MLB DRAFT HISTORY: The JRBC Connection with Players/Coaches

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First athlete ever drafted from Collier County, FL. This Naples HS grad has enjoyed a great career in pro baseball as a player, coach and international scout. In fact, Carlos is still coaching in the JRBC! He also played in the GNLL for the Holland Salley White Sox of legendary Coach John Iamurri.

Drafted by the Yankees from Barron Collier HS. Billy played for Coach Bob Smith and Coach Romero, a former BC assistant. Billy went on to play college ball at Troy State in Alabama.

First round pick from Barron Collier. He played for Coach Romero on the BC JV team in 9th grade and 3 years at the Varsity level with Coach Bob Smith. Greg has also been a guest speaker at the JRBC.

A JRBC keynote speaker in the 1990's, Ted was drafted from BCHS and again while playing for the Clemson Tigers. He was a smooth fielding SS who started his career playing at NNLL.

A first round pick from Miami-Dade South, Rudy has now been a JRBC instructor for many years. He also enjoyed a long career in pro baseball as a player and as a coach and is currently coaching at Miami-Dade State College.

A superb SS at Lely HS, in 1989 Mike was a member of the first SWFL team to win a state title in baseball. Nolasco was also an All-Conference player at Miami-Dade South. He also coached with Coach Romero at Lely after his college career. RIP Mike.

Veteran JRBC instructor/speaker, Jeff was a C at Stetson for three years after graduating from NHS. He's been a player or coach in pro baseball since that signing; including a two year stint as the first base coach of the Twins. 

A JRBC keynote speaker, Adam played pro ball with the Braves and the White Sox. Certainly one of the best hitters in SWFL during HS, Johnson is the

Head Coach at his alma mater BCHS. He also played collegiately at UCF.

Another outstanding player from BCHS, Erik was also a guest speaker at the JRBC. He joined Adam and also played with his other brother Andy at UCF. Erik is currently still coaching baseball at Marco Charter.

Johnny signed with the Tigers from Warner Southern. Before that he was a star CF for Coach Romero at Lely HS.

Gordon has also given words of encouragement to the campers as a speaker/coach at the JRBC.

Santini, another Lely HS product, played varsity baseball for Coach Romero as a sophomore and his last two seasons for Coach Pete Seitz. He had tremendous bat speed and a strong arm.

Bahr was the first player ever drafted from Gulf Coast HS. He also competed with the Collier County  Junior Olympic team coached by Romero and attended the JRBC multiple times. Brandon opted to play at USF after graduating from GCHS.

Carmen, a Naples HS grad, attended the first ever JRBC event at age 11 in the summer of 1988. Cali is a regular speaker and a former JRBC instructor. He has the distinction of being the first to play in the majors from Collier County.

This talented lefty from Estero HS attended the JRBC as a youngster. In addition, Luke also pitched at the college level at Embry-Riddle University. 

Chris became only the second player from Naples to reach the majors and had a 14 year career in pro baseball, including two years pitching in Japan. He attended the JRBC on multiple occasions and is also a regular speaker at JRBC events. 

Eric was drafted from Gulf Coast HS and played travel ball for Naples Select along with Chris Resop. In fact, Coach Tom Resop and Coach Romero were his mentors on the Select squad. May he Rest In Peace.

A former JRBC camper, he was drafted  from BCHS and twice as a Clemson Tiger. Andy, a power hitter, had a very productive HS, college and pro career in the Minor Leagues.

Justin was a hurler at FGCU while Coach Romero worked as a volunteer assistant coach in 2005 and 2006. FGCU has been guided by  Coach Dave Tollett since Day 1 of the program.

Jason was a star infielder at FGCU before being drafted by Cincinnati and playing for the Reds in their organization. The Sanford, Florida product was also a JRBC instructor in 2006 and Coach Romero had the honor to be one of his coaches for two years at FGCU. 

A product of the San Carlos LL, Ryan attended the JRBC during those years. In fact, Coach Romero coached the lefty hurler with two different travel teams before reuniting at FGCU in 2005 and 2006. Williams has also worked as an instructor at the JRBC. 

Kiely worked primarily as a starting pitcher at FGCU. He was a workhorse for Coach Tollett's squads from 2004-2007. The tall righty helped the 2006 FGCU team to the most wins ever until that record was recently eclipsed, in 2019. 

Jeff started attending the JRBC at age 6 and was a regular both as a camper and as instructor for a long time. He was a star OF at BCHS and for the  Clemson Tigers before going pro.

The lefty is a product of NNLL and BCHS. Justin was a long time camper and later an instructor at the JRBC. He was also a starting pitcher at the University of Tampa, a Division II powerhouse.

An outstanding pitcher at FGCU, Bleier is still playing and was very effective for the Marlins in the 2020 playoffs. In fact, he has also worked for the Orioles, Yankees and Bluejays as a lefty reliever. Richard first appeared in the Big Leagues at age 28.

Casey, a product of Mariner HS in Cape Coral, joined FGCU in 2006 and quickly became the ace pitcher and starting SS. Both his dad and grandfather are former MLB hurlers, making them the only family in history to have three generations of pitchers from the same family in the majors. Casey's career included stints with the Cubs and the KC Royals. 

Ryan, a member of the  Naples HS State champs as a senior, is also a product of the JRBC as a camper and as a former instructor. He played college ball at Southern Georgia and at St. Leo. Having grown up in Naples, Sadler is another athlete from GNLL.

Ian, a product of NNLL and BCHS, played college baseball at Furman University before being drafted by the Cardinals. He not only attended the JRBC on a few occasions as a camper, but was also a valuable member of the JRBC coaching staff for several summers.

Tyler, who started his baseball career at NNLL and attended the JRBC in his youth,  graduated from BCHS. Ross had a stellar career as the LSU Tiger catcher. He also played professionally with the Giants for multiple years.

Michael started his career in the GGALL and frequently attended the JRBC in his youth. A graduate of GCHS, he played SS at Sanford University before embarking on a pro career with the White Sox. A former JRBC  coach at the Winter Super Camp, he  was also  a manager in the SF Giants organization.

Matt, who played for the Bonita Springs LL and attended the JRBC in his youth, is a graduate of Estero HS. He ascended through the Cardinals organization to the AA level.

Dom, who started his career at GGNLL and attended the JRBC in his youth, graduated from GCHS. Before signing with the Mariners, he played college ball at Bethune Cookman. In addition to Seattle, Blanco had a stint with the Minnesota Twins organization. He's also been an instructor at the JRBC.

Garrett started playing for GNLL and attended the JRBC on a few occasions in his youth before graduating from NHS. He was drafted by the Dodgers after his senior year in HS, but opted to play at USF where he was the starting CF. His brothers Jordan and Kyle also played college baseball. 

Mikey, from GGALL and the JRBC, graduated from GCHS. He also played baseball at Chipola, Auburn and at Nova Southeastern. He comes from a wet known baseball family. His dad Mike is a former MLB coach with the Tigers and Mariners and has a long pro career. Mikey's uncle Victor was the voice of the LA Angels and his grandpa is the legendary Cookie Rojas.

A camper while visiting his grandparents in Naples around age 11, David has lived mostly in Colorado and California. On 7/28/20 he made his MLB debut beating the Red Sox 8-3, thus becoming the third JRBC student to reach the Majors. He was a #1 pick in the MLB draft from the University of Oregon before embarking on a professional career.

The veteran JRBC instructor was drafted by the Astros from the University of Evansville in Indiana. An integral member of the JRBC staff, Jeff is the former Head Baseball Coach at St. John Neumann HS and he was also an assistant at Ave Maria University. He is a former Athletic Director at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School and is currently a religion instructor.

A former camper and current JRBC coach when he is available, Thomas played for Coach Romero at St. John Neumann HS from 2015-2017at the varsity level. A graduate of BCHS and a pitcher at Northeastern University, Balboni was drafted in the 15th round.

By the way, he started his baseball career while playing for his dad Tom in the Greater Naples LL.

A former camper, Jay played for Coach Chad Ott at CSN and was drafted in the 6th round by the San Diego Padres.  Jay, who started his college career at Northwestern, played in 2023 at Duke University.

By the way, he is a product of the Greater Naples LL.

A former JRBC camper, Johnny was a 3rd round pick (95th overall) of the Toronto Bluejays. A product of GNLL and Naples HS, Johnny also coached our campers  at the JRBC during his senior year! An excellent student, King also had a baseball scholarship offer with the U. of the Miami Hurricanes.