June 6, 2006

 San Diego Padres Scouting Director Bill Gayton Meets With Media

 Antonelli Draft Announcement

Padres Tab Antonelli With First-Round Pick

Antonelli Quotes

Antonelli's Updated Bio
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NEW YORK - Wake Forest junior third baseman Matt Antonelli was selected in the first round, 17th overall, by the San Diego Padres on Tuesday in the 2006 Major League Baseball first year player draft. Antonelli was the 10th college player taken in this year's draft and sixth position player.

Antonelli is the fourth Demon Deacon in school history to be chosen in the first round and the program's first ever position player. Detroit drafted Kyle Sleeth 3rd overall in 2003, Kansas City drafted Mike MacDougal 25th overall in 1999 and St. Louis took Bret Wagner 19th overall in 1994. Jamie D'Antona, second round and 66th overall pick of Arizona, was the highest previously drafted Wake Forest position player.

Antonelli, a first team All-ACC selection in 2006, batted .333 with 11 home runs, 38 RBI and 15 stolen bases this spring. The Peabody, Mass., native also recorded team-highs in runs scored (64), hits (73) and doubles (18). Antonelli ranked in the ACC's top 10 in runs scored (4th), home runs (t-8th), doubles (5th), total bases (6th), walks (8th) and slugging percentage (10th). He also ranked 28th in the NCAA in runs scored.

In three seasons at Wake Forest, Antonelli started all 163 games the Demon Deacons played. He finished his career with a .324 batting average, 18 home runs and 110 RBI. Antonelli swiped 46 career bases and set a new school record with 128 career walks -- surpassing D'Antona's previous mark of 113. He also finished sixth on Wake's all-time runs scored list with 183. Antonelli stands among the top 10 in three different single-season categories. In 2005, he not only set a school record with 57 walks, but also scored 68 runs (t-10th) and registered 22 doubles (t-8th).

Antonelli also made a name for himself in two tremendous summers with the Falmouth Commodores in the prestigious Cape Cod League. He batted .273, about 40 points higher than league average, over his two summers and was named an All-Star in both 2004 and 2005.

The first 18 rounds of the draft were completed on Tuesday. The final 32 rounds will be conducted on Wednesday. Additional draft results will be released as they become available.

Wake Forest Draftees (through 18 rounds)

Name              Round (Overall)   Team       Pos  B/T   Ht.   Wt.   Class
Matt Antonelli    1 (#17)           San Diego  3B   R/R   6-0   198   Jr.

-- WakeForestSports.com --