Brewers pluck Rogers at No. 5 Ace likely to face Witches tonight

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All spring, major league scouts have flocked to games across southern Maine to watch Mark Rogers pitch.

Even with all the hoopla, the flame-throwing righthander from Mount Ararat High in Topsham didn’t have a feel for where he might be taken in Monday’s amateur draft.

So when the Milwaukee Brewers made Rogers the fifth player selected overall, there was still an element of surprise among those gathered at the Rogers home on Orr’s Island.

“It was very exciting. We definitely were surprised,” said Stephanie Rogers, Mark’s mother. “That was big,” she said of his being the No. 5 pick.

Rogers, a 6-foot-2, 205-pounder, becomes the second-highest draftee in Maine history. Former University of Maine All-American Billy Swift of South Portland was the No. 2 pick in 1984 by the Seattle Mariners.

Rogers, who features a fastball in the mid-90s, a sharp-breaking overhand curveball, and a changeup, is 8-0 this season with a 0.13 earned run average and 142 strikeouts in 56 innings pitched.

Rogers is expected to be on the mound at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor tonight at 7 when Mount Ararat, coached by his father Craig, faces Brewer in the Eastern Maine Class A championship game.

Rogers was among four Mainers taken Monday in the first 18 rounds of the draft. UMaine products Simon Williams of Portland and Mike MacDonald of Camden each were picked.

Eric Cavers of Otisfield, who played at Franklin Pierce College, also was drafted.

Williams was taken in the 11th round as the 330th overall pick by the St. Louis Cardinals. MacDonald was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 15th round as the 447th overall pick.

“It was a good day for Maine all around,” said UMaine assistant coach Scott Friedholm. “Mac and Simon have to like where they were drafted because it shows the teams have some interest in you.”

MacDonald was a mainstay of the UMaine pitching staff for four seasons. The 6-1, 200-pound righthander capped a superb career last month as he became the school’s all-time strikeouts leader with 284.

“Words can’t really describe it,” said the soft-spoken MacDonald, who has been training diligently since UMaine’s season ended last weekend.

“It’s a dream come true to get the opportunity to play professional baseball,” he said. “It’s an exciting time and I’m pretty happy to move on.”

MacDonald compiled a 25-13 record with a 3.36 ERA in 51 career appearances.

“He’s not going to wow you with the radar guns,” Friedholm said. “He’s 88-90 [mph], but the kid can throw four pitches and he throws all of them for strikes. I think Toronto got a steal in the 15th round.”

Williams, a 6-2, 220-pound speedster, was a fixture in the outfield for the Black Bears the last four seasons, but he might not have expected to be picked so high.

“I think even Simon was a little bit surprised by it,” Friedholm said of Williams, who was prone to strike out.

“If you dropped him in a major league game right now… he fits the role body-wise,” Friedholm said. “They must have looked at that and thought they’d take a chance and maybe do something a little bit different [with his swing].”

Williams, who has tremendous range in the outfield, posted a .305 career batting average in 182 games with 16 home runs and 99 RBIs. He finished his career with 65 stolen bases in 72 attempts, a 90 percent success rate.

That ranks second all-time at UMaine behind current major leaguer Mark Sweeney of the Colorado Rockies, who had 69.

A group of 35 family members, friends, and media gathered Monday morning at the Rogers house to await the draft announcement. The news was heard on a computer.

“We were listening to it on the Internet,” Stephanie Rogers said. “Everybody was screaming and hollering.”

Rogers’ mother explained the Brewers cannot negotiate a contract with Mark until after his high school season is finished. The Rogers hope it ends with Saturday’s Class A state title game at Gorham.

Shortly after the Rogers learned of Mark’s being drafted, Milwaukee’s area scout, Tony Blengino, called to officially congratulate Rogers on the honor.

The Brewers will now have two Mainers in their organization as former Bangor High star righthander Matt Kinney is pitching for Milwaukee’s major league team this season.

Rogers, who will graduate from Mount Ararat next Sunday, recently was selected the Gatorade National High School Baseball Player of the Year. He boasts a 3.9 grade point average and is a member of the National Honor Society.

Cavers, a catcher, was chosen in the 10th round (304th overall) by the Houston Astros. The Division II All-American batted .394 with 10 homers and 44 RBIs this spring at Franklin Pierce in Rindge, N.H. He played his high school ball at Oxford Hills in South Paris.