Jared Simon Chosen By Colorado Rockies In Sixth Round Of MLB Draft

TAMPA, Fla. - University of Tampa baseball player Jared Simon became the first Spartan to get drafted as he was called in the sixth round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft by the Colorado Rockies. He was chosen with the 200th selection of the draft. Simon continues a trend for UT, who has now had a player chosen in eight consecutive drafts.

"The Rockies are getting a very mature hitter who has great power to all fields," says head coach Joe Urso. "He has been a huge part of our offensive success and is definitely ready for this next step in his baseball career."

A junior outfielder from Tampa, Simon was a first-team all-Sunshine State Conference selection who also garnered first-team ABCA/Rawlings all-South Region honors and Daktronics second-team mention.

He finished the 2010 campaign with a .361 batting average to go with a team-high 12 home runs. He also led all UT players with 66 RBI and 22 doubles.

As a Sophomore, Simon was also a first-team all-SSC choice while being the SSC Player of the Week on Mar. 16. He led the team in slugging percentage with .663 and collected the second highest batting average on the team with a .387 clip. He tied for first for the most hits on the team with a total of 70 and led the team in doubles with 19.

He began his UT career while playing in 36 games with 17 starts in 2008. He recorded a .319 batting average with three home runs in his first collegiate season.

A graduate of Armwood High School, he hit .461 and earned a spot in the Hillborough County vs. Pinellas County All-Star Game. Simon played for coaches Joey Fernandez and Mike Wrenn and was named first-team all-Western Conference twice while at Armwood.

He spent the summer of 2009 in the Valley Baseball League where he hit .320 with 11 home runs. He was also a recipient of the Bright Futures Scholarship, Dean's Scholarship and Florida Access Grant while earning the Florida Medallion Scholar Award.