Red Sox sign first-round pick Trey Ball
Club signs 11 Players Selected in the 2013 June Draft
BOSTON, MA - The Boston Red Sox today signed first-round draft pick Trey Ball, an 18-year old left-handed pitcher from New Castle, Indiana. Ball, the seventh player selected in the draft, was one of 11 signings announced today by Director of Amateur Scouting Amiel Sawdaye. He will practice with the Red Sox today at Fenway Park and report to the Gulf Coast League Red Sox in Fort Myers, Florida next week. Ball is Boston's earliest draft pick since 1993, when Trot Nixon was also the seventh pick in the country.
Ball was the top draft-eligible left-handed pitcher according to Baseball America. The 6-foot-6, 175-pound southpaw was named the Gatorade Indiana Baseball Player of the Year after his senior season at New Castle High School, where he went 6-0 with a 0.76 ERA, with 93 strikeouts and only 13 walks in 46.0 innings. Also a left-handed hitting outfielder, Ball batted .329 with nine home runs, 28 RBI, 40 runs scored, and 20 stolen bases, to help lead New Castle to a school-record 22 wins and its first-ever outright North Central Conference Championship.
This past summer, Ball was selected to participate in the Under Armour All-American Game and both hit and pitched in the Perfect Game All-American Classic. He was also named an Aflac All-American and an Under Armour All-American as a junior in 2012.
In addition to Ball, the club announced the signings of 10 more players selected in the June draft. Among the players are outfielder Forrestt Allday (eighth round), right-hander Kyle Martin (ninth round), right-hander Taylor Grover (10th round), infielder Carlos Asuaje (11th round), and catcher Jake Romanski (14th round).
Allday, a senior at the University of Central Arkansas this season, led the Bears with a .365 batting average, 59 runs, 53 walks, and a .503 on-base percentage.
Martin went 3-4 as a senior at Texas A&M and posted a 3.96 ERA in 92 appearances, including seven starts, over his last three seasons on the Aggies' staff.
Grover was a consensus 2013 All-American as a junior at the University of South Carolina Aiken and led the Peach Belt Conference with 11 saves while going 5-0 with a 0.92 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 29.1 innings over 31 appearances.
Asuaje, drafted out of Nova Southeastern University, hit .320 as a junior this year with 13 doubles, two triples, two homers, and 33 RBI, and led the Sunshine State Conference leaders with 32 stolen bases.
Romanski hit .303 with nine doubles, a triple, three home runs, 33 RBI, and 31 walks in 60 games this spring a senior at San Diego State University.
The Red Sox also signed outfielder Bryan Hudson (15th round), right-hander Joe Gunkel (18th round), infielders Reed Gragnani (21st round) and Jantzen Witte (24th round), and catcher Daniel Bethea (34th round).