Florida Marlins take Kyle Skipworth with sixth pick in baseball draft

The Florida Marlins selected Riverside Patriot High catcher Kyle Skipworth with the sixth overall pick today in the Major League Baseball amateur draft.

Skipworth, who is 6 feet 3 and 195 pounds, batted .543 from the left side of the plate last season, belting 13 home runs in 30 games and driving in 47 runs. During one stretch, he recorded a state-record 18 consecutive base hits, while reaching base safely in 25 straight plate appearances.

It's the second consecutive year the Marlins have selected a Southland high school player. Last season, they chose Chatsworth third baseman Matt Dominguez.

"I had a good inclination I would go there," Skipworth said of the Marlins. "I was real happy to see my name called. It has been real crazy."

With the top overall pick, Tampa Bay selected Tim Beckham of Griffin (Ga.) High, a shortstop who had signed with USC.

Pedro Alvarez, a third baseman from Vanderbilt, was drafted second overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Alvarez was drafted in the 14th round three years ago out of Binghamton (N.Y.) Horace Mann High.

Kansas City then selected Eric Hosmer, a power-hitting first baseman out of Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage High.

The first Californian selected was Brian Matusz, a left-handed pitcher who was taken by Baltimore with the fourth pick. Matusz was recruited out of Phoenix St. Mary's by UCLA, but chose to attend San Diego for academic purposes.

Skipworth was once thought to be the top catcher in the draft, but San Francisco selected Florida State catcher Buster Posey with the fifth pick. Posey was named Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year and Academic All-American of the year.

Center fielder-pitcher Aaron Hicks of Long Beach Wilson was selected No. 14 by the Minnesota Twins. He was in Florida participating in ESPN's draft coverage. Hicks, who signed with USC, is known for his speed and athleticism. He also made major progress as a pitcher in his senior year but prefers to be a position player.

The Dodgers, drafting No. 15, chose Ethan Martin, a third baseman-pitcher from Stephens County High in Toccoa, Ga. The 6-3, 200-pounder has hit 95 mph on the radar gun and signed with Clemson.

The Pacific 10 Conference had six players taken in the first round, with Stanford catcher Jason Castro going No. 10 to the Houston Astros, Arizona State third baseman Brett Wallace going No. 13 to the St. Louis Cardinals, California first baseman David Cooper going No. 17 to the Toronto Blue Jays, Arizona State first baseman Ike Davis going No. 18 to the New York Mets, Arizona pitcher Ryan Perry No. 21 to the Detroit Tigers and Arizona pitcher Daniel Schlereth going No. 26 to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Gerrit Cole, a hard-throwing right-hander for Orange Lutheran, was selected by the New York Yankees with the 28th overall pick. Baseball America had predicted that Cole would be selected 17th overall. Cole, who signed with UCLA, is being advised by agent Scott Boras, who is known for his high asking prices. Times staff writer Eric Sondheimer contributed to this story.

dan.arritt@latimes.com