James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
STONEBURNER PICKED IN NINTH ROUND BY TEXAS IN MLB DRAFT
6/8/2007 4:00:00 AM | Baseball
HARRISONBURG, Va., June 8, 2007 - Senior short stop Davis Stoneburner (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) was selected in the ninth round (#290 overall) by the Texas Rangers as the 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued on day two on Friday afternoon.
Stoneburner is the 50th player in JMU history to be drafted by a MLB team. His selection follows Thursday's opening day of the draft when JMU outfielder Kellen Kulbacki (Palmyra, Pa./Hershey) was the 40th overall pick of the draft. The two gave the Dukes the top two players selected in the draft from the Colonial Athletic Association. It also marked the first time since 2003 that JMU had two players selected in the top 10 rounds. Kurt Isenberg and Eddie Kim were each fourth round picks that year.
“It feels great,” Stoneburner stated on his selection by the Rangers. “I can't really describe it. It's something that I've wanted my whole life. It feels like a dream.”
“I had heard I would be picked in the eighth to 15th round, so it was about where I expected. I had talked to the Rangers a lot. They thought about drafting me last year even though I was hurt. I'm looking forward to it and ready to go.”
Stoneburner, a four-year starter for the Dukes, is coming off of a 2007 senior campaign in which he set career highs with a .330 batting average, 43 runs, 64 hits, seven home runs, 40 RBIs, 23 walks, a .411 on-base percentage, and tied his best mark with a .942 fielding percentage. He shared the team lead with Kulbacki with 22 multiple-hit games. Those numbers came after missing the last half of his junior season with an injury.
For his career, Davis hit .300 with 215 hits, 52 doubles, 19 home runs, 131 RBIs, and a .934 fielding percentage. He finished tied for sixth all-time in at bats (727) at JMU and tied for eighth in doubles (52). With the aid of a strong throwing arm, he fell just 19 assists shy of the JMU career record of 567.
Stoneburner and Kulbacki were the only Dukes drafted in 2007, however senior pitcher Jacob Cook (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis) and redshirt senior outfielder Mitchell Moses (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) both plan to pursue independent league opportunities.
