Kent, Messinger Selected on Day Three of MLB Draft

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Juniors Nic Kent (Charlottesville, Va.) and Zach Messinger (Chandler, Ind.) were selected on the final day of the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft. Kent was the taken in the 11^th round (320^th overall) by the Colorado Rockies while Messinger went to the New York Yankees in the 13^th round (393^rd overall).

After four Cavaliers were selected on Monday (July 12), the Cavaliers upped their total to six this year’s draft, the highest total since 2018.

UVA Draft Summary
Round 2 (53^rd Overall) – Andrew Abbott – Cincinnati Reds
Round 2 (60^th Overall – Zack Gelof – Oakland Athletics
Round 5 (145^th Overall) – Griff McGarry – Philadelphia Phillies
Round 8 (232^nd Overall) – Mike Vasil – New York Mets
Round 11 (320^th Overall) – Nic Kent – Colorado Rockies
Round 13 (393^rd Overall) – Zach Messinger – New York Yankees

Draft Notes

• The Cavaliers have had six players selected in the first 15 rounds, five times – 2008, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2021.
• Virginia has had six or more players drafted nine times in program history, all have occurred in Brian O’Connor’s tenure (2004-present).
• A total of 90 MLB Draft selections have taken place in 18 seasons under head coach Brian O’Connor.
• Since the inception of the MLB Draft, a total of 139 Virginia baseball players have been selected
• Virginia was one of 10 schools with three or more selections in the first five rounds and one of five schools with two picks in the first two rounds.
• UVA was one of 15 schools to have four or more players selected in the first 10 rounds of the 2021 draft.
• Virginia has boasted multiple picks in the first and/or second rounds in five of the last eight years.

NIC KENT

A three-year starter in the middle infield, Kent played in 130-straight games to close out his UVA career. He started all 63 at shortstop in 2021 and led the team with 45 RBI. He belted a career-best eight home runs including a solo blast in a comeback win over Dallas Baptist in game three of the Super Regional. The junior also hit a pair of grand slams in 2021, the first in a 9-3 win over Georgia Tech on April 2. The victory sparked a 14-6 run over the team’s final 20 ACC games. Kent was a First Team All-ACC selection in 2019 and garnered Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and D1Baseball.

 

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ZACH MESSINGER

Messinger logged 57 innings in 2021 making 28 appearances and four starts. The righthander fanned a career-high 64 batters and pitched to a 4.89 ERA. He logged innings in two of the Cavaliers ACC-best six shutouts. In relief against VCU on April 10, Messinger struck out 10 batters in 4.1 innings, the first Cavalier reliever in school history to strike out 10 batters in a game.

 

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