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The Royals go for ceiling and risk with high school pitching early in the draft

The Royals sat in a pretty good position with the seventh pick in the draft this week, with a consensus that there was little separation among the top eight prospects in the draft. When a few clubs took surprising selections ahead of the Royals, it looked likely the Royals would have their pick of the litter.

But the Royals decided to make waves of their own, taking Connecticut prep left-hander Frank Mozzicato, a player that had skyrocketed up draft boards this year, but was considered a second-round pick, maybe late first-round. The Royals took high school players with four of their first five selections, including two local kids - pitcher Ben Kudrna of Blue Valley Southwest and catcher Carter Jensen of Park Hill.