LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Covenant baseball alum Taylor Bloye '18 inked a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals, becoming the first player in program history to sign with a Major League Baseball team.

Bloye, a right-handed pitcher, played for the Scots from 2014-18 and was part of the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance and USA South championship in 2014. In his final season as a Scot in 2018, Bloye struck out 56 in 48.2 innings and held the opposition to a .224 batting average. His 10.36 strikeouts per nine innings in 2018 ranked third in single-season program history.

Since graduating from Covenant, Bloye played for several professional teams in independent leagues and overseas. In 2019, he pitched with Fargo-Moorhead in the American Association and went 4-3 with a 4.76 ERA in 56.2 innings over 19 appearances that season. Bloye spent 2020 playing for the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League before returning to the United States.

This season, Bloye has spent time in the Pioneer League -- an MLB partner league -- with both the Missoula PaddleHeads and the Billings Mustangs. With Billings, Bloye went 2-2 with a 4.15 ERA in 34.2 innings of work over six starts.

In his last start with Billings, Bloye went eight innings allowing one run on five hits with five strikeouts in a win over Great Falls. Bloye allowed one earned run over his last two starts (13.2 innings) with Billings.

Bloye has been assigned to the Royals' camp in Surprise, Ariz., to play in the Arizona Complex League.

CONNECT WITH THE SCOTS

Be sure to follow the Scots all season long on athletics.covenant.edu and on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date scores, news and other information. To receive e-newsletters, click here