There were zero Long Islanders drafted on the first day of the draft, which included the top two rounds. That was not a shock.
The next day was different. Hofstra’s Bryan Verbitsky was selected in the third round by San Diego. In a bit of a surprise, Stephen Woods of Half Hollow Hills East was picked by Tampa Bay in the sixth round. Woods, 18, compiled a 5-1 record, fired back-to-back no-hitters, struck out 90, yielded only 12 hits, walked 23 and posted a miniscule 0.63 ERA.
The chips began to fall after that.
James Lomangino of St. John’s went Oakland with the 431st overall pick. Lomangino, a graduate of Connetquot in 2009, attended Suffolk for one year prior to transferring to St. John’s where he became the closer in his sophomore season.
Also selected by Oakland with the 491st selection was Junior Mendez. He graduated Pat-Med in 2010 and attended Southern New Hampshire University where he led the staff the past two seasons. In 2013, he logged 97 innings, with a 9-3 record, 133 strikeouts and 1.67 ERA.
In the 27th round, the New York Yankees selected Adelphi’s closer, Dillon McNamara. The 21-year-old set the single-season record for saves in 2013, posted a 0.31 ERA and received All-American honors from three different publictions. The Yankees got a steal with this pick.
Rob Rogers, 2008 graduate of Islip and senior at Keystone College, was selected 964th by Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2012 he led Keystone to the D-III World Series in Appleton, WI. This season he compiled a 10-2 record with a 1.34 ERA in 101 innings with 114 strikeouts
Finally, Matt Vogel of Pat-Med was selected in the 36th round by Arizona. Vogel received tremendous attention all year, thanks to being dubbed the top player in New York by MaxPreps.com prior to the season. He will most likely honor his commitment to South Carolina in the fall.
Overall, it was a great season by Long Island players. It was not quite 2012 in terms of depth but day three definitely helped it.
