Baseball: Jack Flaherty is final player taken in first round of draft

For the third time since 2012, Harvard-Westlake had a pitcher taken in the first round of baseball’s amateur draft. Jack Flaherty, 23-0 on the mound over the last two seasons, was chosen by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 34th and final selection of the first round on Thursday.

“This is the capper to a pretty good four-year run,” Harvard-Westlake Coach Matt LaCour said.

In 2012, Max Fried and Lucas Giolito were first-round picks.

“We’ve had unbelievable student athletes who have put themselves in position to get drafted high because academically they’ve done real well, and it should be a lesson to every player that you can be what you want to be,” LaCour said. “If you want to be a student, you can be a student, and if they want to come and get you, it’s going to cost.”

Flaherty hasn’t lost in a high school game on the mound since the final game of the 2012 season to Placentia Valencia. His final high school game was a no-hitter in which he retired 21 consecutive batters.

Flaherty spent 3 1/2 hours watching the first round of the draft until he finally heard his name called.

“It was the best moment of my life,” Flaherty said. “I still haven’t hit the ground.”

As for Flaherty’s contributions, LaCour said, “When it comes to winning games, nobody compares to him.”