TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State’s John Sansone became the first Seminole selected in the 2016 MLB First Year Player Draft when he was picked in the eighth round (228th overall) by the Cincinnati Reds.
Sansone became the 79th player in the 37-year tenure of Seminoles head coach Mike Martin to be drafted in the first 10 rounds.
When describing the impact that the Florida State program had on his career, Sansone said “everything about the way that 11 (Mike Martin), Mike Martin Jr. and Mike Bell, coach and teach us has made an impact. It has been great to play for them for the last four years.”
The New Castle, Pa., native is the fifth player in FSU history to be drafted by the Reds, joining Pat Osburn (1970, first round), Rick Colzie (1973, 33rd), Randy Davidson (1975, ninth), Bob Mayer (1976, 13th), Matt Fairel (2008, 35th).
“It was nuts,” said Sansone of his draft day experience. “It was the craziest low-to-high I’ve ever had. I thought that I wasn’t going to go today, and all of a sudden the Reds called me and said ‘we’re taking you in the next four picks, so just be ready.’”
Heading into this weekend’s showdown with Florida in the Gainesville Super Regional, Sansone has amassed 241 hits, 192 runs, 174 RBI, 64 doubles and 21 home runs over the course of his Florida State career.
He is the school’s all-time leader in hits by pitch (65), while owning a .417 slugging percentage, .397 on-base percentage and career .273 batting average.
Sansone is one of two Seminoles, along with Taylor Walls, to start all 60 games for Florida State this season. Sansone heads into the NCAA Super Regionals leading the team in hits (92), RBI (65), doubles (25) and multi-hit games (31). He topped the 30 multi-hit plateau during the Tallahassee Regional with a pair of three-hit outings against Southern Mississippi (June 4) and South Alabama (June 5).
Sansone has come into his own for the Seminoles in 2016, posting single-season highs in batting average (.374), hits (92), doubles (25), total bases (144), slugging percentage (.585) and stolen bases (eight). Those numbers garnered him Third Team All-American honors by Louisville Slugger and First Team All-ACC accolades.
FSU will make its NCAA record 15th appearance in the Super Regionals this weekend when they take on in-state rival Florida in a best-of-three series that begins in Gainesville on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
Seminole fans can always stay up-to-date with the Florida State Baseball team by following the official twitter page of the Seminoles (@FSUBaseball).
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