Baseball Showcases Skills At Annual MLB Scout Day

Over a dozen scouts on-hand to observe Ravens juniors and seniors

RINDGE, N.H. (October 14, 2009) – The three-time defending Northeast-10 Conference champion Franklin Pierce University baseball team held its annual Major League Baseball Scout Day on Wednesday afternoon. Over a dozen professional baseball scouts where on-hand to observe Franklin Pierce’s juniors and seniors in advance of next year’s MLB First-Year Player Draft.

Among other teams, scouts from the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and New York Mets were in attendance at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field on Wednesday. Also represented were the world champion Philadelphia Phillies, as well as the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals. In addition, a representative from the MLB Scouting Bureau was on-hand to scout on behalf of Major League Baseball.

“It’s really great for the program to have that many scouts make the time to come out for this event,” said Head Coach Jayson King. “It’s an exciting day for our players, too. They all dream of playing professional baseball, and this is a chance for them to get out there in front of the guys who can make that happen.”

The event gave Franklin Pierce’s junior and senior players a chance to showcase their skills in a workout atmosphere, prior to the spring season and in advance of next June’s MLB First-Year Player Draft. Ravens players such as junior outfielder Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass.) hoped to use the event to make an impression on the teams in attendance.

“It’s a really great event to have,” said Ingui. “A decent amount of schools do have an event like this, but some of them don’t. With 10 or 12 organizations in attendance, it’s really great for us to have the chance to show off our skills and talents and try to advance to the next level.”

The Ravens have seen plenty of success in the draft in recent years, with at least one player being selected in every MLB Draft since 2001. All of Franklin Pierce’s 16 all-time draft selections have come since 2001 and the Ravens place third among New England institutions for most draft picks in that time period behind only Boston College (28 selections) and Connecticut (20).

“It definitely helps our event that from Justin Blood in 2001 until now, we’ve had guys get drafted every year,” said King. “Now, the scouts realize if they come out there’s a decent chance they will see a guy that they’ll be interested in. Our program’s come a long way: all the guys who have been drafted and all the games we’ve won in the past few years all play a role in that. But, the biggest thing is that we have the players who have the potential to play at the next level; that keeps the scouts coming out.”

This past summer, right-handed pitcher Kyle Vazquez was selected in the 15th round (447 overall) by the San Francisco Giants and later captured a Northwest League championship with the Giants’ Class-A affiliate, the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.

“[All the recent draft picks] really just help build our reputation,” said Ingui. “Add in the great facility we have with the turf field and it all just helps make us more reputable.”

Franklin Pierce finished the 2009 campaign with a 37-18 record and captured their third Northeast-10 Conference regular season title in four years this spring and followed that with their third consecutive Northeast-10 Championship title, which was the program’s fourth in five years. Franklin Pierce earned the second seed in the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship East Regional and hosted an NCAA regional for the fifth consecutive season.