Nearly 100 NECBL Alumni Selected in 2018 MLB Draft
June 12, 2018 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) News Release
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - Featuring another impressive showing by the Newport Gulls' league-high 17 selections, as well as 13 more from the Ocean State Waves, the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) once again had a stellar performance in the 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft, which was held this past week.
In total, the league saw just under the century mark of its alumni drafted by one of the MLB's 30 franchises. While the Gulls (17) and Waves (13) led the way, combining for over a third of the selections of former NECBL players, the league as a whole totaled 91 alumni who had their name called last week.
Plymouth was just under the double-digit threshold with nine picks, while Keene and North Adams each had eight. Danbury saw seven of its former players drafted, followed by six each for Mystic and Vermont, while Sanford and Upper Valley each had five, which was particularly impressive for the latter franchise which made its league debut last summer. The Laconia/Winnipesaukee franchise saw four draftees, while New Bedford and reigning league champion Valley each had three alumni taken.
"I was, once again, so pleased to see the names of so many New England League alumni over the course of last week's MLB Draft," commissioner Sean McGrath stated. "While we strive to do so much as a league and I know our general managers work hard to put together competitive rosters each and every summer full of outstanding human beings and student-athletes who make their communities that much better, we also have an obligation to put these young men in position to pursue their dream of playing professionally. We have soundly done that once again and our track record for being one of the most competitive leagues filled with the stars of tomorrow has never been more prominently on display. The best of luck to each of them as they pursue the first chapter of what will hopefully be long professional baseball careers!"
Former Newport Gull and left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic got the show started by becoming the league's first alumnus taken in this year's Draft, going in the Competitive Balance A round and 40th overall to the Kansas City Royals.
After him, 90 other NECBL alumni followed, just shy of 100 selections, which would have marked the second straight year that the league hit that threshold.
A league-high seven players would be drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers, while five had their name called by the Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays.
Equally impressive was the fact that 44 players were taken before the 20th round, while 36 also were a part of the league at some point in 2017 and three more were part of rosters for this season, indicating just how influential the NECBL was in the eyes of MLB scouts last summer alone.
The New England Collegiate Baseball League is a wooden bat college summer league that fields teams in all six New England states. Partially funded by Major League Baseball, the NECBL started play in 1994 and is enjoying its 25th-year anniversary season this summer. The New England League has sent nearly 150 alumni to the Major Leagues and has had close to 100 alumni taken in the MLB Draft in each of the last 10 seasons.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 12, 2018
- SwampBats Route Winnipesaukee, Improve to 3-2 - Keene Swamp Bats
- Two Key Errors Lead Valley Past Vermont in Extras, 6-5 - Vermont Mountaineers
- Nighthawks Win Third Straight - Upper Valley Nighthawks
- Bay Sox Drop Duel of First Place Teams in 7-1 Loss to Nighthawks - New Bedford Bay Sox
- Nearly 100 NECBL Alumni Selected in 2018 MLB Draft - NECBL
- Mainers Rally past Danbury 4-3 - Sanford Mainers
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