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Yankees’ draft pick starting off a bit like Brett Gardner did

While many MLB draft picks make the jump from high school to the minor leagues, Yankees third-rounder Jake Sanford is on a more unusual path.

The No. 105 pick graduated from Auburn Drive High School in 2016, passed on a volleyball scholarship from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada and then walked on to McCook Community College in Nebraska. After a couple standout years, Sanford transferred to Western Kentucky and played center field. The jump in competition between the two schools didn’t slow Sanford down.

“He far exceeded where we thought he was going to be,” Western Kentucky’s coach John Pawlowski told the CBC recently.