Houston Astros Select Eric Cavers in 10th Round
Junior All-American first Franklin Pierce position player ever drafted
RINDGE, N.H. (June 7, 2004) - Franklin Pierce junior All-American Eric Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) was selected by the Houston Astros in the 10th round (304th overall) of Major League Baseball's First Year Player Draft this afternoon.
"I'm kind of in awe and shock right now," said Cavers. "I've been working my whole life for this and it's happened. This a great feeling."
Cavers, tabbed the third-ranked prospect in Upper New England (Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont) in Baseball America's 2004 Draft Preview issue, is the first position player in program history drafted and the fourth player in the last four years from Franklin Pierce to be chosen in Major League Baseball's Draft. He is also the seventh Franklin Pierce student-athlete picked in a major sports league draft joining Bojan Vuckovic (men's soccer) in 1996, Justin Blood (baseball) in 2001, Minna Mustonen (women's soccer) and Chris Shank (baseball) in 2002, Matt Weagle (baseball) in 2003 and Felix Brillant (men's soccer) in 2004.
"I'm happy for all four of our guys who were chosen over the last four years," said sixth-year Franklin Pierce Head Coach Jayson King. "Today is a great day for Eric. He had a great spring and couldn't have done more to help his cause and now he'll get a chance to fulfill his dream of playing professional baseball."
Cavers was named a first team Rawlings/ABCA Division II All-American this spring, earned the first Northeast Region and Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year awards in program history and also earned a spot on the All-Region and All-Conference first team. He also earned the Louisville Slugger MVP Award at the recent New England College All-Star Game at Fenway Park in Boston by hitting 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored to lead the College Division (Divisions II & III) to a 9-6 victory over the University (Division I) All-Stars.
Cavers completed his junior season leading the Northeast-10 in batting average (.394), on-base percentage (.481), slugging percentage (.670), runs scored (59), hits (80), triples (5) and home runs (10), while also ranking high among NE-10 leaders with 16 doubles (2nd), 44 RBI (2nd), 22 stolen bases (3rd) and 31 walks (5th).
Cavers also led the Ravens with a program-record 26 multi-hit and 12 multi-RBI games this season and posted a team season-high 15-game hitting streak earlier this spring. In Conference play this season, Cavers hit .402 (47-117) with 37 runs scored, 14 doubles, three triples, six homers, 24 RBI and 12 stolen bases with the NE-10's mandated wood bats.
Cavers, a two-time NE-10 Player of the Week, is also the top defensive catcher in the Conference, having thrown out 32.6-percent (14-43) of the potential base stealers against him this season to go with seven pickoffs (2nd NE-10).
Cavers has established single-season records for hits and runs at Franklin Pierce, while his at bat total ranks second, batting average sixth, doubles second, triples second, home runs sixth, RBI seventh, slugging percentage fifth, walks third and steals second on the program's single-season lists.
Cavers holds the program's career stolen base record with 57, while also ranking among career leaders with 43 doubles (2nd), 139 runs scored (3rd), eight triples (3rd), 193 hits (4th), 150 games played (6th), 18 home runs (5th) and 103 RBI (8th).
Cavers also holds career records for games caught with 150 and consecutive games caught with 92 and the single-season games caught with 53 this spring.
Franklin Pierce (32-23, 23-8 NE-10) rounded out its season ranked fifth in the final NCAA Division II Northeast Region rankings, narrowly missing out on a second-straight NCAA Tournament bid. The Ravens won their second ECAC Division II Baseball Championship over the last three years and matched the program record for overall victories set in 2003 and established a new record for conference wins.