Sixteen former Newport Gulls selected in the 2019 MLB Draft

By Stephen Hough – Team Publicist, Newport Gulls

When the 2019 MLB Draft wrapped up Wednesday night, the Newport Gulls were left with 16 former players drafted by 13 different clubs. Newport led all other teams in the New England Collegiate Baseball League with the most players selected in draft, including the most in the first round (3), as well as the most players selected in the first ten rounds (8).

The first Gull off the board was the Vanderbilt outfielder and 2017 Gull JJ Bleday. The Miami Marlins selected the power-hitting lefty with the 4th overall pick of the draft. Bleday appeared in 24 games for the Gulls in 2017, tallying nine doubles and two home runs in his 16 hits for Newport. This past spring at Vanderbilt, Bleday led nation with 26 home runs, while also finishing the year with a .353 batting average and more walks (52) than strikeouts (51).

With the 25th pick of the draft, the Los Angeles Dodgers selected the Tulane and 2018 Gull Kody Hoese. In his summer in the City by the Sea, Hoese hit .283 with seven home runs, earning himself a spot in the NECBL All-Star Game. As a junior for the Green Wave, Hoese was tied for 4th in the nation with 23 home runs and led Tulane in nearly every offensive statistical category. He finished the year with a .391 average and 1.265 OPS.

Missouri outfielder and 2017 Gull Kameron Misner rounded out the Gulls selected in the first round when the Miami Marlins selected him with the 35th overall pick. Misner played in 38 games for Newport and led the team in average (.378), home runs (8), RBI (25), and doubles (13), securing himself a spot on the South All-Stars team in the NECBL All-Star Game. For Missouri this year, Misner hit .286 and led the team in walks with 54.

Stanford left-handed pitcher and 2017 Gull Erik Miller was the next man off the board when he was taken in the fourth round by the Philadelphia Phillies. The southpaw started in five games for the Gulls, striking out 19 batters in 18.1 innings pitched. For Stanford this past spring, Miller finished with a 3.15 ERA, striking out 97 batters in 80.0 innings pitched. Opponents hit just .224 off of the lefty.

Just four picks later, the versatile RHP/OF from Florida State and former 2017 Newport Gull J.C. Flowers was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 124th overall selection. Flowers did not pitch during his time in Newport, but did end the summer with a .286 average. Flowers found his stride this year both at the plate and on the mound for the Seminoles, hitting .278 with 13 home runs while throwing 22 strikeouts through 23.2 innings pitched en route to 11 saves and a 1.52 ERA.

Newport would have eleven more former Gulls selected in this year’s 2019 MLB Draft, including three more from the 2018 roster, six more from the 2017 roster, and two from the 2016 roster. The complete 2019 draft class for Newport looks like this:

Player	Round	Overall Pick	Drafted By	Years w/ Gulls	College	Position
JJ Bleday	1	4	Miami Marlins	2017	Vanderbilt	OF
Kody Hoese	1	25	Los Angeles Dodgers	2018	Tulane	3B
Kameron Misner	1CBA	35	Miami Marlins	2017	Missouri	OF
Erik Miller	4	120	Philadelphia Phillies	2017	Stanford	LHP
J.C. Flowers	4	124	Pittsburgh Pirates	2017	Florida St.	RHP/ OF
Jack Little	5	161	Los Angeles Dodgers	2017	Stanford	RHP
Drake Fellows	6	173	San Diego Padres	2017	Vanderbilt	RHP
Stephen Scott	10	317	Boston Red Sox	2016	Vanderbilt	OF
Andrew Daschbach	11	318	Baltimore Orioles	2017	Stanford	1B / OF
Carter Aldrete	15	446	San Francisco Giants	2017	Arizona St.	INF
Chris Cornelius	16	480	Philadelphia Phillies	2018	Missouri	INF
Nic Enright	20	610	Cleveland Indians	2018	Virginia Tech	RHP
Kevin Strohschein	21	633	Washington Nationals	2016	Tennessee Tech	OF
Cameron Enck	27	819	Colorado Rockies	2017	Rollins College	RHP
Shay Smiddy	36	1088	Tampa Bay Rays	2017	Louisville	RHP
Dillon Plew	40	1216	Houston Astros	2018	Washington St.	INF