Hayden Murphy goes into the wind-up before blowing a pitch by a Holy Spirit batter. Murphy struck out 11 in four innings.

ATLANTA — Tiftarea Academy might be taking over professional baseball. Hayden Murphy, who helped lead the Panthers to second in GISA Class 3A in 2021, was drafted Tuesday in the 15th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Murphy is currently pitching for Auburn University. He had committed to the Tigers early and officially signed with the school ahead of his senior season.

He pitched in nine games this year for Auburn and recorded eight strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched. In three years of college ball, Murphy has won two games and struck out 36 in 41 1/3 innings pitched.

Though Murphy terrorized opposing pitching in high school, he has not picked up a bat to hit in a college game.

Murphy is the second ever Tiftarea Academy player to be selected. Cade Marlowe was a 20th round pick of the Seattle Mariners in 2019. Marlowe, currently playing in AAA Tacoma, has been up with the Mariners’ big league roster for two stints.

A five-year starter with the Panthers, scouts made the drive to Chula for several of his senior year games, but he was not picked by any MLB teams in 2022.

Murphy posted a .541 average his senior season with 10 homers, 34 runs scored and 37 RBIs. On the mound, he fanned 120 in 60 1/3 innings and had a 1.62 ERA.

A year earlier, the average was .436 as the Panthers fell a game short of winning state. That year, he scored 43 runs and homered four times. Pitching-wise, Murphy had a 1.37 ERA and 99 strikeouts.