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Rockies select Fitch grad in 40th round
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Austintown Fitch's Jason Bagoly (22) catches behind home plate against North Ranger Baseball team at Cene Field as North Ranger Chris Thompson (29) comes in on May 21.
By JOE SCALZO
Vindicator sports staff
AUSTINTOWN — On Thursday, Fitch senior catcher Jason Bagoly reached the first step in his dream of becoming a professional baseball player.
Step two might have to wait awhile.
The Colorado Rockies selected Bagoly in the 40th round of the Major League Baseball draft with the 1,201st overall pick.
He was the third Mahoning County native to get picked this week, joining Boardman High grad Chris Tremblay (19th round out of Kent State by the Padres) and South Range High graduate Greg Rohan (21st round out of Kent by the Cubs), who were both selected on Wednesday.
Ben Bechtol of Neshannock also was chosen in Thursday’s 40th round by the Detroit Tigers.
“It’s obviously an honor to be drafted by a major league team,” said Bagoly, who batted close to .450 this spring for the Falcons, “It’s always been my dream to become a pro baseball player.”
Still, Bagoly (6-feet-4, 210 pounds) is torn between pursuing that dream and continuing his career — and his education — at Kent State next fall.
“I’m leaning toward college first, unless the offer is right,” said Bagoly, who will play for Rondinelli Tuxedo in the Class B league this summer. “What we’re going to do is negotiate something and they’ll watch me through the summer and offer me a signing bonus.
“We’ll figure it out as the summer goes along.”
Bagoly is the first Fitch graduate to be drafted since third baseman Bobby Tinkey was chosen by the Brewers in the sixth round of the 1985 draft. Fitch pitcher Don Tinkey was chosen in the 12th round of the 1983 draft by the Angels, while pitcher Dan Stryffler was chosen in the third round of the 1980 draft.
Bagoly had been monitoring the draft the past two days — “Oh, I was paying attention, definitely,” he said — and would have been selected in an earlier round by the Toronto Blue Jays.
But Bagoly was lukewarm about their offer, so he turned it down. That’s when the Rockies stepped in.
“It was a surprise,” he said. “One of my friends called me who was watching the draft and said, ‘You just got drafted.’ I was like, ‘What?’
“The next thing you know, the Rockies called me.”
Bagoly’s parents were thrilled, he said.
“It’s been a long process, especially after going through the recruiting process for college,” Bagoly said. “It’s after a lot of hard work.
“My dad worked with me my whole life, trying to help me prepare.”
If Colorado’s offer isn’t right, Bagoly said he’s confident he’ll be in good hands at Kent State. The Golden Flashes had five players selected on Wednesday and two more on Thursday, tying the school record for most players chosen in one year with the 1994 squad.
“That was one of the reasons I signed with Kent,” said Bagoly, who said he would major in finance at Kent. “They get guys ready to play in the pros.
“I know all those guys that got drafted.”
Rohan, the 2008 Mid-American Conference player of the year, finished his Kent State career second in career home runs (48), second in RBIs (182), sixth in putouts (988), ninth in runs (165) and ninth in hits (232).
He was a second-team all-conference selection this year and finished with a .321 career batting average and a slugging percentage of .605.
Tremblay, who attended Boardman his senior year, finished his career as Kent’s all-time leader in assists (591), batting .322 with 259 hits (third-best all-time) in 804 career at-bats (fourth-best).
He went 7-for-14 with a homer and eight runs scored in this year’s postseason and was named MAC tournament MVP.
scalzo@vindy.com