Nicely, Sorey not the only area baseball players to be No. 1’s

Several longtime Sidney High School baseball fans, including former Lehman Catholic coach Dave King, sent messages to remind us that Tony Nicely (1977, Meadowdale) and Ron Sorey (1974, Stebbins) aren’t the only area players to be selected No. 1 in the Major League Baseball draft.

All recalled Sidney’s Tom Goffena being the No. 1 pick of the Blue Jays, also in 1977. And it gets better than that: It was Toronto’s expansion year, meaning he was the club’s first draft pick in team history.

A pitcher, Goffena rose to Class AA before back surgery derailed his career. He was omitted from a story last week about Vandalia-Butler pitcher Taylore Cherry signing with the University of North Carolina. Cherry will be a likely first-round draft pick next June.

Contact this writer at (937) 225-2381 or mpendleton@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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