PEORIA, Ill. -- Seniors Brian Spielmann and Brad Canada along with junior Joe Napoli were all selected during day two of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, Wednesday.
Spielmann and Canada were both picked in the 25th round, while Napoli was a 50th round draft pick. Spielmann was drafted by the Texas Rangers with the 759th overall pick, while Canada went 10 spots later at 769 to the New York Yankees. Napoli was also selected by the Rangers with the 1,493rd selection.
The trio helped the Braves to a 28-22 overall record this spring and tied for fifth in the Valley with a 10-14 league record.
Spielmann posted a 2-3 record with a 3.75 ERA, which ranked third among Bradley starters. A 6-foot-4 right handed-pitcher, he was second on the squad with 65 strikeouts and limited hitters to a .255 batting average, while leading the team and ranking among the league leaders in strikeouts per nine innings (10.14). He made 13 appearances and started nine games, while tossing 57.2 innings as a senior.
In Missouri Valley Conference action, Spielmann sported a 3.70 ERA in 24.1 innings of work and held hitters to a .233 batting average. He earned ESPN the Magazine Academic District V honors for the second consecutive year.
Canada finished the season with a .339 batting average and led the Braves with a .455 on-base percentage. He set the season (19) and career (33) records for hit-by-pitches and started all 50 games this year. As a senior, he earned second-team all-Valley honors as a utility player and was also selected as an honorable mention at first base. He tied for the team lead with 13 doubles and tied for second on the squad with 24 RBI.
The Valley's Dr. Charlotte West Scholar-Athlete Award recipient, he was also named Bradley's Watonga Award winner and was a First-Team Academic All-American in 2005 after earning second-team Academic All-American honors as a junior.
Napoli appeared in 38 games, with 31 starts to his credit. He hit .238 on the year with six doubles, one triple and 11 RBI. Napoli drew 11 walks and boasted a .322 on-base percentage in 2005 as a junior. A Peoria, Ill., native and Notre Dame High School graduate, he was slowed by a hamstring injury after batting .345 with seven RBI in the first nine games of the season.
The Rangers field a Rookie League team in Surprise, Ariz. (ASL Rangers) as well as Single-A affiliates in Bakersfield, Calif. (Bakersfield Blaze), Clinton, Iowa (Clinton Lumberkings) and Spokane, Wash. (Spokane Indians). The Yankees Rookie League team is the Gulf Coast Yankees in Tampa, Fla., while the Single-A affiliates are based in Charleston, S.C. (Charleston RiverDogs), Tampa, Fla. (Tampa Yankees) and Staten Island, N.Y. (Staten Island Yankees).
