St. Charles East graduates Jake Zitella, Cole Conn selected in 2023 MLB Draft

St. Charles East graduates Jake Zitella and Cole Conn were selected in Tuesday’s third day of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

Zitella, the Kane County Chronicle Player of the Year this spring as a senior, was drafted by the New York Mets in the 16th round and 486th overall pick.

Conn, a 2020 St. Charles East graduate, was selected with the second pick of the 12th round by the Oakland Athletics, the 346th overall pick.

Conn is a current senior at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

In his senior season with the Saints, Zitella batted .484 with a .570 on-base percentage and .945 slugging percentage with 13 doubles, nine home runs and 39 RBIs. Currently committed to play collegiately at Illinois, Zitella had 53 putouts in 65 chances with just four errors defensively at third base in leading the Saints to conference and regional titles.

“...There was never a time where he doesn’t want to work, never a time where he doesn’t want to get better,” said Len Asquini, Zitella’s former coach to the Chronicle in June. “When your best player is doing that, [now] the rest of the kids [could think] I’ve got to get better. Our best player is working his you know what off to get better. Oh, my gosh, and they all just kind of follow.”

As a junior last season for the Flames, Conn appeared in 51 games, hitting a .232 average with seven home runs.

This story will be updated.