Sitting with his girlfriend at his home in Manhattan Beach, Tommy Bergjans was anxiously awaiting a phone call that could change his life forever.
“It was the longest 20 minutes of my life,” said Bergjans, a 22-year-old right-handed pitcher who had high hopes of being drafted by a major league baseball team. “I finally got a call at the end of the seventh round. It was an awesome feeling with the added bonus that my hometown team was interested in me.”
The former Loyola High School player grew up rooting for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who selected Bergjans with their eighth pick (252nd overall) on Tuesday, June 9 in the second day of the Major League Baseball first-year player draft. The slot bonus value assigned to the pick is $167,000.
Bergjans, who recently graduated with a degree in economics, holds eight career pitching records at Division III Haverford College in Pennsylvania, including most wins (27), lowest ERA (1.69), most strikeouts (374) and most innings pitched (282.2). He became the third Haverford player ever selected in the MLB draft.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Bergjans posted a 5-3 record with a 1.07 ERA in nine starts his senior season, striking out 111 with only 13 walks in 67 1/3 innings. He led the division in strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings pitches (14.94).
Scouts took notice of Bergjans potential during his senior year at Loyola. Despite finishing with a 4-6 record and 3.35 ERA for the Cubs who went 12-17 in 2011, he posted 71 strikeouts in 69 innings and held opponents to a .208 batting average.
“I got into trouble when I was a young kid,” Bergjans said. “I always looked for baseball as a way to get into college. I wanted to go the East Coast and when I visited Haverford, I really liked the place and decided to go there.”
Bergjans said his velocity at Loyola was 84-86 miles per hour, but increased to 88-92 during his freshman year at Haverford.
“I consider myself a fastball pitcher, but the curveball is my out pitch,” Bergjans explained. “I’m an aggressive pitcher who likes to challenge hitters. I believe my velocity will continue to increase.”
After a couple days of celebrating, it was back to the mound for Bergjans who reported to the Odgen (Utah) Raptors, the Dodger’s rookie team in the Pioneer League.
“If I wasn’t drafted, I would try to sign as a free agent,” Bergjans said. “I always want to stay in baseball in some capacity.”
Bergjans said he continued to follow the draft after his good news.
“It was exciting to see two of my friends from Loyola drafted,” Bergjans said. “It would fun to play against them some day.”
Former Loyola standouts Angelo La Bruna, an infielder at USC, was picked by the Washington Nationals in the 33rd round and Xavier Borde, a pitcher at the University of Arizona, was selected in the 36th round by the Baltimore Orioles.
Other former high school stars from the South Bay drafted were Redondo’s Matt Esparza and Palos Verdes’ Bobby Stahel.
Esparza, a right-handed pitcher at UC Irvine, was a 14th-round pick by the Cleveland Indians. The junior finished the 2015 season with an 8-2 record, 3.39 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 98 innings.
Stahel, a junior outfielder at USC, was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 20th round. The Trojan’s leadoff hitter batted .376 with 33 runs scored this season.
