NAVS & MLB

Kevin Chapman (below) and Kyle Bellow (right) both 4rd Draft Picks for Kansas City and Cleveland respectively, headline an impressive crop of Navs who've been drafted by MLB franchises and are currently in MLB Spring Training Camps.

The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) serves as a talent platform for a number of college players from all across the nation. It also provides an experimental learning curve for many young pitchers and hitters still coming into their own. Some are inevitably on the path to superstardom, while others work harder and harder day by day to achieve the ultimate goal of one day playing in the big leagues. In fact, a number of NECBL alums have indeed done just that, including some in the Navigator franchise's past teams.

As for the Navigators, the organization has seen ten former players drafted by an MLB organization. Click on the player's name to see a picture (* Indicates player is still in college)

Drafted Rd. Overall Player Pos. Drafted by Current Team
2010 4 119 Kevin Chapman LHP Royals Wilmington/Royals/A+
2010 10 314 Matt Lewis RHP Braves Danville/Braves/Rookie
2010 13 402 Jason Markovitz LHP Mariners Clinton/Mariners/A
2010 29 867 Garret Levsen* RHP Pirates
2010 29 882 Jon McGibbon* 1B Mariners
2010 42 1274 Ben Waldrip* 1B Braves
2010 42 1283 Dan Slania* RHP Red Sox
2010 48 1452 Patrick Brady UTL Mariners AZL Mariners/Rookie
2010 50 1510 Eric Jagielo* 3B Cubs
2010 FA Mike Gallo RHP Nationals GCL Nationals/Rookie
2009 4 125 Kyle Bellows 3B Indians Kinston/Indians/A+
2009 12 359 Josh Garton RF Reds Dayton/Reds/A
2009 13 410 Chad Taylor* CF Cubs
2009 24 736 Peter Fatse 2B Brewers Brevard County/Brewers/A+
2009 27 819 John Folino RHP Cardinals
2009 35 1066 Matt Costello LHP Brewers Wisconsin/Brewers/A
2008 31 945 Sean Gilmartin* LHP Padres

Several former players from the Navigators predecessors, the Holyoke Giants and Middletown Giants, have made it to professional baseball, including several from Middletown that have made it to the Majors (bold are currently on a MLB team):


Name Position Team Debut Year Current MLB Team
Craig Breslow LHP San Diego Padres 2005 Oakland A’s
Jesse Carlson RHP Toronto Blue Jays 2008 Toronto Blue Jays
Doug Clark LF San Francisco Giants 2005
Rajai Davis CF Pittsburgh Pirates 2006 Toronto Blue Jays
Mike Parisi RHP St. Louis Cardinals 2008
Chad Paronto RHP Baltimore Orioles 2001
Mike Smith RHP Toronto Blue Jays 2002
Earl Snyder 1B/OF Cleveland Indians 2002

Drafted Rd. Overall Player Pos. Drafted By Current Team
2003 14 402 Stephen Bray RHP Royals Tacoma/Mariners/AAA
2005 23 704 Chris Blazek LHP Astros Tri-City/Astros/A-
2006 33 1002 Wilberto Ortiz SS Angels Potomac/Nationals/A+

WALDRIP NAMED OVC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – 2009/10 North Shore Navigator & Jacksonville State's Ben Waldrip has been named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.

Waldrip was selected in the 42 Round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves after a stellar 2009 NECBL season having been named to the NECBL All Star Team.

Making his Jacksonville State debut, Waldrip batted .440 after going 11-for-25 with nine RBI, including two home runs and three doubles as the first baseman finished with five extra base hits to help the Gamecocks post a 3-2 record.

The junior went 8-for-15 in helping the Gamecocks earn a 3-0 sweep over Middle Tennessee over the weekend. He was 2-for-3 on Friday, then saved his best for Saturday's 14-inning game, where he went 5-for-7 with a pair of home runs, scored three runs and drove in three runs to lead JSU to a 9-6 win.

On Sunday, he finished 2-for-5, hitting two doubles and scoring two runs as Jax State rallied for six runs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game at 9-9, before scoring three runs in the 10th to earn the sweep over the Blue Raiders.

For the week, the junior batted .583 (7-for-12) with runners on base, including a .625 batting average with runners in scoring position.

"11" Navs Continue to Light it up

Navigating College Baseball

Baylor: Southpaw Crayton Bare played in one game this week, tossing 2/3 innings against Georgia. He gave up one run on one hit and one walk, and struck out one.

Boston College: Matt McGovern collected two hits in three appearances this week (including one against the Boston Red Sox), including a pinch-hit RBI double against #1 Florida. Reliever Matt Alvarez pitched in one game against Florida, giving up three runs in the 8th inning on Friday.

Clemson: Jon McGibbon saw action late in all three games over the week. Against Cincinnati, had an RBI walk and was hit by a pitch. He was hit again against Charleston Southern, bringing in a run. In Sunday’s game against Michigan State, he came in as a defensive replacement but did not have any at-bats. Pitcher Kevin Pohle did not see any action this week, and Mike Dunster has not yet played this season.

Florida: Cody Dent went 1-3 on the week, appearing in two games, including one against two future teammates from Boston College. He also collected an RBI and a walk.

Georgia Perimeter: Kevin Kyle pitched into the 7th inning against Cleveland State Community College on Saturday, giving up four runs.

Notre Dame: Dan Slania pitched in two games this week for a total of two innings, and gave up just two hits and no runs. Eric Jagielo went hitless for the week, and had one walk and scored a run.

Oklahoma: Kindle Ladd made two relief appearances on the week, totaling two innings, and gave up two runs on three hits and striking out two. Drew Dahlberg

Oklahoma State: Saulyer Saxon made his collegiate debut on Sunday, going hitless in a game against Cal Poly.

Palm Beach State: In a game against St. Petersburg, Dan Patrick tossed four innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk while striking out four.

Point Loma: Although rain pushed back the last two of a four game series against Biola, both Shain Stoner and Garret Levsen got some playing time this week. Stoner collected one hit in each of the games, and Levsen pitched six innings (4 ER, 4 H, 4 BB) while striking out eight.

Rhode Island: Although URI did have games on Saturday – Monday, Bobby Dean did not see any action.

Rutgers: Jerry Elsing had a great showing this week, pitching the 9th inning of both games of a Saturday double-header against Michigan. In game one, he went three up/three down with one strikeout, and in game two he walked one but earned the first save of Rutgers’ young season.

South Florida: The Bulls went into extras twice this week, and Chad Taylor went with them, collecting four hits, one RBI and one run during the three game stretch against Elon, including two hits in a 16 inning marathon on Sunday.

Southern New Hampshire: In their season opening weekend, the Penmen played two doubleheaders in a row, with Matt Boulter seeing plenty of game time. He had two hits over the weekend, along with three walks, a run and a sacrifice RBI. Junior Mendez made his debut in the series against Wilmington, throwing 5 2/3 innings and striking out four, but giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits and five walks.

Tennessee: The Vols also had some trouble with rain, as the third game of their series with Canisius had rain delays of nearly two hours. After the rain subsided, Carter Watson replaced the starting pitcher and stayed in for 4 2/3 innings, giving up one unearned run with four walks and one strikeout on his way to his first career win. Blake Berger did not see any game time.

Tusculum: Patrick Holleran did not see any action in Tusculum’s four games this week.

Columbia, Dartmouth and Wheaton have not yet started their baseball seasons.