2 Flames Selected on Final Day of MLB Draft
6/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Two Liberty Flames were selected during the final day of the 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) First Year Player Draft, today. Liberty players Ashton Perritt and Alex Close were chosen this afternoon.
The Texas Rangers selected Perritt in the 24th round, while Close was chosen in the 26th round by the Kansas City Royals.
Yesterday, the Oakland Athletics picked left-handed pitcher Jared Lyons in the ninth round on the second day of the three-day draft.
With the selection of three players in the 2015 MLB Draft, Liberty has had 61 players selected in the MLB Draft during the 42-year history of its program and had a player chosen in each draft since 2000. Over the past five years, Liberty has had three or more players picked in each first-year player draft and 23 players selected overall.
Perritt, a senior in 2015, was picked by the Texas Rangers with the 708th selection of the draft. The right-hander becomes the fourth Liberty player to be taken by Texas. The Rangers have selected a Liberty player in four straight drafts. In the 2014 MLB Draft, Perritt was selected in the 17th round by the Atlanta Braves, but chose to return to Liberty for his senior season.
Perritt was a two-way player during his Liberty career, pitching and playing in the outfield. In his final season with the Flames as a pitcher, he posted a 1-4 mark with 5.17 ERA and two saves over 38 1/3 innings. The right-hander struck out 22 batters and walked 16. He also hit .289 with 27 RBI and 32 runs scored in 44 games this past season.
The Whiteland, Ind., native finished his Liberty career second all-time with 24 saves. The right-hander posted double-digit saves in both 2013 (10) and 2014 (14). In 61 career appearances, he posted a 5-8 record with a 2.98 ERA over 108 2/3 innings. He was a member of the midseason NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch list and selected to the Big South All-Conference team as a relief pitcher in 2014.
As an outfielder, Perritt hit .298, driving in 69 runs and scoring 115 runs in 173 career games. He hit 14 home runs and stole 49 bases. In 2013, the two-way player was selected as the Big South Championship Tournament MVP after leading the Flames to the Big South Championship title.
Close, a senior in 2015, played first base and catcher and also pitched for Liberty this past spring. Selected as a catcher, he was picked by the Kansas City Royals with the 789th selection of the draft. Close was picked in the 27th round of the 2014 Draft by Kansas City, but chose to return to Liberty for his senior season. He is the only Flames player to be selected by the Royals in program history.
For the second straight season, Close earned Big South All-Conference first team honors as an infielder, ranking among the league leaders in several offensive categories. The two-way player finished the year among the Big South leaders in batting average (8th), hits (8th), home runs (10th), RBI (7th) and total bases (7th).
The Hoover, Ala., native hit .342 with 46 RBI and 40 runs scored in his final season at Liberty. The two-way player collected 13 doubles, seven home runs and 113 total bases, while posting a .422 on base percentage and a .516 slugging percentage. He led the Flames in batting average, hits, doubles, slugging percentage and on base percentage. In addition, the first baseman led Liberty with 25 multi-hit games and 13 multi-RBI contests, while reaching base in a team-high 39 consecutive games.
Close also pitched for the Flames in 2015. The senior made 18 relief appearances, posting a 2-2 record with a 2.21 ERA and a team-leading six saves.
Close was named to the 2015 Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Baseball first team for the second consecutive year, becoming the first Liberty baseball player in program history to be selected to the academic team multiple times. He also was selected as the 2015 Rock Royer/Mac Rivera Award, honoring the top graduating senior student-athlete at Liberty.
A four-year starter for the Flames, Close hit .298 and scored 140 runs in 228 games during his Flames' career. The first baseman completed his career third in hits (258), fourth in home runs (33), tied for fourth in RBI (166) and 10th in doubles (47).
