Baseball signee drafted by Mets

Joe Mantiply, a pitcher out of Tunstall High School in Danville, Va., and one of the Hokie baseball team’s fall signees of a National Letter of Intent, was drafted in the 48th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Thursday. The New York Mets selected the 6-foot-5 left-hander with the 1,454th overall selection in the 50-round affair.

Mantiply becomes the third Virginia Tech signee to be drafted in the past two years, joining Steve Domecus (White Sox, 40th round) and Mathew Price (Braves, 36th round) from the 2008 draft. Both of those players opted to fulfill their commitment to Tech and went on to be major contributors for the 2009 Hokie squad.