Catawba junior catcher Will Albertson (Sophia, N.C./Randleman HS/Campbell) was selected in the 40th and final round of the 2015 MLB first-year player draft. He was drafted by the New York Yankees with pick #1203 overall.
Albertson was a consensus first team All-American in his first year with Catawba. He earned National Position Player of the Year honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and by CoSIDA/Daktronics.
In 2015, Albertson led NCAA II with a .467 batting average, ranked second with 91 total RBI and third with 26 home runs. He set school and South Atlantic Conference records in RBI, home runs and hits, with 114. During one torrid stretch he went 38-for-48 which included a streak where he had 20 hits in 22 at bats.
The SAC and Southeast Region Player of the Year came up clutch in Catawba's bid to reach the NCAA II Finals. Down a run in the bottom of the ninth of the regional final, Albertson stroked a two-run walk off homer to send the Indians to the championship game. Again he came up big, singling the eventual winning run to third with no outs in the bottom of the ninth in a scoreless game.
Albertson joins teammate Craig Brooks as 2015 draftees. Brooks was taken in the seventh round by the Chicago Cubs. It marks the third straight year that Catawba has had multiple players picked in a single draft. Since 1970, Catawba has produced 24 draft picks, including 13 over the past eight years.
Being a junior, Albertson could opt to return to Catawba for his senior season and re-enter the draft next year. He is the third Catawba player to be drafted by the Yankees. Kevin Hemphill was a seventh round pick in 1978 and Benny Callahan was tagged in the 31st round in 1980. Callahan had a brief stint in the majors with the Oakland A's.
