The 2003 Major League draft found many Baseball Factory players within reach of their dream of playing professional baseball. For those that signed, their first summer of pro ball is rapidly coming to a close.

First basemen Vito Chiaravalloti has had a tremendous debut season with the short-season A Auburn Double Days of the New York Penn League. Chiaravalloti leads the league in each Triple Crown category as he is batting .350 with 10 home runs and 58 RBIs and also leads the league in slugging percentage and on base percentage. Chiaravalloti participated in Baseball Factory’s BATS program as a high school student and went on to play at the University of Richmond before the Toronto Blue Jays drafted him in the fifteenth round this June.

James Hoey, a thirteenth-round pick for the Baltimore Orioles, has played for the Bluefield Orioles this summer. After a brief stay with the Gulf Coast Orioles in Florida, Hoey joined the Class A team based in Bluefield, West Virginia. A part of the 10-team Appalachian League, the Orioles are 20-29 mid-way through August. Hoey has a 3.38 ERA after two appearances totaling 5.1 innings pitched. Prior to the 2003 draft, Hoey was an active member of the Baseball Factory participating in the annual Winter Camp in Hightstown, New Jersey and the BATS program. Hoey was named a Baseball Factory All American in 1999 and 2000.

The Toronto Blue Jays selected SS Aaron Hill out of LSU with the 13th overall pick in the 2003 draft and have not been disappointed. Hill has gotten off to a solid start with the Class A Dunedin Blue Jays. He is currently hitting .306 with 21 runs scored, seven doubles, and eight RBI’s. Hill participated in the Baseball Factory BATS program before heading to college where he was a standout in the Southeastern Conference.

The Expos twelfth-round draft pick, Michael St. Martine, has served as a catcher for the Savannah Sandgnats this summer. He has been at bat 71 times and recorded 12 hits including a double and home run. In his junior year at Monmouth University, St. Martine was the team’s fourth-leading hitter in the 2003 season. Prior to enrolling at Monmouth, St. Martine was a member of Baseball Factory’s BATS program and was named a Baseball Factory All American.

Mario Garza, twenty-fifth-round pick by the Houston Astros, is a catcher for the Martinsville Astros, the current leader of the eastern division in the Appalachian League with a record of 33-22. Garza is batting .327 with 18 H, 5 2B, 3HR and 13 RBIs.

These 2003 draft picks followed in the footsteps of Baseball Factory players before them, many of whom are making their way through the minor league system.

Former Baseball Factory All American B.J. Upton was recently promoted to the AA Orlando Rays of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Upton was the second overall selection of the 2002 draft.

Dan Cevette, a former Baseball Factory Exclusive and All American, signed in 2002 as a third-round pick of the Cleveland Indians. Cevette, a pitcher for the Burlington (NC) Indians, is 2-4 with a 3.47 ERA.

Baseball Factory continues to wish these players, and all of its former players, the best of luck in all of their endeavors.

To view Baseball Factory’s entire list of drafted players please visit: http://www.baseballfactory.com/ourapproach/alumni_draftedplayers.asp