Kevin Newman, Scott Kingery represent Arizona Wildcats in first two rounds of MLB draft
Jun 10, 2015, 5:10 PM | Updated: 5:43 pm
It was quality over quantity for products of the University of Arizona baseball program Monday, as Wildcats shortstop Kevin Newman and second baseman Scott Kingery went in the first and second round, respectively, in the 2015 MLB Draft.
Selected with the 19th overall pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Newman became the 16th player in program history to be chosen in the draft’s first round, and is the highest overall selection for the school since Trevor Crowe was selected by the Cleveland Indians with the 14th overall pick in 2005.
While in Tucson, Newman batted. 337 and scattered 227 hits during his three-year career, adding 112 RBI and stealing 46 bases en route to becoming a three-time All-Pac-12 Conference honoree. Newman was also a two-time batting champion of the Cape Cod Summer League; the first player ever to accomplish the feat.
Named the Pac-12 Player of the Year this past season, Kingery went in the second round to the Philadelphia Phillies who had the 48th overall selection. A former walk-on for the Wildcats, the former outfielder turned second baseman captured the Pac-12 batting crown after posting .392 average this past season. For his career, Kingery — a Phoenix native — hit .351, scored 116 runs, drove in 80 RBI and stole 38 bases.
Joining Newman and Kingery for the Wildcats in this year’s draft was left-handed pitcher Xavier Borde, who was taken in the 36th round with the 1093rd overall selection by the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.
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