Eagles take Yoo with No. 1 pick in amateur draft

The Hanwha Eagles selected southpaw pitcher Yoo Chang-sik of Gwangju Jaeil High School as the top pick in the annual Korea Baseball Organization Amateur Draft.

Yoo was chosen first overall out of the 708 high school and collegiate players who entered the draft. The 18-year-old had received interest from Major League Baseball teams but opted to stay in Korea.

Yoo dominated domestic competitions and also ranked first in strikeouts with 31 in the 2010 IBAF World Junior Baseball Championship tournament.

The other seven clubs all opted to go with pitchers in the first round. Lim Chan-kyu of Whimoon High School went off the board in the No. 2 spot (LG Twins), followed by Yoon Ji-woong of Dong-Eui University (Nexen), Shim Chang-min of Kyungnam High School (Samsung), Kim Myung-sung of Chung-Ang University (Lotte), Choi Hyun-jin of Choongam High School (Doosan), Seo Jin-yong of Kyungnam High School (SK) and Han Seung-hyuk of Duksoo High School (Kia).

Yonhap