America East Baseball: Three Players Picked in MLB Draft

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Over this past weekend in Atlanta, Ga. Major League Baseball held its annual Entry Level draft of college and high school players. The America East Conference heard three names called who were a part of last spring’s season. Zach Rogacki of Binghamton, Hunter DeJong of NJIT, and Caleb Leys of Maine were all selected on Monday afternoon. Let’s take a look at their careers.

Rogacki was taken by the Colorado Rockies in the ninth round on Monday and is the highest drafted Bearcat in 35 years. It is the second year in a row that a player from Binghamton has been taken in the draft. One year ago, in the 11th round, 2nd baseman Nick Roselli was drafted by the New York Mets. Rogacki’s ability to play multiple positions may have helped in the draft process. Originally recruited as a catcher, Rogacki showed he could play other positions as well. He was behind the plate for 25 games, played LF 4 times, RF 18 times, and DH 6 times. By year’s end, Rogacki was named first team All-Conference and to the league’s All-Tournament team.

He led the league in doubles with 17, sacrifice bunts with 11, was second in triples with 4, third in hits with 74, and batting average of .361. He was 4th in slugging percentage at .600. He hit 8 home runs and drove in 43. In the league championship, Rogacki had 8 hits and 6 RBI. In his two seasons with the Bearcats, he batted .346, with a .427 on-base percentage, had 100 hits, 36 of them for extra bases, and 56 RBI in 79 games. Overall, for his four-year college career, he finished with 213 hits. He became the 17th player in Binghamton history to be drafted. He will report to the Rockies organization to begin his pro career.

LHP Caleb Leys of the Black Bears was taken in the fourth round by the Detroit Tigers on Monday. He had a strong season on the mound for Maine. He had the lowest ERA in the league at 1.10, fourth-lowest batting average against at .224, and fourth in strikeouts with 50. Leys made 8 starts in league play and finished with the lowest ERA at 2.44. Overall, Caleb ended the season with 74 strikeouts in 67 innings and an ERA of 2.69.

His career numbers with Maine look like this: 204 innings pitched, 214 career strikeouts, and a 4.10 ERA with the Black Bears. He was a member of the All-Rookie team in 2022 and helped Maine win the postseason title in 2023, which earned them a trip to the Coral Gables regional in the NCAA Tournament. This is the third straight draft that a member of the Black Bears program has been drafted. Quinn McDaniels was drafted in 2023 by the SF Giants, Jeremiah Jenkins by the Giants in 2024, and now Caleb Leys by the Tigers.

It was a season cut short by injury, but it did not stop Holden DeJong from being drafted in the 11th round with pick selection 334, by the Baltimore Orioles. He would make only six starts for the Highlanders before an injury would end his spring. In 29 innings, he struck out 31 batters and posted an ERA of 3.41. His best outing came vs Sam Houston, when he allowed one run over six innings with seven strikeouts. He would get his first win of the season. For his career at NJIT, Dejong appeared in 43 games, 20 of them starts. Posted a 6.06 ERA while striking out 117 hitters. He became the fourth NJIT player to be drafted.