The Tampa Bay Rays’ 17th round pick in this year’s MLB draft was a historic moment for the Okanagan College Coyotes’ baseball program.
When the Rays drafted Coyotes’ pitcher Trevor Brigden, he became the first OC player to ever be drafted into the MLB.
17 (518): @RaysBaseball select Okanahan College (BC) RHP Trevor Brigden. https://t.co/ddCNyr2CGL #MLBDraft
— MLB Draft Tracker (@MLBDraftTracker) June 5, 2019
Excited for Trevor Brigden today as he was selected by the @RaysBaseball in the 17th round of the @MLBDraft @OCPublicAffairs @OkanaganCollege @KelownaNow @CCBaseballConf @CDNBaseballNet @baseballcanada pic.twitter.com/efYbEkmOgR
— OC Coyotes Baseball (@YotesBaseball) June 5, 2019
“(I) couldn't be happier for Trevor,” tweeted Jared Johnson, coach of the Coyotes.
“The amount of work he has put in over the last three years with our program shows what it takes to achieve a life long goal. The Rays are getting a great player and person.”
Brigden, who has also spent time playing for the Kelowna Falcons, received some attention in January when a video posted by coach Johnson made the rounds on Twitter.
The video showed the Toronto native's fastball hitting 94 mph on the gun and it certainly got the attention of major league scouts.
He told KelownaNow at the time that scouts from the Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox had all reached out to him.
The Tampa Bay Rays weren’t on that list, but they obviously saw enough of Brigden and liked what they saw to draft him in the 17th round.
To learn a little bit more about Brigden, click this link.
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