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Seven LIers picked in MLB Draft
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Seven former or current Long Island high school baseball players have been tapped by Major League Baseball teams in the 2012 MLB Draft.
Marcus Stroman, a Patchogue-Medford grad, was selected 22nd overall by the Toronto Blue Jays. The junior led the Duke Blue Devils with a 2.39 earned run average over 14 starts. He went 6-5 on the season while allowing only 83 hits in 98 innings pitched. Perhaps his most impressive stat was his 5.2 strikeout/walk ratio.
Tyler Manez of Plainedge and Commack’s Charles Galiano were the only Long Island high school players to get selected in this year’s draft.
The Houston Astros drafted Manez, who led his team to the Class A Long Island Championship, with the first pick of the 32nd round. The 6’3” lefty went 7-2 on the season for the Red Devils.
The Philadelphia Phillies selected Galiano in the 36th Round. The Commack Cougars catcher helped his club make a long run in the Suffolk County ‘AA’ playoffs. The 6-0 Galiano has committed to play at Fordham University in the fall.
Stony Brook University’s season is still alive as they headed to Baton Rouge, La. to play LSU in the NCAA Super Regionals. Among seven Seawolves who were drafted this week were native Long Islanders Pat Cantwell and William Carmona.
Cantwell, of West Islip, was selected in the third round by reigning two-time American League champion Texas Rangers. The catcher was batting .312 on the season as of June 7 and has raked 11 doubles and driven in 32 runs this season.
Carmona, originally from Hempstead High School, was chosen in the 11th round by the Philadelphia Phillies. The junior infielder currently holds the Stony Brook team lead with 70 runs batted in, 12 home runs, 23 doubles, 33 walks, and an impressive .705 slugging percentage.
Rounding out the Long Island-based players are St. John’s pitcher Kyle Hansen and Iona’s Chris Burke.
Hansen, who played high school ball at Glen Cove, was selected in the sixth round by the Chicago White Sox. Hansen, brother of former Red Sox and Pirates pitcher Craig Hansen, is 5-5 with a 3.46 ERA for the Red Storm, which has also advanced to the Super Regionals. Hansen has struck out 108 in 93.2 innings pitched, while holding batters to a .255 batting average.
Burke, a former Islip Buccaneer, was taken in the 18th Round by San Diego following the best overall season of his Iona career. The senior hit .351 with 11 home runs, while establishing career-highs in RBI (50), doubles (20), hits (72), and runs scored (44).
Will one of these magnificent seven someday join the ranks of Craig Biggio (Kings Park) and Carl Yastrzemski (Bridgehampton) as Major League superstars? Only time will tell, but it will be fun to watch what happens next.
