Former South Portland pitcher Hunter Owen, and former Marshwood High School and University of Maine second baseman Quinn McDaniel were both selected on Monday in the 2023 MLB Draft.
Owen, a lefthander who went on to pitch at Vanderbilt University, was selected in the fourth round (#106 overall) by the Kansas City Royals. He was ranked as high as #56 on the prospects list by the MLB website. Owen went 4-0 in 12 starts with a 3.52 ERA this past spring for the Commodores. He becomes the second highest player taken that grew up in Maine, topped only by Tre Fletcher who got picked at #58 in the second round in 2019. He becomes the sixth former South Portland pitcher to be drafted, with the most noted one being Billy Swift who was taken second overall in 1984 and pitched 13 big league seasons. Owen does have an option to return to Vanderbilt for his senior year.
McDaniel helped lead UMaine to an NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time since 2011 this past season. He was taken in round five (#153) by the San Francisco Giants. The MLB website didn’t have McDaniel in its top 250, and he was ranked #241 by Baseball America. The native of Eliot, Maine batted .354 with 16 homeruns and 45 RBI in his junior campaign with the Black Bears and was a three year starter. He also stole 32 bases in 38 attempts, had an on base percentage of .513, an OPS of 1.201, and played in all 53 games in the 2023 season to help lead his team to an America East Championship and a record of 32-21. He is expected to report to the Giants spring training facility in Arizona within the next week.
Story by Chris Lessner
