Sports

Pirates Draft Former Titans Baseball Star Dickerson

Slugger played for three years at Indiana University, raising his draft status to No. 91 overall.

Former Poway High baseball star Alex Dickerson was the 91st pick in the major league draft on Tuesday morning, going to the Pittsburgh Pirates as the first selection in the third round.

Dickerson has been a standout outfielder at Indiana University in Bloomington the past three years since deciding to play in college after being selected out of Poway High in the 48th round of the 2008 draft by the Washington Nationals.

The 6-3, 225-pound Dickerson, who bats from the left side, hit .367 with nine home runs and 49 runs batted in this spring. In 2010, before college baseball put tighter restrictions on bat specifications, he won the Big Ten Triple Crown with a .419 batting average, 24 homers and 75 RBIs.  His 47 career home runs at IU tied the school record.

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“I developed a much better sense of hitting in college." Dickerson told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "I feel much more comfortable in the box. I got smarter. I got stronger. I just became a much more mature player.”

He is expected to sign a contract soon and report to one of the Pirates' short-season rookie league teams.

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