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Two local college players, one from Sacred Heart University and one from Fairfield University, were selected in the Major League Baseball entry draft this week.
On Tuesday, Sacred Heart outfielder Mike Drowne of South Hadley, Mass., was taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 28th round. Fairfield Stags pitcher Rob Gariano was drafted in the 36th round of the draft on Wednesday by the San Diego Padres. Both players will now begin negotiations with the teams that drafted them and could start playing in the low levels of the minor leagues as soon as this summer.
Drowne played center field and was the lead off hitter for the Pioneers, setting single season school records in runs scored (65), while also stealing 33 bases during his senior year. He has made the All-Northeast Conference team in both of the past two seasons.
"Mike has done a great job for us the last two years and really deserves this honor," said SHU head coach Nick Giaquinto. "He is a hard working kid and this is a feather in the cap for our program."
Gariano, a Nutley, N.J. native, established himself firmly in the Fairfield record books this season, becoming the all-time leader in strikeouts (293) and is tied for third in wins (17).
Gariano, who has a powerful arm, had his best season during his junior year (5-4, 3.23 ERA, 88 strikeouts) and was ranked one of the top 10 draft prospects in Connecticut the past two seasons. Last season he struggled a bit, finishing the season 4-5 with a 4.29 ERA. But it was a stellar performance as a reliever with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod League last summer that put him into the minds of MLB scouts, earning pitcher of the week honors in week two of that summer season.
Gariano is small right hander at 5-10, 180 pounds and scouts say that he projects more as a reliever at the professional level than a starter.
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