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Morissette, Malgeri Round Out 2020 Navigators Selected in MLB Draft

07/14/2021 2:17 PM

LYNN, Mass. -- Two North Shore Navigators from the 2020 season, infielder Cody Morissette and outfielder Ben Malgeri were chosen on the second and third days of the Major League Baseball Draft this week. The three-day event concluded on Tuesday.

Cody Morissette was drafted by the Miami Marlins (No. 59 overall) in Monday’s second round, hearing his name called after the Navs’ two-time Top Pro Prospect and his college teammate Sal Frelick became the first-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers. Frelick, at No. 15 overall, is now the highest drafted player in franchise history and just the third to go in the first round.

Ben Malgeri’s start towards the professional ranks came on Tuesday when he was Detroit’s selection during the 18th round. The Northeastern product is the first-ever former North Shore player to be drafted by the Tigers.

The two Exeter High School (N.H.) graduates and former teammates reunited on the Navigators last summer and both were among six Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) Most Valuable Player finalists. They were also named to the All-FCBL First Team, and Malgeri was the circuit’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Miami drafted Morissette as a shortstop, the same position at which he earned last season’s All-FCBL nod after hitting .340 with 31 RBI and a .480 on-base percentage for the Navs. He ranked second in the league in the latter two categories. 

The first two-time All-American in BC history, Morissette is the first former Navigator to be picked by the Marlins since Saugus native pitcher Ryley MacEachern in 2015. He began his summer with North Shore on a 17-game hit streak and then ended his junior campaign as an Eagle on a 16-game run, ultimately hitting .321 with nine doubles and six home runs.

Malgeri played in all 38 games for North Shore last summer, hitting .333 with 27 RBI, a league-leading 49 hits, 46 runs scored, franchise record-tying seven triples, and 18 stolen bases. On the defensive end, Malgeri recorded five outfield assists. He was also a 2019 All-FCBL outfielder, becoming just the second Navigator to earn such an honor twice.

This spring at Northeastern, Malgeri slugged five of his seven total home runs during the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament on the way to Most Outstanding Player honors. He hit .280 with 28 RBI for the Huskies.

In addition to the three teammates from a summer ago, another former Navigator Dominic Keegan -- who played during Frelick’s first year in 2018 -- was a 19th-round pick of the New York Yankees. Keegan hit .286 with nine extra-base hits and 21 RBI over his 25 games that summer prior to his freshman year at Vanderbilt.

Keegan was a freshman on the Commodores team that won the 2019 College World Series title and helped them back to the finals in Omaha earlier this year. Earning Perfect Game Second Team All-America honors, the Methuen native led Vandy with a .345 average, 57 RBI and slugged 15 home runs in 2021.

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