Pomona-Pitzer baseball player Drew Hedman and Chaffey College product Willie Holmes have both signed with the Boston Red Sox and are beginning their minor league career with that organization’s Short-A affiliate the Lowell Spinners of the New York Penn League.

The Spinners open the season on Friday against Vermont.

Holmes, an outfielder, was drafted in the 14th round and chose to sign rather than attend Cal Baptist for his junior season.

Hedman, who plays first base, was drafted in the 50th round of the free agent draft last week. He put up some eye-popping numbers his senior season with the Sagehens and even earned Division III Player of the Year honors yet wasn’t selected until the last moment.

College seniors typically don’t go until later because they don’t have any leverage when it comes to negotiations. It also goes to show how hard it can be to get noticed at a smaller school. The small park likely worked against him too since some might tend to think his power numbers were inflated by playing in a smaller venue.

Those that saw Hedman play on a regular basis know most of the balls he hit out would have been out of most college parks.

But he did get picked and that’s all that matters. The rest is up to him.

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