. His father, Anthony, was a 13th round pick of the Chicago Cubs in 1993 and pitched for three years in the Cubs minor leagues.  

Andre Pallante (PAH-lahn-tay), 4th round (125th overall) from the University of California-Irvine, 6-0, 203 lb. right-handed pitcher. The two-time All-Big West honoree has a career 26-9 record with a 2.59 ERA over 243 innings pitched with 260 strikeouts. During his sophomore year, the First Team All-Big West selection was 10-1 with a 1.60 ERA, the second lowest ERA in school history and ranked sixth in NCAA Division 1. He was a two-time Big West Pitcher of the Week, and at the conclusion of his sophomore year, traveled with the U.S. Collegiate National Baseball team. This past season, Pallante ran off a 25.2 inning scoreless streak from March 1-29. Pallante was a high school teammate of Kolby Allard, the Atlanta Braves first round (14th overall) draft pick in 2015, at San Clemente High School.

Sidney “Connor” Thomas, 5th round (155th overall) from Georgia Tech, 5-11, 173 lb., left-handed pitcher. The two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference First Team award winner (2018 & 2019) went 9-2 with a 3.11 ERA over 113 innings with 103 strikeouts during his junior season leading the Yellow Jackets to host an NCAA Regional in Atlanta. Thomas led the ACC with two shutouts and ranked 4th in the league in wins and strikeouts and 5th in ERA. Thomas set the school record with a career walk/9 IP mark of 1.55, also ranking 40th in NCAA Division 1 with 1.64 walks/9 IP in 2019. He never walked more than two batters in any of his 16 starts, with 11 starts surpassing the 7.0-inning threshold. For the week of April 30, 2018, Thomas was the National Pitcher of the Week in Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game/Rawlings.          

Pedro Pages (PAH-hez), 6th round (185th overall) from Florida Atlantic University, 6-1, 234 lb., catcher. The Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 threw out 40 percent (17 CS/43 SB ATT) of attempted base stealers and added three pick-offs to bring his career total to six. The Venezuelan-born Pages grew up in Doral, Fla., and played high school baseball at Gulliver Prep for head coach Manny Crespo, a former University of Miami standout. Pages batted .295 with 14 home runs and 98 RBI over 143 career games at FAU. He was one of 14 semi-finalists for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award (formerly the Johnny Bench Award Watch List) in 2019 and during the pre-season and mid-season part of the 2018 season, before a hamate injury sidelined him for the final 20 games of the season.

Jack Ralston, 7th round (215th overall) from UCLA, 6-6, 231 lb., right-handed pitcher. The Bruins are currently playing in the NCAA Super Regionals where they will host Michigan this weekend. Ralston is tied for the NCAA Division 1 lead with 11 victories, posting an 11-1 record with a 2.55 ERA over 95.1 innings, striking out 107 batters including three double-digit strikeout games in his last four starts heading into the NCAA Regionals. He’s the first Bruins’ 10-game winner since 2015 and his 107 strikeouts rank 2nd in the Pac-12 behind teammate Ryan Garcia (2nd Round, Texas Rangers). Despite red-shirting his freshman year and sitting out his sophomore season, Ralston made nine starts in 2018 before exploding onto the scene in 2019 as a Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalist while earning All-Pac 12 Pitching honors. The Bruins are 14-2 this season when Ralston pitches. During the summer of 2018, Ralston pitched out of the bullpen for the Cape Cod League champion Wareham Gatemen.

Logan Gragg, 8th round (245th overall) from Oklahoma State University, 6-5, 200 lb., right-handed pitcher. Gragg is still playing as the Cowboys face off against Texas Tech in the Lubbock Super Regional. Pitching as a spot starter and reliever, Gragg made 23 appearances, including four starts, featuring a fastball up to 97 MPH complimented by a change-up and slider. He began his college career at Connors State Junior College posting an 11-2 record with a 2.50 ERA as a freshman before undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery. He recovered quickly during the 2018 season and finished with marks of 6-0 and a 2.06 ERA. Gragg transferred to Oklahoma State University to play for head coach Josh Holliday, brother of former Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday. The Prairie View, Ark., native is a Livestock Merchandise major and has aspirations of being a farmer outside of his baseball career.

Todd Lott, 9th round (275th overall) from University of Louisiana, 6-4, 235 lb., outfielder. The First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection in 2019 batted .332 with 8 home runs, 48 RBI and stole 14 bases for the Ragin’ Cajuns. During the summer of 2018, Lott played for Hyannis in the Cape Cod League, earning a spot in the Cape Cod League’s All-Star Game and participated in the Home Run Derby. The former Cincinnati Reds 20th round draft pick in 2016 is the nephew of former Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott, who played for the Super Bowl Champion San Francisco 49ers as well as the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets.

Jake Sommers, 10th round (305th overall) from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is a right-handed pitcher. Moving into the closer role in 2019, Sommers led the Horizon League with 10 saves and was selected as a Second Team All-Horizon League reliever after posting a 2-2 record with a 3.60 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 30 innings pitched. He was a three-sport athlete at Hortonville (Wisc.) High School, lettering for four years in basketball and football. His brother, Joe, plays football at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.