Four Cajuns Picked on Final Day of MLB Draft

LAFAYETTE-Major League Baseball continued with the second day of the 2007 First-Year Players Draft and on Day Two, four Ragin' Cajuns players were drafted bringing the total number of Cajuns drafted to five.

Five players drafted ties the second most drafted in a single year in the Tony Robichaux Era. The Cajuns had five players drafted in 2005 and six players drafted during the College World Series run in 2000.

The four Cajuns selected on the second day of the draft were Andrew Laughter, Jefferies Tatford, Matt Pilgreen and Devery Van De Keere.

Laughter was a 10th round selection of the Texas Rangers. He made 18 appearances for the Cajuns in relief in 2007 and finished second on the team with three saves. Laughter boasted a 3-1 overall record and a team-best 2.80 earned run average on the year. He tossed 35.1 innings of work, surrendering 39 hits on the year ? 11 extra base hits. Laughter allowed 16 runs, with just 11 earned runs. He struck out 25 batters while allowing just eight walks. Opponents batted .271 against him. Laughter had 11 appearances on the year without allowing a run.

Tatford was selected in the 15th round by the New York Mets. A Second Team All-Sun Belt Conference Selection, Tatford was named to the Sun Belt Conference All-Tournament Team. He was one of just two players on the team to start all 62 games for the Cajuns. Tatford was second on the team with a .351 batting average. He had a career high 10 homeruns, two triples and 18 doubles in his final season. The Lafayette native drove in a career high 46 RBI on the year and drew a career high 42 walks, second on the team behind fellow senior Devon Bourque. For the third consecutive year, Tatford led the team with number of times hit by a pitch. He finished the year with 16 HBPs, second most in a single season, and finished his career with a school record 48 hit by pitches. Tatford ranked in the Cajuns' top-5 in 12 offensive categories (batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage, runs scored, hits, runs batted in, doubles, triples, homeruns, total bases, walks and hit by pitches). Tatford was drafted out of high school in the 42nd round of the MLB draft by the Chicago Cubs.

Also drafted by a New York team was Matt Pilgreen, although the Shreveport senior was selected by the Yankees in the 29th round. Pilgreen played in 25 games for the Cajuns, all in relief. He amassed a 7-0 record on the season and collected three saves. Tatford worked 54.0 innings, surrendering 47 hits, including just 11 extra base hits. He struck out 43 batters, compared to just 11 walks. Pilgreen surrendered 20 runs (19 earned runs) on the year for a 3.17 earned run average and opponents batted .233 against him. Pilgreen pitched a career high 6.0 innings against No. 10 Texas A&M in the NCAA College Station Regional on June 4 en route to being named to the College Regional All-Tournament Team. He had 14 multi-strikeout games with 20 games with at least one strikeout. In 14 of his 25 appearances, he did not allow a run.

Van De Keere was the final Cajuns player selected as he was picked in the 48th round by the Kansas City Royals. Van De Keere was a 2006 All-Sun Belt Conference selection. He finished his Cajuns career with a .322 career batting average. Van De Keere collected 98 hits, including 14 doubles, three triples and 10 homeruns in just two seasons in Lafayette. The Canada native drove in 63 runs while scoring 48. In two years, Van De Keere walked 23 times and had an on base percentage of .366. He was 4-for-5 in stole base attempts.

Jonathan Lucroy was a third round selection on the first day of the draft. Lucroy was the highest pick by any team in the Sun Belt.

The conference finished the draft with 27 baseball players picked. The Cajuns finished the draft with the second most players selected with five. Florida Atlantic led the way with six players selected, while Troy had four players picked.

-Ragin' Cajuns-

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Four Cajuns Picked on Final Day of MLB Draft

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