The Arizona Diamondbacks’ selection of Arizona right-hander Raul Garayzar in the 18th round (543rd selection) of the MLB Draft makes him the first player from Rio Rico High School to be drafted in the history of that program dating to 1998.
Garayzar pitched and played for Rio Rico’s varsity team from 2018 to 2021.
He is the fifth player from Rio Rico to advance to college baseball, with all of those players competing within the last 10 years. The others are catcher Elian Olmos (Class of 2024/Arizona Western College), outfielder Victor Coronado (Class of 2023/Paradise Valley Junior College), outfielder Manuel Caballero (Class of 2020/University of Valley Forge) and infielder Ben Mauseth (Class of 2013/Grand Canyon and Tarleton State).
If Garayzar signs with the Diamondbacks — he has another year of college eligibility remaining — he will become the first Rio Rico alum to play in the farm system of a major-league organization.
He joined his Arizona teammate, Mason White, a Salpointe graduate, and Cienega alum Isaiah Jackson of Arizona State as three Southern Arizona prospects drafted Tuesday.
White was selected in the fourth round, the 118th pick overall, by the Boston Red Sox.
Jackson was taken in the eighth round (229th pick) by the Los Angeles Angels.
White and Jackson picked in the first 10 rounds is the ninth time dating back to 2000 that at least two Southern Arizona prospects were drafted that high. The last time it happened was only two years ago when Canyon del Oro graduate Kiko Romero was taken in the seventh round by the New York Yankees and Sahuarita alum Chris Barraza was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 10th round.
The selections of White, Jackson and Garayzar gives Southern Arizona 115 draft picks since the turn of the century. That’s a 26-year span (2000 to 2025) of the draft, which means an average of 4.4 players from Southern Arizona have been selected annually.
Here is a chart of the selections of local players since 2000 (CDO and Sabino have the most with 13 each, followed by Sahuaro’s 10).
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