By Blake Dowson | [email protected]

The Hawkeye baseball season may be over, but Joel Booker, Nick Roscetti, and Tyler Peyton just had the most exciting weekend of baseball in their careers.

Members of the three-headed monster atop the Hawkeye’s batting order for the last half of the season heard their names called on the final day of the 2016 MLB draft, extending their careers even after donning the Iowa jersey for the last time in May.

Booker, who manned center field in every Iowa game this past season, was the first Hawkeye off the board in the 22nd round, going No. 656 to the Chicago White Sox. Booker was the heart and soul of the Iowa lineup for a large part of the season and helped carry the Iowa lineup through a stretch in March when nobody on the team was hitting very well.

The Indian Hills transfer, who grew up in North Carolina but was born in England, earned first-team All-Big Ten honors after hitting .370 this season and also leading his team on the basepaths, swiping 23 bags. Booker’s 87 hits were the third-most in a single season in Iowa history.

Booker could potentially be a quick mover in the White Sox system. He flashed all five tools this season in center field and at the plate, though he is still somewhat raw as major league prospects go. Pitch recognition will be the biggest thing the hard swinging righty will need to work on, as he relied on his hands often this year when he would get fooled on a pitch.

“I think he learns a little bit more about himself as a player every day,” Iowa assistant coach Marty Sutherland said. “You’re talking about in overall ability, a really special athlete in general. He can really run, he throws well, has some power in there, so as far as those tools go from a professional standpoint, you’re talking about four or five of them.”

The 2016 season was a complete 180-degree flip for Booker, who struggled through a .235 season at the plate in 2015. One of the newest members of the White Sox organization blamed himself for the 2015 Hawkeye’s season ending in NCAA regional play and said he took it upon himself the shoulder more of the load in his senior season.

Roscetti was the next Hawkeye off the board in the 26th round, getting selected No. 771 overall by the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Sherman, Illinois, native has been a mainstay at shortstop for the Hawkeyes the past two years, garnering third-team all-conference honors after his junior season and first-team accolades this season.

Roscetti batted .305 in 2016, carrying an average well over .400 into the second month of the season. His glove at shortstop was as valuable as his bat this season, ranging more than most with his tall frame are able to and using his rocket of an arm to nail runners on many occasions.

“He’s [Roscetti] got an arm for the right side but may come up short with the bat,” Perfect Game reported. “He’s never shown much power, as he’s never slugged above .390, but makes good contact to the gaps. He has good bat speed with a line-drive plane that is quick through the zone.”

Peyton was the third Hawkeye going in the draft, going No. 884 to the Chicago Cubs in the 29th round. 2016 marked the second year in a row Peyton has been drafted, getting picked up by the Cincinnati Reds in the 33rd round of the 2015 draft.

The only native Iowan of the trio to get drafted, Peyton was a three-year starter for Iowa on both the mound and first base, becoming one of the best two-way players in all of college baseball.

Although he hit .335 this season with 25 extra-base hits and 26 RBI in the leadoff spot, Peyton was drafted as a pitcher by the Cubs.

Although his season numbers on the bump will not blow anybody away, Peyton was dominant on the mound for the last month of the season, almost single-handedly getting the Hawkeyes into the Big Ten Tournament with his arm.

In his final four starts of the year, he went 3-0 with an ERA under 1.00 and went 26.1 innings without allowing a run during those four starts.

Iowa head coach Rick Heller has now had 11 players drafted in his first three years on campus, the most in a three-year span at Iowa since 1991-93.

“I saw a new era when Coach Heller came here, and I jumped on board,” Peyton said after the season. “It wasn’t much of a difficult decision to come here … I knew something was going to change with this baseball program, and I think we’ve shown that in these past three years.”