NEW YORK – Former Edwardsville pitcher and soccer goalkeeper Trey Riley has been selected by the Atlanta Braves in the fifth round of the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Riley pitched for the Tigers prior to his graduation from EHS in 2016 and went to Oklahoma State, going 2-3 in his freshman year with a 3.59 earned-run average in 28 innings pitched for the Cowboys before transferring to John A. Logan College in Carterville for this season before signing with Missouri State for next season. Riley threw 77.2 innings for the Volunteers this season in 13 appearances with a 6-2 record. He had a shutout and three complete games with a 1.85 ERA while striking out 117 batters.
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“I’m very happy,” Riley said in an interview Tuesday evening. “I’m starting a new chapter of my life; I’ll be flying to Atlanta Thursday to take care of the business part and get my career started.”
Riley expects to be assigned to the Braves’ Advanced Rookie League team in Danville, Va., in the Appalachian League; they are known as the Danville Braves; their other Rookie League-level team is the GCL Braves in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in the Gulf Coast League. The Braves’ Class A team is the Rome Braves in Rome, Ga., in metropolitan Atlanta; they are members of the South Atlantic League.
The value of Riley at his draft position under MLB rules is $317,500; he was the 142nd pick of the three-day draft, which got under way Monday night. Riley was ranked the 76th overall prospect by MLB going into the draft.
The Detroit Tigers selected pitcher Casey Mize of Auburn as the overall No. 1 selection; the Cardinals drafted third baseman Nolan Gorman of Phoenix Sandra Day O’Connor High School with their first selection of the draft, the 19th selection of the draft overall.
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