Former Valley stars tapped by MLB

Item by Chris Graham
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A seven, and then an eight. That’s how many current and former Valley League players were taken in last week’s Major League draft.

Yonder Alonso of Miami was the first VBL player taken. Alonso, who played for Luray in 2006, was taken seventh overall by the Cincinnati Reds.

The last two Valley League MVPs were also taken – Auburn’s Luke Greinke, the 2007 MVP at Winchester, was picked by the New York Yankees in the 12th round, and West Virginia’s Tyler Kuhn, the 2006 MVP, was taken in the 15th round by the Chicago White Sox.

Luray headlined the list of draft selections with 19 former players taken by MLB organizations. Staunton had 12 selections, and Covington had nine. Harrisonburg, Waynesboro and Winchester each had seven, while Woodstock had six and New Market had five.

For a full list of players taken in the ’08 draft, go to valleyleaguebaseball.com.