Former Cape Henlopen High All-State player Tyler Townsend Tuesday was picked in the third round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Baltimore Orioles.
Townsend, who just finished his junior season at Florida International University, is the school's all-time RBI leader and a NCAA first team All-American player.
According to a report in the Miami Herald, Townsend broke school records last season with 77 RBI and 182 total bases and his .426 batting average was the second highest in school history.
The former Viking and current Golden Panther also slugged out 24 home runs during the recent campaign. His career mark of 43 home runs is just one short of the all-time school record, according to a report in FIU's student newspaper.
After being picked 85th overall in the draft, Townsend said he will forgo his senior season at FIU and sign with the O's, his favorite major league team.
"I'm going to sign," Townsend said when asked about the decision. "Right now we are working on my contract and those things, but I hope to be playing [with Orioles Class A affiliate Aberdeen (Md.)] by the middle of next week."
For FIU Manager Turtle Thomas, the news of Townsend foregoing his senior season with the Golden Panthers was bittersweet but not a shock.
"There was no question, we knew he wouldn't be back for his senior year," Thomas said of Townsend. "This was what he has been working for.
"Tyler's a no-maintenance kid who does everything you ask, the kind of kid who you'd want your daughter, if you had one, to marry," Thomas continued when asked what kind of talent the Orioles were getting. "He's a great left-handed bat who will hit his share of home runs and doubles and will get [them] some RBIs."
More on Townsend will be in the June 17 print edition of the Sussex Countian.
