SECAUCUS, N.J. – Navy senior pitcher
Noah Song was selected 137th overall in the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday afternoon during the fourth round.
Song is the 10th selection in Navy baseball history in the MLB First-Year Player Draft and first since Luke Gillingham was selected in the 37th round of the 2016 draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. Song's selection in the fourth round makes him the highest drafted player in program history. Prior to Song, Stephen Moore was the highest drafted Midshipmen after being selected with the 300th pick in the 2015 draft during the 10th round by the Atlanta Braves.
"I am super excited about being drafted and my head is still whirling," Song said after being selected by the Boston Red Sox. "I really like the organization and Red Sox area scout has been great throughout the process. Boston is a place that is steeped in the tradition of winning and I am really excited to have been selected by the Red Sox."
"This is an amazing acknowledgment of what Noah has done and to be picked in the fourth round really speaks for itself," head coach
Paul Kostacopoulos commented. "I know he is really excited and this is really an exciting day for him."
Song and the Navy baseball team played at Fenway Park in 2018 against Army where Song threw a complete-game shutout against the rival Black Knights where he struck out 11 batters over nine innings.
"It was a cool experience to pitch at Fenway Park last year. To say that I was able to pitch at Fenway and then get drafted by the Red Sox is really cool," Song concluded.
Navy has had two graduates make it to the major leagues with Nemo Gaines making his MLB debut on June 26, 1921, with the Washington Senators and Mitch Harris made his debut in the major leagues on April 25, 2015, with the St. Louis Cardinals.
During his senior season, Song compiled a 1.44 ERA to rank sixth in the country and he leads the nation with 161 strikeouts. He posted a strikeout per nine innings mark of 15.41 this season, which is the best in NCAA Division I since 2009 and is tied for sixth all-time in Division I history. Song also posted a record of 11-1 this year and his 11 wins are tied for third-most in the country.
In 14 starts during the 2019 campaign, Song allowed the opposition to hit just .171 at the plate and he ranks second in the country in complete games (6), seventh in hits allowed per nine innings (5.27) and 14th in WHIP (0.91).
On the national level, Song has been selected as a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and National Pitcher of the Year. He also became the program's first player to earn First Team All-American honors after garnering the recognition by
Collegiate Baseball last week.
Song was named the 2019 Patriot League Pitcher of the Year and was a First-Team All-Patriot League selection for the second-straight season. In his four seasons, he has broken the Patriot League record for most league Pitcher of the Week honors in a career after earning the award 10 times in his time at Navy. The senior has also been selected as the National Player of the Week on five different occasions in 2019 and seven times in his career.
In his four years at Navy, Song has rewritten the program record books. This season, he broke the career record for wins (32), strikeouts (428), innings pitched (334-1/3) and tied for the most shutouts in school history with nine. All four records were previously set back in 1961 by Chuck Davis. Along with breaking nearly six-decade-old career records, Song broke the single-season record for strikeouts, which Davis set back in 1960, with 161 this season. Song has also moved into the top 15 for career ERA at 2.37, which is the lowest ERA in program history in the last 30 years. He is also second in strikeouts per nine innings in his career at 11.52.
Last season, the Red Sox captured their ninth World Series title in franchise history after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1, in a best-of-seven series.
