ASTROS CONCLUDE FIRST DAY OF DRAFT

HOUSTON, TX - The Houston Astros selected 18 players on the first day of the 2006 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft today, including catcher Max Sapp from Bishop Moore High School in Windermere, Fla., in the first round. Overall in the first day, the Astros selected seven right-handed pitchers, four left-handed pitchers, two catchers, two infielders and three outfielders. Houston selected just two high school players on the first day - Sapp and 10th-round pick Nathan Karns out of Arlingtons James Martin High School. Sapp became the first high school player selected by the Astros in the first round since RHP Tony McKnight in 1995 (22nd round out of Arkansas HS in Texarkana). Five of the clubs selections hail from the state of Florida, five from California, and three from Texas, including Rice University second baseman Greg Buchanan. Houstons second-round pick, right-hander Sergio Perez, earned All-America honors at the University of Tampa as he helped the Spartans to the NCAA Div. II national title this year. The Astros fourth-round pick, Chris Johnson, is the son of Triple A Pawtucket (Red Sox) manager Ron Johnson, who appeared in 22 big league games as a player. The 50-round, two-day draft will conclude tomorrow afternoon. Round (Pick) Player Pos. B-T Age Ht./Wt. School/Hometown 1 (23) Max Sapp C L-R 18 6-2/220 Bishop Moore HS/Windermere, FL 2 (67) Sergio Perez RHP R-R 21 6-3/230 University of Tampa/Tampa, FL 3 (99) Nick Moresi OF R-R 21 6-4/190 Fresno State University/Clayton, CA 4 (129) Chris Johnson IF R-R 21 6-3/180 Stetson University/Fort Myers, FL 5 (159) Casey Hudspeth RHP R-R 21 6-0/185 Univ. of South Florida/Sarasota, FL 6 (189) David "Bud" Norris RHP R-R 21 6-0/195 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo/Novato, CA 7 (219) David Qualben LHP L-L 20 6-3/210 Pace Univ./Brooklyn, NY 8 (249) James Van Ostrand OF R-R 21 6-4/220 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo/Richmond, BC, Canada 9 (279) Greg Buchanan IF S-R 22 5-11/180 Rice University/Friendswood, TX 10 (309) Nathan Karns RHP R-R 18 6-5/230 James Martin HS/Arlington, TX 11 (339) Tom Vessella LHP R-L 20 6-6/205 Whittier College/Burbank, CA 12 (369) Bryan Hallberg RHP R-R 21 6-0/205 Pace Univ./River Edge, NJ 13 (399) Chris Salamida LHP L-L 22 6-0/180 Oneota State (NY) Univ./Watervliet, NY 14 (429) Justin Tellam C R-R 21 6-3/190 Pepperdine Univ./San Clemente, CA 15 (459) Kevin Fox LHP L-L 20 6-1/180 Biola Univ./Chula Vista, CA 16 (489) Drew Holder OF R-R 22 6-0/210 Dallas Baptist Univ./Austin, TX 17 (519) Justin Stiver RHP R-R 21 6-2/190 Florida Gulf Coast Univ./Englewood, FL 18 (549) Colt Adams RHP R-R 21 6-5/220 Dixie State College/Cottonwood Heights, UT