Mets select Copiague lefthander Franklin Parra in amateur draft
Franklin Parra of Copiague was drafted in the 11th round by the Mets. Credit: James Escher
Most students get dragged to the principal’s office for the wrong reasons. Copiague’s Franklin Parra went there to get drafted by the Mets.
The 6-2, 187-pound lefthander was selected in the 11th round with the 320th overall pick by the Mets Wednesday in Major League Baseball’s first-year player draft.
“I sat with the principals and my baseball coach just waiting for the announcement,” Parra said. “When the Mets called my name, it was the best moment of my life.”
The 18-year-old Parra, who throws a 92-mph fastball, had a 2-3 record with two no-decisions on a Copiague team that finished 4-16. He struck out 74 batters in 34 innings. Through a difficult season, filled with many losses, he was upbeat and tried to lead a young team.
“He made so many strides as a team leader and a role model in our program over the past two years,” Copiague coach Bill Bennett said. “It’s such a great moment for him. There was such a buzz in school when we made an announcement over the loudspeaker for him. Everyone is congratulating him. It’s really cool.”
Parra will graduate on June 21 and is expected to leave for the Mets’ minor-league facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida, immediately.
“Whatever the new bosses tell me to do, I’m going to do,” he said. “I’ll be working for the New York Mets now.”
Parra is the first Copiague player drafted since 1992 when Tony DiIeso was taken in the ninth round by the Atlanta Braves.
Six other local players were selected.
Fordham University righthander Reiss Knehr was taken in the 20th round with the 591st pick by the San Diego Padres. Knehr, a graduate of St. Dominic High School, was a junior at Fordham.
Long Island had its second high school player drafted when the Philadelphia Phillies selected St. John the Baptist catcher Logan O’Hoppe in the 23rd round. The NSCHSAA Player of the Year, who hit .511, was the 677th pick.
Righthanded pitcher Aaron Pinto of Stony Brook University was taken by the Cleveland Indians in the 24th round with the 733rd pick.
Righthanded pitcher Sean Boyle of Dallas Baptist University was taken by the Yankees in the 25th round with the 757th pick. The senior is a 2014 graduate of Newfield.
Stony Brook University senior shortstop Bobby Honeyman was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 29th round with the 868th pick.
Hofstra senior lefty Ted Cillis was taken by Kansas City in the 33rd round with the 992nd pick.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
