Former Dawg Selected by Chicago White Sox in MLB First-Year Player Draft

GORHAM, Maine — For former DiamondDawgs shortstop Sam Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee), the waiting game to see if he would be drafted is over as the Chicago White Sox selected the two-time NCAA Division III All-American in the 23rd round of the annual Major League Baseball draft.

Dexter is the first USM player to be drafted since the Cincinnati Reds picked Chris Burleson in the 36th round in 2009, and the 12th USM player to be drafted since 1987 (see complete list below).

The 2015 ABCA/Rawlings Gold Bat Award winner as the Division III Player of the Year, Dexter batted .404 (72 for 178) with 53 runs scored, a single-season record-tying 23 doubles, three triples, five home runs, 44 RBI and 19 stolen bases this season.  He also had a .474 on-base percentage, a .652 slugging percentage and a sparkling .971 fielding percentage.  He was named to the ABCA/Rawlings Division III and the D3basseball.com All-America first teams for the second straight year.

The two-time Little East Conference Player of the Year, and 2013 LEC Rookie of the Year, Dexter led the conference this season in runs scored, hits, doubles and total bases, and was among the top five in batting average, triples, RBI and stolen bases.

The four-time all-region shortstop finished his collegiate career batting .387 (312 for 806) with 81 doubles, nine triples, 19 homers, 48 stolen bases and 157 RBI.  He became the second player in NCAA Division III history to reach 300 career hits achieving that milestone against Framingham State University on May 1.