The Seattle Mariners select North Allegheny’s Cole Young in first round of the MLB Draft

It looks like Cole Young will be forgoing a trip down Tobacco Road for the Emerald City, as the North Allegheny shortstop was drafted by the Seattle Mariners with the No. 21 overall pick of the MLB Draft on Sunday night.

In his final two seasons of high school baseball, Young hit .433 and .437 as a senior and a junior, respectively, and struck out just nine times combined over 48 games. He hit eight homers and drove in 38 runs over those two seasons.

Young is the third player from Pennsylvania to be drafted out of high school in the first round since 2020, joining West Allegheny outfielder Austin Hendrick (Cincinnati Reds, No. 12 overall) and Central Bucks High School East pitcher Nick Bitysko (Tampa Bay Rays, No. 24 overall) in 2020.

He is also the third player from the WPIAL to be drafted in the first round out of high school in the last seven years, along with Hendrick and Plum outfielder Alex Kirilloff (Minnesota Twins, 15th overall, 2016).

The 6-foot, 180-pound shortstop had committed to play at Duke during his freshman year at North Allegheny, but had been climbing up draft boards after his last two seasons at North Allegheny.