June 16, 2017
Tanner Burns of Decatur and a signee for Butch Thompson's Auburn baseball team has been tabbed Collegiate Baseball's National Player of the Year, it was announced on Friday. Fellow signees Cody Greenhill, Judd Ward and Steven Williams were also named First Team High School All-Americans and Peyton Glavine a Second Team All-American by the same publication.
Burns, a right-handed pitcher/shortstop, was 10-1 with a 0.88 ERA, logged eight complete games and struck out 116 in 64 innings. At the plate, he hit .467 with 10 doubles, four triples, 16 home runs and 46 RBI, striking out just seven times in 105 at-bats.
Burns had previously been named Mr. Baseball for the state of Alabama and the 6A Player of the Year.
Greenhill is a 6-4 right-handed pitcher from Russellville. The 5A Player and Pitcher of the Year, he was ranked 439th in the top 500 prospects by Baseball America, hitting .317 with three doubles, nine home runs, 24 runs scored and 34 RBI as a senior.
Ward is a 6-1 left-handed hitting outfielder also from Russellville. A 5A First Team selection, he hit .454 over three varsity seasons. In his career he collected 30 doubles, 13 triples, eight home runs, drove in 80 and scored 145 runs.
Williams is a 6-3 left-handed hitting catcher from Albany, Ga. Considered one of the top catching prospects in the daft, he hit .493 with six home runs and 32 RBI his senior year.
Glavine is a 6-0 left-handed pitcher from Alpharetta, Ga., who was ranked the 8th-best left-handed pitcher in Georgia and No. 47 overall in the state. As a junior he went 6-0 with a 0.80 ERA, striking out 37 in 26.1 innings.
Burns was drafted in this week's MLB First Year Player Draft by the New York Yankee in the 37th round while Glavine was picked by the Los Angeles Angels in the same round. Williams was selected in the 35th round, also by the Yankees.