The beginning of summer marks a special time for the top amateur baseball players. The College World Series is in full swing and their hard work may come to fruition when their childhood dream of becoming a professional becomes true during the MLB Amateur Draft.

Long Beach State junior second baseman Jarren Duran’s dream came true when he became the first Dirtbag taken off the board on day two of this year’s draft. Duran was selected in the seventh round, 220th overall, by the Boston Red Sox, becoming the 61st Dirtbag to be taken in the first ten rounds of the draft since 1989. Duran hit .294 with 195 hits, 123 runs scored, 66 RBIs and 250 total bases in his three years at Long Beach State. Duran, a native of Buena Park, was a Second Team All-Big West selection in his sophomore campaign with the Dirtbags and it appears likely that he will be converted to outfield as his pro career is underway.

Long Beach State finished one win short of their first College World Series appearance since 1998 losing to rival Cal State Fullerton in the Super Regionals a year ago. The Dirtbags didn’t fare so well this season either. Coming off of an emotional hangover from the year prior, they finished three games under the .500 mark at 27-30 and finished fifth in the Big West.

Although the season didn’t turn out the way the Dirtbags were hoping, they didn’t have a shortage of players selected in this years draft. Joining Duran were junior teammates Eli Villalobos (14th round by the Miami Marlins), Clayton Andrews (17th round by the Milwaukee Brewers) and Chris Rivera (33rd round by the St. Louis Cardinals).

Long Beach State continues their long tradition of developing pro prospects from their system and currently have the most active MLB players from any college in the United States.

Congratulations to the four junior Dirtbags selected in this year’s draft and achieving their dreams of becoming professional baseball players.