Yesterday’s Major League Baseball draft ended with 11 players with Hawai‘i ties being drafted. Out of the 50 rounds, three players out of high school, five with ties to the University of Hawai‘i, one from Hawai‘i Pacific University, one from
Yesterday’s Major League Baseball draft ended with 11 players with Hawai‘i ties being drafted. Out of the 50 rounds, three players out of high school, five with ties to the University of Hawai‘i, one from Hawai‘i Pacific University, one from San Diego State and a Baldwin High School graduate from Cal Poly, were picked.
Dustin Antolin, a recent graduate from Mililani High School, went in the 11th round to the Toronto Blue Jays, followed by Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i graduate and second baseman Kolten Wong in the 16th round to the Minnesota Twins.
Right-handed pitcher Randy Castillo our of ‘Aiea High School was the third high school signee who went to the Seattle Mariners in the 31st Round.
UH recruit Nick Croce, out of Mission Bay High School in California, was taken in the 45th round to the Atlanta Braves.
The junior southpaw out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Derrick Saito went, to the Kansas City Royals as the 475th pick in the 16th round. The Baldwin grad had a 3-2 record and 3.03 ERA as a sophomore reliever in 2007, but was moved into the bullpen midway through the 2008 season. As a starter, he allowed three runs and five hits in 5.2 innings for a win against Alabama on Feb. 23 and followed with six scoreless innings and nine strikeouts against Fresno State on March 1.
HPU’s Kaimi Mead, who was named this year’s Pacific West’s Player of the Year, was selected in the 18th round to the Cleveland Indians. The left-handed pitcher was the first player to be drafted out of HPU since 2001.
“My goal is to move up in the (Indians) organization as fast as possible. Right now I’m working on maintaining my fitness level,” he said in a release.
He finished the season 7-1 with a 2.25 ERA, including a no-hitter performance against Northwest Nazarene.
Mid-Pacific Institute grad and San Diego State shortstop Troy Hanzawa went to the Philadelphia Phillies in the 16th round.
Matt Daly, Jonathan Hee, Brandon Haislet and Landon Hernandez were members of the recent UH squad to be drafted.
Daly was drafted in the 13th round by the Blue Jays. He’s made 67 appearances in three years with the Rainbows, holding a record of 16-9 with four saves and a 4.01 career ERA. Daly has 210 strikeouts in 204.0 innings.
Hee was taken in the 21st round by the Boston Red Sox. He started in 163 games at third base, second base and shortstop and finished his career at UH with a .327 batting average, racking up 214 hits and 137 runs. His senior year, he batted .368 with 49 runs, 32 RBI, three homers, a triple and 15 doubles.
Haislet was taken in the 23rd round by the Phillies with the 706th overall pick. He had a monster senior year, leading the team in batting (.389), runs (52), RBI (50), home runs (seven), doubles (22) and stolen bases (11).
Hernandez was taken in the final round by the Detroit Tigers with the 1,496th pick. He started 115 games at catcher in his first three years with the Rainbows, batting .282 with 62 RBI, 50 runs, seven home runs and 16 doubles.
