Tide pitcher Adam Morgan went with the final pick of the third round followed by center fielder Taylor Dugas was selected in the eighth round and pitcher Nathan Kilcrease in the 30th round.
Morgan, the Tide’s No. 2 pitcher, was the 120th overall pick going to the Philadelphia Phillies. He compiled a 5-7 record and a 4.64 ERA while pitching 97 innings over 16 starts. Two of the Tide’s seven shutouts came when Morgan started.
Dugas, the 249th overall pick by the Chicago Cubs, has been a steady force for Alabama in centerfield and leading off since he arrived in Tuscaloosa three seasons ago. The 2010 Baseball America All-American had a .365 career batting average with the Tide and his team-high eight home runs this season pushed his three-year total to 12.
Statistically, he led the team this year in batting average (.349), hits (84), runs (60), and walks (41). In the field, he had two errors in 175 chances.
Kilcrease, taken by the Oakland Athletics, was the ace of the Tide staff, but standing just 5-foot-6, his pro stock suffered. The Tide’s go-to starter finished with an 8-4 record and 3.12 ERA. He was named SEC pitcher of the week after the final regular-season series when he opened with a complete-game win over defending national champion South Carolina.
Last season, Alabama had seven players taken in the draft including two signees.
Auburn junior third baseman Dan Gamache was taken in the sixth round by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 182nd pick overall.
“I was expecting to go a little later and (the draft broadcast) was just coming off of a break,” Gamache said. “When I heard my name I was surprised. It’s very exciting. I am getting so many phone calls and texts, I can’t send a text message without sending another one.”
A left-handed hitter, Gamache hit .299 this past season with 13 doubles, two triples and five home runs,
driving in 29 RBIs and scoring 35 runs while being utilized mostly as the team’s designated hitter.
Listed as a third baseman by Pittsburgh in the draft, he has hit .337 during his career with 31 doubles, three triples, 16 home runs and 77 RBIs, scoring 97 runs. He has a career .535 slugging percentage and a .438 career on-base percentage, playing in 134 games over three years with 120 starts.
A first-team All-SEC selection in 2011, McElroy had one of the finest offensive seasons in the SEC this season, finishing the regular season ranked in the top 10 in eight offensive categories
An everyday starter at short for the past three seasons, McElroy owns a .330 lifetime batting average in 170 games, collecting 42 doubles, two triples and 25 home runs, driving in 131 RBIs and scoring 127 runs.
Varnadore was 6-3 with a 3.68 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 88 innings pitched.
Caldwell hit .332 with 13 doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 44 RBIs, scoring 37 runs in 2011. He led the team and finished the regular season seventh in the SEC with a .445 on base percentage, having drawn 30 walks and been hit by a pitch nine times.
One of 13 semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Award as the nation’s top collegiate catcher, he threw out 23 of 49 (47 percent) base stealers and picked a man off first this season. His 23 caught stealing by led the SEC and at the end of the regular season was the second-most of the 13 Bench Award semifinalists.
Rounds 31-50 of the draft are set for today.
— Michael Casagrande, Charles Bennett
