Former Mt. Lebanon High School star Ian Happ was selected No. 9 overall by the Chicago Cubs tonight in the Major League Baseball draft. Happ, a switch-hitting outfielder at the University of Cincinnati, is the first first-round pick in program history.
Happ, 20, batted .338 with a .463 on-base percentage in three seasons at Cincinnati. He hit .369 as a junior this spring and was a semifinalist for the 2015 Golden Spikes award, given to the college baseball’s best player.
At Cincinnati, Happ met Pirates infielder Josh Harrison. Happ called Harrison “an awesome dude with a great baseball mind.