Zach Evans (Asheboro ZooKeepers photo)
Former Asheboro player picked by Diamondbacks
ASHEBORO – Asheboro ZooKeepers shortstop Zach Evans was selected in the ninth round of baseball’s amateur draft Monday.
Evans, a college player for Lenoir-Rhyne, was picked by the San Diego Padres with the 270th pick overall.
Evans has been playing with the ZooKeepers in the Coastal Plain League, which is a summer circuit for college players. He batted .338 with five home runs in 31 games.
Evans is the 10th player in Lenoir-Rhyne’s baseball history to be picked in the draft. He’s the school’s first draftee in six years and the ninth-round spot makes it the second-highest in program history behind pitcher John Curtis (eighth round in 2017 to the Atlanta Braves).
Across two seasons with the Bears, he played in 105 games. This year, he had a .321 batting average and 14 home runs.
Ex-ZooKeeper picked high
Outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt, who played in the CPL in 2022 for the ZooKeepers, was picked with the 31st overall selection on the first day of the draft Sunday.
Waldschmidt, who played for Kentucky in 2023 and 2024, was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Arizona made the selection with the first pick following the first round in what’s called the “prospect promotion incentive picks” that come prior to the second round.
Waldschmidt, who’s from Bradenton, Fla., was a Charleston Southern freshman in 2022 prior to appearing in 25 games for Asheboro.
For Kentucky this year, he batted .333 with 41 walks, scored 66 runs, belted 14 home runs and 17 doubles and stole 25 bases in 59 games. He was the leadoff batter for the Wildcats, who played in the College World Series.
