Jesse Bosnik’s career as a St. Bonaventure baseball player officially came to an end late last week when he signed a professional contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, just a little over a week after being drafted by the club in the 13th round of the 2010 Major League Amateur Draft on June 8.
Bosnik spent much of last week in the Dodgers’ facility in Arizona before heading to Ogden, Utah to play for the Ogden Raptors, who are in the South Division of the Pioneer League.
The Pioneer league season began on Monday, June 21 and runs through the second week of September. The Raptors finished third in the South Division last season with 42-34 record, but return nine starters under skipper Damon Berryhill.
Playing in the first game of his pro career on Monday night against the Casper Ghosts (Colorado Rockies), Bosnik went 1-for-4 with a single in his first at-bat. Bosnik started at third base and batted in the No. 6 spot in the lineup.
Bosnik is the 14th St. Bonaventure player to reach the professional ranks since 1991.
Bosnik made the most of his time at St. Bonaventure under the guidance of head coach Larry Sudbrook, improving each of his three seasons and culminating with a monster junior year that ended with a spot on the Atlantic 10 All-Conference second team – just the third shortstop in program history to earn All-Conference status.
Bosnik’s unbelievable 2010 season at the plate featured team-bests of a .387 batting average, 50 runs scored, 79 hits, 20 doubles, five triples, 11 home runs, 62 RBI, a .696 slugging percentage and a .445 on-base percentage. The St. Marys, Pa. native is the first player in program history to finish with at least 20 doubles, 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases in the same season. Bosnik had a hit in 39 of 48 games, including 24 multi-hit performances and 17 games with multi-RBI. His 19-game hit streak at the start of the season was the longest in program history.
Among the A-10 leaders in 2010, Bosnik finished sixth in batting average, fifth in doubles, tied for first in triples, fifth in RBI, fifth in total bases (142) and second in slugging percentage despite the Bonnies playing less games than 11 of the other 13 teams in the A-10.
Sudbrook’s teachings over Bosnik’s three seasons helped him etch his name all over the program’s single-season record book. With his four RBI in the final game of the season against Temple, Bosnik surpassed Pellegrini’s record of 59 RBI set in 2007. Bosnik also finished just five hits shy of Randy Moley’s school record of 84 hits, tied for third in doubles, fourth in runs scored, fifth in slugging percentage and seventh in batting average.
