Charlotte first baseman Ryan Rivers (Baltimore, Md. / Eastern Technical HS) was selected in the 35^th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Rivers is the eleventh player drafted from a 49ers roster since the 2006 season.

"It is a positive thing for our program and for Ryan to be drafted. He is still developing as a position player and has made great progress in just two years. Ryan played extremely well during the first half of this season and finished strong in the conference championship game. Ryan is a worker and we look forward to getting him back here in the fall to continue to develop him to his full potential in his senior season."

Rivers finished his junior campaign with the 49ers with team-highs of 13 home runs, 16 doubles and 63 RBI this season, as well as a .630 slugging percentage to pace Charlotte. His totals put him fourth in the A-10 in RBI and sixth in homers and total bases. Rivers was ninth in slugging and on-base percentage in the league in 2010. He has the led the team in home runs and RBI in each of the past two seasons. He was one of four players on the team to record a multiple home run day in 2010, one of only a pair to do it twice in the season. He belted two home runs in the final game of the season, against Saint Louis at the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. He was named to the All-Tournament Team in 2010 and was a Second-Team All-Atlantic 10 selection in 2009.

After serving as a pitcher in his freshman campaign with Charlotte he transitioned to a first baseman in the past two seasons and already is eighth on the all-time home runs list with the Niners with 31 (after leading the Atlantic 10 with 18 homers last year).

Rivers is a mechanical engineering major and has twice earned Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team status and was a First-Team "ESPN the Magazine" Academic All-District III member in 2009.

Rivers retains his option of returning to Charlotte in the fall to play his senior season. He would then re-enter the MLB Draft following the 2011 Charlotte campaign.