B-E star Zack Godley, left, wraps his arm around head coach David Horton after capturing the Class A state title this season. Godley was taken in the final round of the MLB Draft Thursday, 1,514 overall, by the New York Mets. (BRIAN LINDER/T&D)
MYRTLE BEACH - This was supposed to be a relaxing weekend for Zach Godley.Fresh off winning a second consecutive Class A baseball title with Bamberg-Ehrhardt, Godley was headed to the Grand Strand for the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association’s North-South All-Star Game. In between attending various functions and spending time on the beach with family members, he and Red Raider teammate Don Sandifer are scheduled to pitch for the South 4-A/1-A team in one of two games scheduled for 1 p.m. today and Saturday.With one text message received Thursday, Godley’s weekend plans were changed with the biggest, most shocking news of his life.
The New York Mets used the eighth to last pick in the 50th and final round of this year’s Major League Draft to select the hard-throwing right-hander.“It was a good surprise,” said Godley’s mom, Kelly, who’s also in Myrtle Beach. “Now he has a decision to make.“This doesn’t happen to real people. This happens to other people. That’s something he and his daddy have to talk about.”Scouts from the Mets, who selected the former Red Raider, Spartanburg Methodist College and University of South Carolina standout Mookie Wilson in the second round of the 1977 MLB draft, and crosstown rival New York Yankees kept a close eye on the 19-year-old Godley throughout his senior year. In just his second season on the mound at B-E, Godley finished 9-3 with a 2.24 earned run average and struck out 109 batters while walking just 22 batters.For the second straight year, Godley was the victorious pitcher in the deciding game in the Best-of-Three Class A finals.
He struck out nine batters, including the last seven retired, and allowed just three hits in the 7-1 win over Chesterfield.Despite working out for the Mets in Greenville two weeks ago and the Yankees in Bamberg last week, Godley had not heard from either team in the days leading to the draft.With the 1,514th overall pick, the Mets made Godley the first B-E player selected in the MLB draft since 2000 when Clint Collins was taken by the Cincinnati Reds. Godley and his family now have until Aug. 31 to make a decision on whether to sign with the Mets or head to SMC where he would be eligible for the MLB draft each of his two years there.
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