Gorman’s Santigate picked by Angels

Bishop Gorman senior R.J. Santigate was the lone area prep player selected on the final day of the major league draft on Thursday.

Santigate, who has signed with Long Beach State, was selected by the Los Angeles Angels with the final pick of the 44th round.

Six other players with ties to Southern Nevada were picked on Thursday.

UNLV center fielder J.J. Sferra was the first pick on Thursday, going in the 31st round to the Washington Nationals.

Two UNLV pitchers also were picked. Chad Nading, a 6-foot-6-inch sophomore right-hander, went to the Texas Rangers in the 37th round, and senior right-hander Marc Baca, from Sierra Vista High, was a 42nd-round pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Five local players were selected Wednesday, when rounds four through 30 were held. Bishop Gorman first baseman Jeff Malm went the highest as a fifth-round pick by the Tampa Bay Rays.

San Diego State senior right-hander Jon Berger, a Bishop Gorman graduate who pitched for two seasons at the College of Southern Nevada, was selected in the 33rd round by the San Diego Padres.

Aztecs junior right-hander Tyler Lavigne, from Centennial High and CSN, went in the 50 th round to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Lavigne (8-2, 3.05 ERA) and Berger (4-5, 5.83) got the attention of scouts this season while they pitched in the same rotation with No. 1 overall pick Stephen Strasburg.

CSN outfielder Trevor Kirk, a freshman from Silverado, went in the 47th round to the Milwaukee Brewers.