One current Rafter, five players off the 2014 team and one player from the 2013 and 2012 teams were selected
Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.– Current Rafter Chris Falwell (Cisco College), as well as former Rafters Nick Blackburn ’14 (Illinois), Hector Lujan ’14 (Westmount College), Domenic Mazza ’14 (UC Santa Barbara), Tyler Servais ’14 (Princeton), Campbell Wear ’14 (UC-Santa Barbara), Donnie Dewees ’13 (North Florida) and Kenny Towns ’12 (Virginia) were all selected in the 2015 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.
This Rafters draft class was highlighted by Dewees (OF), who became the highest selected Wisconsin Rapids player in franchise history when he went in the second round, 47th overall to the Chicago Cubs. The Los Angeles Angels selected Towns (IF/OF) in the 20th round with the 615th pick. A couple former Rafters went in the 22nd round as the New York Mets picked Blackburn (P) at pick 659 and the San Francisco Giants took Mazza (P) seven picks later at 666. A pair of 2014 catchers went in the 27th round when Wear was picked by the Colorado Rockies at 797 and Servais was selected by the Detroit Tigers with the 820th selection. Falwell, a current Rafter, went at pick 877 to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Lujan was the final former Rafter selected by the Minnesota Twins with the 1,040th pick.
Chris Falwell was the only current Rafter selected in this draft. The tall left-handed pitcher has been impressive early in the season, racking up 11 strike outs in just 6.2 innings. Falwell has made a pair of starts for Wisconsin Rapids, picking up no-decisions in both, but currently sits with a 2.70 ERA
Falwell, a native of Round Rock, Texas, started his collegiate career with the Arkansas Razorbacks in the SEC. Working out of the bullpen, he boasted a solid 2.70 earned run average and notched four strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work. Falwell played at Cisco College (TX) for the spring of 2015 season and had planned to transfer to Texas A&M Corpus-Christi in the fall.
Nick Blackburn saw action out of the bullpen in 29 games for the Rafters during the 2014 season. The submariner complied a 4-4 record and added a save in his 34.2 innings of work, while striking out 29 batters.
Blackburn’s successful summer carried over to his spring season at Illinois, where he had a career-year by going 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA in 20 appearances out of the bullpen, helping the Illini go all the way to the NCAA Super Regionals and a 50-10-1 record.
Hector Lujan had a brief stint with the Rafters in 2014, pitching five shutout innings over three games. He allowed just two hits while striking out five and walking one.
Lujan threw 23 innings for Westmount College (CA) notching four saves and posting a record of 2-3 and 4.50 ERA. He held opposing hitters to a .177 batting average and struck out 25 to just 15 walks.
Domenic Mazza has his name etched in Rafters lore as the only pitcher in Rafters’ history to throw a no-hitter, despite it coming in a losing effort. Mazza started seven games for Wisconsin Rapids in 2014, earning a 2-2 record with a stellar 1.43 ERA. The lefty struck out 50 batters in 44 innings.
Mazza compiled a team-best 6-1 record and a 2.69 ERA at UC Santa Barbara in 17 games and 10 starts. The Concord, Calif. native struck out 72 batters in 77 innings, good for a 8.42 strike out per game average.
Tyler Servais saw time in 37 games in 2014 for the Rafters behind the plate. Servais had 25 hits, including two home runs, to go along with 19 runs scored and 18 RBIs.
Servais served as the primary backstop for the Princeton Tigers, playing in 37 games and making 34 starts. He had 22 hits, three RBIs and seven runs scored.
Campbell Wear played in 32 games at catcher for Wisconsin Rapids in 2014, hitting .238 with 25 hits and a home run. He added in 16 runs scored and 14 RBIs.
Wear saw time in 54 games at UC Santa Barbara this spring, where he had 32 hits, including eight that went for extra bases.
Donnie Dewees was a Northwoods League All-Star and team MVP during his time with Wisconsin Rapids in 2013. As a Rafter, the Crystal River, Fla. native hit .321 over 57 games, including 12 home runs and 53 RBIs. Dewees also set a pair Rafter records that summer, scoring 54 and stealing 26 bases.
At the University of North Florida, Dewees was named 2015 Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year and earned Collegiate Baseball Newspaper First Team All-American honors. He led the nation in hits (106), runs scored (88), slugging percentage (.749) and total bases (188), as well as finishing second in the country with a .422 batting average.
Kenny Towns was a versatile player for the Rafters in 2012, earning playing time in the infield and outfield as well as making 14 appearances on the mound. As a hitter, Towns had 25 hits in 30 games, scored 16 runs and knocked in nine. From the mound, he compiled a 1-2 record and 4.17 ERA over 28 innings.
In his senior season at Virginia, Towns has played in 61 games and helped Virginia reach the College World Series. The Burke, Va. native hit .298 with 72 hits, five home runs, 39 runs scored and 60 RBIs.
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The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website. For more information, visit www.raftersbaseball.com.
