​Two Saints — and several more — have the chance to move on to professional baseball. Four additional Jacksonville-area players, two from Sandalwood High School, heard their names called on the second day of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, which wrapped up July 12 in Philadelphia.
Current Sandalwood senior Bane Barker and Sandalwood graduate Dakota Stone, now a pitcher at the University of North Florida, joined Bishop Snyder High School senior Cody Boshell and former Bartram Trail High School pitcher Ashton Pocol on the list of selections in the 20-round draft.
Boshell, a two-way player for Bishop Snyder, went off the board in the 11th round at No. 326 to the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2026, he hit .284 with five doubles, three home runs, 16 RBIs and a .920 OPS, while posting a 4-2 record with a 2.53 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 67 innings on the mound. Boshell had 16 career home runs for Bishop Snyder and now faces a choice between signing with Arizona or continuing his college career at Tennessee, the 2024 College World Series champion.
He became the second Bishop Snyder pick of the weekend, following the Atlanta Braves’ selection of senior pitcher Cole Dennis in the fourth round on July 11.
Sandalwood’s Barker, a right-handed pitcher listed at 6-foot-8 and 235 pounds, went to the Miami Marlins in the 12th round at No. 355. Barker starred for Sandalwood this past spring, posting a 1.40 ERA, 108 strikeouts in 60 innings, and a 0.883 WHIP while hitting .342 with six homers, 20 RBIs and a 1.067 OPS. Barker previously committed to Gulf Coast State College.
In the 16th round, the Chicago Cubs selected Florida Gulf Coast reliever Ashton Pocol at No. 487. The right-hander struck out 50 batters this season, finishing 3-4 with a 3.24 ERA and six saves to earn third-team All-ASUN honors. Pocol held opponents to a .204 batting average over two seasons in Fort Myers.
UNF ace Dakota Stone, a left-handed pitcher, went to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 20th round at No. 588 after earning first-team All-ASUN honors as a redshirt junior. Stone finished 7-3 with a 2.85 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP and 102 strikeouts for the Ospreys.
With Saturday’s selections of Dennis and Glynn Academy outfielder Wessley Roberson, a fourth-round pick by the Marlins, the Jacksonville area produced six draft picks in 2026. As a region, the area’s high school and college talents continued to showcase the depth of baseball in Northeast Florida, highlighting a blend of pitching depth, power hitting, and late-round guards that could turn into professional careers for several of these standout players in the years to come.