12 Las Vegas Valley locals selected in MLB Draft

Arbor View’s Nick Quintana was the highest-rated prospect from Southern Nevada entering the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft, and the consensus was he’d be taken by the fifth round.

Now the Gatorade Nevada Player of the Year could be heading to college.

After Quintana’s surprising omission from the draft’s first two days, he was selected in the 11th round and 328th overall by the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. Quintana, a 5-foot-10-inch, 190-pound shortstop, was pegged as the No. 107 prospect on MLB.com heading into the draft.

Quintana is signed to Arizona, and gave indications on social media Friday he might go that route.

“Everything happens for a reason. (Arizona baseball) get ready. No more fun and games. #BearDown,” he wrote Friday afternoon. That tweet has since been deleted, and Quintana could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Quintana had a .449 batting average with 58 RBIs this season and led Southern Nevada with 15 home runs.

Despite an above-average bat for his age, there are concerns about where Quintana will play in the field at the next level. He spent most of his prep career at shortstop, but is listed as a second baseman/catcher by MLB.com.

Quintana’s brother, Zach, was a third-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2012 draft and plays for the Carolina Mudcats, a high-Single-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.

Bishop Gorman shorstop Beau Capanna, a New Mexico signee, also was selected by the Red Sox on Saturday. Capanna went in the 21st round, 628th overall.

Gorman teammate Jack Little, No. 249 in the Baseball America 500 entering the draft, was not taken. He has signed to Stanford.

Dean Kremer was the first of four UNLV pitchers taken on the final day, as the sophomore right-hander went in the 14th round to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kremer posted a 4.92 ERA and a 4-5 record in his first season with the Rebels after transferring from Joaquin Delta (California) College.

Junior right-hander D.J. Myers (15th round, San Francisco Giants) — a first-team all-Mountain West selection this season — and senior right-handers Ben Wright (16th round, Chicago White Sox) and Kenny Oakley (31st round, Colorado Rockies) also were drafted. Wright, whose 13 saves are the fifth most in UNLV history, was second-team all-Mountain West. Oakley and Myers graduated from Coronado High in 2012 and 2013.

“So excited for those four guys,” UNLV coach Stan Stolte said. “You just never really know if it’s going to happen until it actually does. We try to keep them grounded because there are so many players every year that expect to get drafted and never do. It’s a tough business and I’m glad these organizations had the faith in these guys to continue their careers. They will represent UNLV well and we are proud of them.”

College of Southern Nevada’s Tyler Hallead, a 6-5 right-hander, went to the Philadelphia Phillies in the 24th round. Hallead was 4-1 with a 5.46 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 28 innings this season.

Right-hander Gabe Gonzalez (27th round, Arizona Diamondbacks), infielder Brody Westmoreland (30th round, Houston Astros) and catcher Jordan Hand (39th round, New York Mets) were the other CSN draftees Saturday. Gonzalez graduated from Arbor View in 2014, the year Hand came out of Shadow Ridge.

Coyotes right-hander Mikey York (Basic High) was drafted Friday in the fifth round by the Tampa Bay Rays.

“It’s a huge honor for the program to have five guys drafted,” CSN coach Nick Garritano said. “There possibly could have been two more, so it’s great for the program and our future. It’s just super news for us. Definitely a weekend to celebrate.”

For Garritano, it was the most draft selections he’s had since taking over the CSN program in 2010.

“Kudos to all of the Vegas kids,” Garritano said. “It’s nice to know that we were probably the top two or three (junior colleges) in America with the draft picks we had. I couldn’t be more proud of these kids to have the opportunity to at least make a decision.”

In total, 12 Southern Nevada players were selected in the draft, including eight locals.

Contact reporter Ashton Ferguson at aferguson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0430. Follow him on Twitter: @af_ferguson