(Ben is a 2017 graduate of Ward Melville HS. He just finished up a tremendous season in which he led the Patriots to the League I title and an appearance in the Suffolk Count semifinals. He compiled a record of 5-1 with 67 K over 40 IP while allowing only 17 hits. Today he was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 33rd round of the 2017 MLB Draft. The following words are his own.)
So, in the weeks leading up to the draft, I knew I had a chance of having my name selected–I was invited to a few pre-draft workouts but I decided to go to the Twins and Phillies ones. They were both great experiences and there were a lot of draft picks there. I knew there was no shot I would go in the top 10 rounds, but I had an idea that I would go today but I had no clue which round or which team…I spent today with my coach Matt Marsh, his brother and my friend Jayke and my mom.
As the rounds went by I was definitely getting nervous, especially because I really wasn’t getting any phone calls and a lot of the guys I did pre-drafts with were already getting drafted. After the 30th round pass, my school coach Lou Petrucci said that he got off the phone with a couple of the teams that liked me and they said that I had a shot, but there was no way of knowing if I was definitely gonna be picked. So I had the draft tracker constantly refreshed, especially when it was the Philadelphia Phillies turn to draft at 4:44pm in the 33rd round I saw my name!
So I threw my video game controller on the ground and ran to my mom and gave her a big hug! After that, I called my sister and my dad that went up to a Motus practice at Ward Melville because Lou and many of my teammates were there.
Now I’m going to focus on getting stronger over at Infiniti Performance and gonna stay sharp with coach Alex Brosnan over at Prospect.
The best is yet to come!
