By BLAKE DOWSON
With the Florida Gators losing two-straight games in the College World Series, the season has come to an end for the No. 1 national seed with quite a bit of disappointment.
The Gators were the No. 1 team in the country for a majority of the season and were favorites to claim their first-ever College World Series title. They were bounced from the double-elimination tournament with losses to Coastal Carolina and Texas Tech.
Florida had eight players selected in the first 10 rounds of the 2016 MLB Draft, and they will all likely sign professional contracts within the next day or two.
One of those players, A.J. Puk, is from Cedar Rapids.
The Oakland Athletics selected Puk, a 6-7 junior left-handed starting pitcher, with the No. 6 overall pick.
The big lefty came into his junior season as the consensus No. 1 overall prospect for this year’s draft, but after some inconsistency throughout the year and a small back issue halfway through the year, he fell on many team’s draft boards.
Even with the minor slip in the draft, Puk is still in line to get a signing bonus of around $4.5 million.
Zack Burdi, another Iowa connection, recently signed with the Chicago White Sox after being selected with the No. 26 overall pick. Burdi committed to play for the Hawkeyes when he was in high school, but after Iowa head coach Jack Dahm was fired in 2013, he took back his commitment and headed to Louisville.
Burdi was one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in the draft, consistently hitting 100 mph on the radar gun. He also features a plus changeup and slider that shows potential as well. He received a signing bonus of just over $2 million.
