TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - North Florida Christian graduate Cole Ragans entered Thursday night's Major League Baseball Draft with a clear head. He said he would be fine either playing professionally or going to his dream school, Florida State.
Turning pro was in the stars for Ragans, as the lefty ace was taken 30th overall, in the first round, of the Draft by the Texas Rangers.
"I don't know how to explain the feeling of being drafted!" he exclaimed when he spoke to WTXL on the phone. "I'm still shaking!"
He said he'd spoken to the Rangers once before, and didn't think they had high interest in him. Before the Draft, when asked if he had a particular team he'd like to go to, he said he didn't, but always admired lefty Cole Hamels from the Texas Rangers.
"I try to model my game after Cole Hamels," he said then. "We're both lefties, both go to the head, so it'd be nice to maybe get drafted by the Rangers or something, or anyone, and maybe get to meet him or play against him one day."
Ragans will have a chance to meet Hamels sooner then he thought. Ragans signed with Florida State in the fall, but said after being drafted that he is "for sure going pro" and will forgo his opportunity to play for Florida State.
He is the first first round pick out of Tallahassee since 1975.
