Beau Taylor headlines Knights draft selections

When his name was called in the fifth round in the MLB Draft on Tuesday, catcher Beau Taylor was speechless.

The UCF junior, who had not been previously drafted, was selected No. 166 overall by the Oakland Athletics.

"It means everything to me," Taylor said. "My dad helping me my whole entire life, all my coaches, Coach Godwin especially, all my hard work that I've worked towards, the game that I love the most. It came to me pretty soon so I'm pretty happy about it."

Taylor was the highest UCF MLB draft pick since 2005 when the Chicago Cubs drafted Mike Billek in the third round, and the New York Mets picked fellow catcher Drew Butera in the fifth round.

"I've been talking to scouts and they've been saying I'd be going in the top 10 rounds, and I didn't know about the fifth round," Taylor said. "The A's didn't even call me before, I hadn't even talked to them. I saw my name go across the screen and I was like, ‘Oh my god.' Then they called me after."

Taylor earned the starting catcher role as a freshman, and he became the first UCF catcher to be named a Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American.

Since then, Taylor has tied the school hitting streak record by hitting safely in 26 consecutive games. This season, he committed just one error in the field. His career batting average is .337 with 16 homers and his career fielding percentage is .990.

The junior will be leaving UCF to chase his dreams and go pro.

"I wanted to stay here, but this is the chance I've been waiting for since I've been playing, so I've got to take it," Taylor said.

Griffin selected by D-backs

Jonathan Griffin, however, is no stranger to the MLB draft.

He was drafted as a pitcher out of Lakewood Ranch High School in the 41st round in 2007 by the Minnesota Twins. A year into his career at the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, he was selected in the 45th round by the Boston Red Sox.

On Tuesday, the UCF first baseman was drafted for the third and final time by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 21st round.

"Obviously it's an honor to get the opportunity to play professional baseball, and it's always been my goal since I was a young, young kid, and it came true," Griffin said.

Griffin was one of four Knights to be drafted on the second day of the MLB draft, and he was one of seven Knights to be drafted. The senior joins Beau Taylor (fifth round), Danny Winkler (20th round), Chris Matulis (29th round), Ronnie Richardson (31st round), Chase Bradford (35th round) and Derek Luciano (44th round).

Even though Griffin had been drafted before, it didn't stop the nerves.

"I was nervous at first, just sitting there, waiting and waiting," said Griffin, who was watching the Draft Tracker on MLB.com with his friends and roommates. "Then I got a text message [from the Diamondbacks] asking if I wanted to play and I said, ‘Yes,' and then two picks later, they ended up picking me. It felt really good."

Griffin has known the scout who drafted him since he was a high school prospect, and they've kept in touch ever since.

The power-hitter feels that the change in bats likely helped his case since his home run count went up with the new wood-composite bats, separating his raw power from the rest of the playing field.

As a graduating senior, Griffin will head to the pros.

"Right now, I'm excited to get out there and start my professional career," Griffin said.

Rockies tab Winkler

Winkler, who hasn't said whether or not he will return to UCF, was drafted to the Colorado Rockies in the 20th round.

"I don't have many words to explain how excited I was to get that phone call from Colorado," Winkler said in a release. "It's a tremendous honor, and it has been a memorable day."

Winkler improved his draft stock as he was drafted in 2010 by the Chicago Cubs in the 43rd round.

The junior-transfer earned the opening day starting role and moved in and out of the weekend rotation throughout the season. He struck out 92 batters this season, the most a UCF pitcher has thrown in a single season since 2005.

Matulis drafted, despite sitting out

Matulis, a left-handed pitcher, completed UCF's draft picks for Day 2 when he was called in the 29th round by the St. Louis Cardinals.

"I looked at the computer, saw my name, and it was pretty exciting and weird all at the same time," Matulis said.

Matulis, an LSU transfer, did not play this season due to NCAA transfer rules but plans to stay at UCF and help bring the Knights to the College World Series in 2012.

Cubs draft Richardson

Richardson, who was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 11th round of the 2009 draft, was selected in the 31st round by the Chicago Cubs. Though only a sophomore, Richardson's birthday falls within the draft guidelines to make him eligible. Richardson was surprised about when he was drafted because he thought he would be selected earlier. He said he fell because of signability issues.

Right now, Richardson doesn't know where he'll be at the end of the summer

"I have no idea but right now it looks like I'll be back [at UCF] because I'm going up to the Cape sometime next week," said Richardson, who will play in the prestigious Cape Cod League this summer. "Unless the Cubs come up with a crazy offer that I can't turn down or something, but being in the 31st round, I don't think that's going to happen so I'm most likely going to come back to school."

He started all 62 games in center field this season and held a .312 batting average and a team-high 59 runs.

Mets select Bradford

The New York Mets drafted Bradford in the 35th round, opening up the door to the senior's lifelong dream of playing professional baseball.