A pair of former area prep baseball players were selected in the MLB First Year Player Draft last week.

Eastside Catholic grad and current Oregon State University pitcher Matt Boyd was picked at 175 overall by the Toronto Blue Jays and spent the weekend helping his Beavers in an NCAA baseball super regional against Kansas State.

Boyd was drafted in 2012 after his junior year by the Cincinnati Reds, but elected instead to return to Corvallis and entered the starting rotation this season and the 6’3 left-hander will now look to a future with the Blue Jays after completing his final collegiate season.

Another former Crusader, Cal Towey, went to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim with pick 517.

Towey, a four-year letterman and 2008 Eastside Catholic graduate, played the past four seasons at Baylor after redshirting in 2009.

The unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 Conference First Team (and second team selection in 2012) was also his team’s second leading hitter with a .291 batting average in 199 at bats. Towey also knocked in a team high 45 runs for the Bears this season while playing third base and his 36 walks and 14 hit by pitches were also team-highs.

A total of 34 players who played their high school or college baseball in Washington were selected, led by Kentwood senior catcher Reese McGuire, who was chosen 14th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Marco Gonzales from Gonzaga, a junior pitcher selected 19th by the St. Louis Cardinals.