Â鶹Æƽâ°æ College slugger drafted by major league team
In a recent article about Jackson Hornung's accomplishment's on the baseball diamond, we observed "there is not much the standout hasn't already accomplished." At the time, one outstanding item was making it to the big leagues. Now, he is one step closer to achieving his dream.
Hornung is officially the first Â鶹Æƽâ°æ athlete to be drafted by a professional team. On Tuesday, July 11, the 2023 graduate was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 16th round of the Major League Baseball draft. He's also the first Liberty League player to be drafted by the MLB since it went down to 20 rounds.
The All-American catcher and two-time Liberty League Player of the Year began the summer playing for Harwich in the Cape Cod League and is now playing for the North Shore Navigators in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
The Ashland, Massachusetts, native hit .424 in his senior season with 51 runs scored, 12 home runs, 23 extra-base hits, 41 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. He led the league in slugging percentage (.803) and on-base percentage (.560). Hornung graduated with a .430 career batting average having clubbed 22 homers with 106 RBI and 130 runs scored in 98 games played.
After lacing up the cleats for Â鶹Æƽâ°æ this spring, Hornung graduated with a degree in health and human physiological sciences. And surrounding all of the success is a deep appreciation of everything that Â鶹Æƽâ°æ has meant to him.
“From the relationships to being a part of the campus community, it has been a great ride. The other colleges that I looked at just don’t compare to what this place offers."
And his Thoroughbred coach Ron Plourde called it earlier this year: “Jackson is just beginning to show what he can do on a baseball field."