As the 2011 MLB first-year player’s draft neared the end of its final day, Martin Methodist College’s Travis Garcia received the call many baseball players wait their whole lives for.

The call informed Garcia that his baseball career would indeed continue, as he had been selected by the Chicago Cubs with the 1,089th overall pick in this year’s draft.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Garcia said. “I’ve worked my whole life for this day, and it finally came. My name got called, and now I get an opportunity to show everybody what I’ve got.”

The Nolensville, TN native played in all but one game for the RedHawks this season. Garcia played third base in the field, while leading the Martin offense in virtually every statistic including: batting average, total bases, homeruns, RBI and slugging percentage.

Garcia also served as the team’s ace starting pitcher. He recorded a 7-2 record in 77.1 innings of work with an ERA of 3.03 and a team-leading 68 strikeouts.

The Cubs reportedly drafted Garcia as a utility player, much like the Red Sox did with former Tennessee commit, Casey Kelly in the 2009 draft.

“I’ll be flying out to Phoenix, AZ in a few days to start it off. I can play third base and hit, and then I will also be doing some closing roles to get my arm back in shape. Once, that happens they’ll probably make a decision as far as what I’ll play,” said Garcia.

Garcia was one of 68 players with ties to Tennessee drafted in 2011, 58 of those came from the college ranks, 10 came from local high schools.

Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray was the first Tennessee player to come off the board when he was selected by the Oakland Athletics with the 18th pick. Gray was the only Tennessee drafted in the first round. Gray was projected before the season to go as high as the top 10, but early control issues deflated his draft stock.

Vanderbilt led all Tennessee universities in players drafted with 12. Tennessee was second with three.

Middle Tennessee State University had one player drafted, just one year after setting a school record with 10 draftees. The Atlanta Braves took the Blue Raiders’ Will Skinner with the 776th overall pick on day two of the draft. The MTSU slugger led the Sun Belt Conference by crushing 16 homeruns, to go along with a .655 slugging percentage and 51 RBI.

Daniel Norris, of Science Hill High School, was the highest Tennessee prep player taken in the draft at 74. The left-handed pitcher will now be forced to decide whether to honor his college commitment to Clemson, or try his hand at professional ball.

Overall, this year’s draft did show an improvement for players with ties to Tennessee compared to the 2010 installment. In 2010, 14 less players were selected from Tennessee at only 54.