Five Day-Three Selections Round out Record-Tying St. John’s Draft Class

On the third and final day of the 2018 MLB Draft, five members of the St. John’s baseball program heard their names called by professional outfits, bringing the team’s total to six on the year and tying a school record.

Joining Kevin Magee, who was selected yesterday by the Baltimore Orioles in the ninth round, were Michael LoPresti (Pittsburgh Pirates, 18th Round, 534 overall), Josh Shaw (St. Louis Cardinals, 19th Round, 573 overall), John Valente (Detroit Tigers, 21st Round, 615 overall), Jamie Galazin (Chicago Cubs, 22nd Round, 668 overall), and Robert Boselli III (Cincinnati Reds, 37th Round, 1,099 overall).

2018 marks the third time in program history that six players have been selected in the same draft class. All three of those classes followed BIG EAST Regular Season titles, as the 2005 and 2015 Johnnies also had six student-athletes selected.

LoPresti was the first Johnnie to hear his name called on the final day of the 2018 MLB Draft, earning his selection after a stellar three-year stint in Queens. The hard-throwing right hander turned in a record of 13-4 with a 4.02 ERA from 2016-18, starting 36 of his 44 appearances during that stretch. The Wayne, N.J., native recorded nearly twice as many strikeouts (124) as he did walks (65). After registering a career-best six wins as a sophomore in 2017, LoPresti lowered his ERA substantially as junior, posting a 3.16 with a .243 opponent batting average.

In three seasons with the Red Storm, Shaw never missed a game, playing and starting in 167-consecutive outings for the Johnnies. A career .300 hitter, Shaw exploded onto the scene as a rookie in 2016, earning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, Freshman All-America, and Second Team All-BIG EAST honors after hitting. 297 and leading the team with 42 RBIs. During his sophomore season, Shaw earned First Team All-BIG EAST accolades after batting .288 with 33 RBIs, helping the Johnnies win 42 games and receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. This past season, Shaw played a critical role in yet another stellar campaign for the Johnnies. The second baseman led the Red Storm to its ninth BIG EAST regular season and tournament titles, topping the team with 46 RBIs and 17 doubles. The Wayne, N.J., native came up clutch when it mattered most, hitting .367 with two home runs and nine RBIs during a seven-game span in the BIG EAST Championship and the NCAA Clemson Regional. In the deciding game of the conference tournament, Shaw put his own personal exclamation point on the weekend, launching his first career grand slam to put the game out of reach and shore up the Red Storm’s league-record ninth BIG EAST title.

Valente recently wrapped up one of the most successful careers in the history of the St. John’s Baseball program. A lifetime .353 hitter, Valente helped the Red Storm record four winning seasons, three 40-win campaigns and a pair of BIG EAST Championships during his tenure in Queens. After making 20 appearances as a freshman during the BIG EAST championship season of 2015, Valente became an everyday starter midway through the 2016 campaign before going on to lead the team with a .341 batting average. In his final two seasons with the Red Storm, Valente earned a pair of First Team All-BIG EAST selections, hitting .375 as a redshirt junior before batting .360 as a graduate student in 2018. This past season, he became the first player in St. John’s history to be named the BIG EAST Player of the Year. The New Rochelle native capped his St. John’s career with 218 hits, good enough for 13th in program history. In 173 appearances in four years with the Red Storm, Valente struck out just 38 times. Valente was also named the NCAA Clemson Regional All-Tournament Team in both 2017 and 2018. He went 3-for-6 with three doubles in two games at the 2017 regional before going 6-for-14 with a pair of extra-base hits in 2018.

Another four-year Johnnie, Galazin earned his selection on the heels of a standout senior season that saw him set career-best marks in nearly every single offensive category. After hitting .319 with 34 RBIs in a junior campaign that saw the Johnnies win 42 games, Galazin batted .329 with 44 RBIs in 2018, the latter of which was good enough for second on the squad. The Langhorne, Pa., native tallied 26 extra-base hits, shattering his previous career high of 17. He blasted six long balls as a senior, tripling his career total in the process. Always a threat on the base paths and on the defensive side of the ball, Galazin recorded double digits steals for the third-straight season and did not record an error for the entirety of the 2018 campaign. For his efforts, he was rewarded with a spot on the All-BIG EAST First Team. For his career, Galazin missed becoming the 25th member of the 200-hit club at St. John’s by just 15 base knocks.

In his second year with the Red Storm in 2018 after transferring from Mercer County Community College, Boselli became a mainstay in the St. John’s lineup and helped the Johnnies win yet another BIG EAST regular season championship before coming away with the program’s ninth conference tournament title. The Ventnor, N.J., native hit .285 with 13 doubles, three triples and four roundtrippers while driving in 39 runs on the campaign. Following a particularly hot stretch at the end of March and the beginning of April, Boselli was honored by the BIG EAST in back-to-back weeks, finding a spot on April 2nd’s weekly honor roll before being named the conference’s player of the week on April 9.

The Johnnies registered the 10th 40-win campaign in school history this past spring and became the ninth Red Storm squad in the last 14 season to achieve the feat.