Playing for Lowell "would be good because my dad has been my hitting coach my whole life," Gedman said. "But wherever they send me would be good. Wherever I am, I just want a chance to play."

 ”"Chances are I’ll be going to UVA,” said Downes, whose older sister Kelly informed him of his being drafted. Downes will get a chance to play at Fenway Park. The Red Sox will have their draft picks take part in a game prior to their June 22nd contest.

“Tulane is a great school, I can probably get a good job with a degree from there,” Gross explained. “Maybe if something happens this summer and I add a few miles per hour to my fastball and they want to offer me good money I might think about it, but right now I’m definitely leaning toward college.”

Gross is thrilled to have achieved his lifetime goal of getting drafted, but he is a little disappointed in how late he was taken in the draft. That’s what happens to players with strong commitments to colleges, like Gross and Tulane University.

“Right now his coaches think he would benefit a lot by going to school and we've told him this,” his Don Bosco head coach Mark DeMenna said. “He is very interested in school and I think that's why he went so late (in the draft). They would really have to blow him away with an offer for him to break his commitment to Tulane.”

Poole, who is currently in New York to watch the Red Sox play the Yankees found out the news Wednesday afternoon from his dad.

“The Red Sox contacted my dad back in Hickory when it happened,” Poole said. “Then they notified me because I haven’t had my phone on me much in New York.

“I’m pretty excited and grateful for the opportunity that the Red Sox have given me.”

Poole [deleted] will have some decisions to make when he returns home to sign with Boston or attend Coastal Carolina, where he had planned to play both baseball and basketball.

“From this point forward, I’ll just have to weigh my options with my parents and see what the best opportunity is for me.”

“He’s just beside himself, he’s so happy,” his dad, Paul, said Wednesday afternoon. “This is a kid who has been a Red Sox fan his whole life. He has Red Sox underwear.

Boston only talked to him once. They asked his agent what it would take to sign him, Ben and the agent threw out a number and that’s the last anyone heard from Boston. So when he was selected by Boston, Ben almost choked.”

Young Ben is an impressive specimen. He’s 6-foot-3, 211 pounds and throws well over 90 miles per hour from the left side. He graduated from the highly-regarded Vauxhall Academy of Baseball in Vauxhall, Alta., and has been offered a scholarship at Eastern Michigan University.

However, he’ll likely have the option of accepting the scholarship and going to school in the fall or having a look at what the Red Sox will offer right now. It’s not about the money. It’s about a chance to start a professional career.

“This is huge for Ben and it’s huge for baseball in Manitoba,” his dad said. “He couldn’t even speak when he phoned he was so excited.”