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Current, Former SteepleCats Chosen in Major League Baseball Draft
11:04AM / Thursday, June 15, 2017
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Five former and one current North Adams SteepleCats were selected by Major League Baseball franchises in the 2017 entry draft.
 
These six players add to an already lenghty list of drafted SteepleCats, including nine who have advanced to the Big Leagues.
 
The first former SteepleCat to come off the board was 2015 catcher Rob Calabrese, who was drafted in the tenth round by the San Francisco Giants out of Illinois-Chicago. Calabrese, who hit .353 with eight home runs for UIC this season, played 35 games for the SteepleCats during the 2015 NECBL season. He scored 15 runs, clubbed eight doubles, and drove in nine runs. He was the highest drafted SteepleCat since JC Cardenas, who was picked in the sixth round in 2015.
 
On Wednesday, Hartford Hawk Ben Bengston was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 23rd round. Bengston played in North Adams last season for 13 games in June, scoring 11 runs with 12 hits during that time. The infielder also drove in five runs and hit one home run. At Hartford, Bengston hit over .300 for the second season in a row, posting a .323 average with five home runs and 36 runs batted in.
 
Peter Lannoo was the third SteepleCat to be taken, joining Calabrese with the Giants. He was selected in the 28th round. Lannoo, a pitcher from Cornell, was a major part of the 2016 rotation in North Adams, making eight starts with a 4-2 record. He logged a 3.69 ERA over 38 inning, where he struck out 29 hitters. Lannoo was the closer for Cornell this spring, saving eight games with a 3.86 ERA over 21 innings.
 
His college teammate, Justin Lewis, was taken later in the 28th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lewis is on the current 2017 roster, and was at Joe Wolfe Field when he received the news. Upon hearing of his selection over the stadium PA system, Lewis' SteepleCat teammates warmly congratulated him. Lewis made eight starts for the Cornell Big Reed this past season, striking out 45 hitters with just 14 walks.
 
The next draftee was Michael Osinski of Longwood, who was selected in 31st round by the Boston Red Sox. Osinski played for the SteepleCats during the summer of 2015, going 7-for-30 over nine games. Osinski was a star in the infield at Longwood, where he hit .308 with 36 runs batted in. It was the second consecutive year where he hit over .300, and his third straight year with more than 30 RBIs.
 
Rounding out the drafted SteepleCats was Florida State Seminole Jim Voyles, who was selected in the 38th round by the St. Louis Cardinals. A righthanded pitcher, Voyles made 11 appearances for the 2014 SteepleCats, tossing 29.2 innings and picking up two victories. He is 4-0 this season in 26 appearances for Florida State, who have advanced to the College World Series. Over his past two seasons in Tallahassee, he is 10-1 on the mound.
 
The SteepleCats also wish to recognize Kevin Smith of Maryland, a fourth-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays. Smith was slated to play for the 2015 SteepleCats, but an injury prevented his arrival to North Adams.
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