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Lopes have 3 picked on draft's final day
7/19/2022 4:01:00 PM | Baseball
Aguilar, Reilly, Ankeney join Hull as GCU's 2022 MLB Draft selections
Three more Grand Canyon baseball players were selected on the third and final day of the 2022 MLB Draft on Tuesday.
GCU junior outfielder Tayler Aguilar was a 15th-round pick (460th overall) of the New York Yankees. Junior closer Vince Reilly went in the 18th round (544th overall) to the Oakland Athletics. Junior left-hander Eli Ankeney was picked by the New York Mets in the 20th round (599th overall).
A day prior, graduate right-handed pitcher Nick Hull was picked in the seventh round by the Chicago Cubs. GCU's four draft selections are tied for the fifth-most in a single draft in program history. But this year's four selections came in the shortened 20-round MLB Draft format, marking just the second time in program history (1982) that four GCU players were picked in the first 20 rounds.
Aguilar got the day started for the Lopes, coming off the board in the 15th round. He is the fourth GCU player all-time to be selected by the Yankees with right-handed pitcher Mick Vorhof most recently joining the organization in 2018.
"Aggy is a Yankee!," GCU head coach Gregg Wallis said. "I'm going to miss seeing him in a Lopes uniform, but I can't thank him enough for the hard work and leadership that he showed over the last three years. Tayler has earned this special opportunity. We can't wait to watch him compete in pro ball."
Aguilar had a monumental junior season, smacking 23 home runs and driving in 75 runs with both figures representing program records for the Division I level. He landed on the All-West Region second team and All-WAC first team. He homered three times in the Stillwater Regional, earning a spot on the regional's all-tournament team.
"It is very surreal and very special to get drafted," Aguilar said. "I can't thank my family and friends enough for helping me through this process to get to where I am today. I would like to thank the coaching staff and the boys I had with me at GCU. Canyon boy forever."
GCU's top two relief pitchers heard their names called in the 18th and 20th rounds, respectively, in Reilly and Ankeney.
"It was very exciting to see Vince's and Eli's names come off the board, and I'm thrilled they'll have the option to start their professional careers," Wallis said. "They definitely deserve it. Both of them played such a huge part of the back-end pitching staff last year and are a big reason we won 41 games and made a regional. The A's and the Mets got a couple of good ones."
Reilly's selection marked the first time the franchise has picked a GCU player since Jeff Urlaub in 2010. The Lopes' closer went 7-1 this year, collecting 14 saves to set a new GCU D-I record.
Ankeney entered his junior campaign having thrown just one collegiate inning, but the lefty burst onto the scene and posted the team's lowest ERA (2.68) among pitchers with over 15 innings of work. Ankeney struck out 61 batters in 40 1/3 innings.
"This is an experience that I always wondered what it would be like," Ankeney said. "This was my goal from Day 1 of getting to GCU's campus. I will forever be thankful for the Coach (Jon) Wente, Stank (Andy Stankiewicz) and Wally (Gregg Wallis) for giving me the opportunity to play this beautiful game. My experience is a little different than some other guys from GCU because I only had one inning under my belt coming into this season. After a lot of hard work and amazing teammates pushing me, I was able to fulfill my dream. I would also like to thank my friends and family for believing in me and supporting me even through the tough times. This is one of the greatest opportunities in my life and it's time to keep pushing myself even more."
GCU junior outfielder Tayler Aguilar was a 15th-round pick (460th overall) of the New York Yankees. Junior closer Vince Reilly went in the 18th round (544th overall) to the Oakland Athletics. Junior left-hander Eli Ankeney was picked by the New York Mets in the 20th round (599th overall).
A day prior, graduate right-handed pitcher Nick Hull was picked in the seventh round by the Chicago Cubs. GCU's four draft selections are tied for the fifth-most in a single draft in program history. But this year's four selections came in the shortened 20-round MLB Draft format, marking just the second time in program history (1982) that four GCU players were picked in the first 20 rounds.
Aguilar got the day started for the Lopes, coming off the board in the 15th round. He is the fourth GCU player all-time to be selected by the Yankees with right-handed pitcher Mick Vorhof most recently joining the organization in 2018.
"Aggy is a Yankee!," GCU head coach Gregg Wallis said. "I'm going to miss seeing him in a Lopes uniform, but I can't thank him enough for the hard work and leadership that he showed over the last three years. Tayler has earned this special opportunity. We can't wait to watch him compete in pro ball."
Aguilar had a monumental junior season, smacking 23 home runs and driving in 75 runs with both figures representing program records for the Division I level. He landed on the All-West Region second team and All-WAC first team. He homered three times in the Stillwater Regional, earning a spot on the regional's all-tournament team.
"It is very surreal and very special to get drafted," Aguilar said. "I can't thank my family and friends enough for helping me through this process to get to where I am today. I would like to thank the coaching staff and the boys I had with me at GCU. Canyon boy forever."
𝐁𝐀𝐌!💥@taybam34 is headed to the @Yankees!#LopesInThePros pic.twitter.com/obm8mDsJBU
— GCU Baseball (@GCU_Baseball) July 19, 2022
GCU's top two relief pitchers heard their names called in the 18th and 20th rounds, respectively, in Reilly and Ankeney.
"It was very exciting to see Vince's and Eli's names come off the board, and I'm thrilled they'll have the option to start their professional careers," Wallis said. "They definitely deserve it. Both of them played such a huge part of the back-end pitching staff last year and are a big reason we won 41 games and made a regional. The A's and the Mets got a couple of good ones."
Reilly's selection marked the first time the franchise has picked a GCU player since Jeff Urlaub in 2010. The Lopes' closer went 7-1 this year, collecting 14 saves to set a new GCU D-I record.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫. 🚪@vince_reilly2 is headed to the @Athletics!#LopesInThePros pic.twitter.com/L0ZH7WN4rq
— GCU Baseball (@GCU_Baseball) July 19, 2022
Ankeney entered his junior campaign having thrown just one collegiate inning, but the lefty burst onto the scene and posted the team's lowest ERA (2.68) among pitchers with over 15 innings of work. Ankeney struck out 61 batters in 40 1/3 innings.
"This is an experience that I always wondered what it would be like," Ankeney said. "This was my goal from Day 1 of getting to GCU's campus. I will forever be thankful for the Coach (Jon) Wente, Stank (Andy Stankiewicz) and Wally (Gregg Wallis) for giving me the opportunity to play this beautiful game. My experience is a little different than some other guys from GCU because I only had one inning under my belt coming into this season. After a lot of hard work and amazing teammates pushing me, I was able to fulfill my dream. I would also like to thank my friends and family for believing in me and supporting me even through the tough times. This is one of the greatest opportunities in my life and it's time to keep pushing myself even more."
𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐘𝐂 𝐋𝐨𝐩𝐞.@EliAnkeney is headed to the @Mets!#LopesInThePros pic.twitter.com/Q8Hlo9DWg2
— GCU Baseball (@GCU_Baseball) July 19, 2022
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