Northwest Catholic High School senior Tom Bourdon had a full day ahead of him on Wednesday.

He had a graduation mass to attend in the morning, followed by practice with the baseball team in the afternoon before heading back to the West Hartford, Conn. high school at night for graduation.

Then, he was stopped dead in his tracks.

“In the middle of baseball practice, we were working on situations when my coach [Cory Carlson] came over and said that I’d been drafted,” Bourdon said.

Bourdon’s day continued to get better when he was told that he’d been selected by his favorite team -- the Red Sox.

“First of all, it’s an overwhelming day to begin with,” said Bourdon, who was taken in the 38th round. “Just getting drafted is a great feeling to begin with, but it definitely means more because of the team that they are and the way the whole organization is run.”

Tom is not the first Bourdon to be draft by the Red Sox. His brother, Michael, was taken by Boston in the 41st round in 2007 and is now a junior at the University of Tampa.

As sweet as Bourdon’s day might have been, he must quickly put it behind him as Northwest Catholic prepares to meet Cromwell in the Connecticut Class S final, facing the same squad that ousted Bourdon’s team from the playoffs in his sophomore season.

“It’s back to work,” said Bourdon, who has committed to Boston College. “But it’s a day that you’ll remember forever.”

Bridgewater-Raynham (Mass.) Regional High’s Eddie Campbell found himself in a similar situation.

His Trojan team was scheduled to tangle with Xaverian Brothers in a Massachusetts Division I South semifinal playoff game hours after he learned he was taken in the 44th round by the Cincinnati Reds. The game was later postponed because of rain.

“It’s been a crazy day,” Campbell said. “You keep it in the back of your mind that you might get taken, but you try not to think too much about it.”

The left-handed pitcher has committed to Virginia Tech, but was trying to keep things in perspective for the time being.

“We’ll see how things progress over the next couple of days,” Campbell said. “I’m just hoping that we’ll advance in the tournament.”

Can you hear me now?
Boston College slugger Mickey Wiswall was at his family’s home in Stoneham, Mass. when he found out he’d been drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the seventh round with the 222nd overall selection.

“Unfortunately, we don’t get good cell phone reception at the house, so my father and I kept stepping out onto the porch to see if I got a call,” Wiswall said. “Then we’d run back in to look at the computer to see if my name came up.”

Finally, Wiswall connected with Mariners scout Brian Nichols who told him the good news.

The 6-foot, 212-pounder attended the Belmont Hill School and played on coach Ed Gallagher’s 2005 Independent School League championship team before going on to star at BC.

Wiswall, a left-handed bat who hit 19 home runs as a junior this season, was one of six Eagles plucked from Chestnut Hill in this year’s draft.

“It’s speaks to the quality of the program, coach [Mik] Aoki and how far we’ve come,” Wiswall said.

While the bulk of Wiswall’s baseball experience has come within the confines of Massachusetts, he’s looking forward someday to heading to the Pacific Northwest.

“You know, it’s odd,” Wiswall said. “BC’s about 25 minutes away from my house, but with baseball and school and everything, I might as well be on the other side of the country.”

A gauge on the Olt-imeter
UConn baseball head coach Jim Penders wasn’t surprised to learn third baseman Mike Olt was snatched up by the Texas Rangers with the 49th overall selection Monday night.

“We’d heard whispers he might get into the second round, but nothing concrete,” said Penders, who was recently named Coach of the Year by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association.

He couldn’t have predicted that Olt would be off the board by the time the second round started.

Then again, Penders might have had clues as to what team was hot on the trail of the hard-hitting hot corner. Penders noticed Rangers Northeast area scout Jay Heafner popping up at many of the Huskies’ early games.

“It didn’t surprise me to see him go so high,” Penders said of Olt, who was a three time All-State selection at Branford (Conn.) High. “I don’t think we’ve seen what he can be, in terms of power and in terms of becoming a complete player. He’s a great athlete with a strong frame. I’m looking forward to watching him climbing the ladder.”

As UConn’s all-time home run king (44 in three seasons at Storrs), Olt showed plenty of pop in his bat.

But that shouldn’t overshadow what might be Olt’s greatest asset — his glove.

“I got into a little funk last season and went back to the drawing board with my defense,” Olt said. “I never really had a problem with my defense, but I got back to being comfortable again by taking extra ground balls and putting in extra work.”

That additional work has only aided his strong foundation in the field.

“He has great hands,” Penders said. “We knew he would be an excellent third baseman all along and he might have fielded the slow roller better than anybody I’ve ever seen at the college level.”

Here’s a recap of the final day of the MLB first-year player draft with an eye on New England:
Player Name (School) Hometown Round Selection Team
Andrew Giobbi (Vanderbilt) Portland, Maine 32 972 Seattle

John Spatola (Boston College) Milton, Mass. 35 1058 Chi. White Sox

Ethan Paquette (Hofstra) West Burke, Vt. 35 1062 Seattle

Ryan Soares (George Mason) Harwich, Mass. 36 1093 Detroit

John Leonard (Boston College) Hanover, Mass. 36 1098 San Francisco

Nicolas Serino (UMass-Amherst) Saugus, Mass. 37 1106 Washington

Michael Fabiaschi (James Madison) Torrington, Conn. 38 1145 Oakland

Thomas Bourdon (Northwest Catholic H.S.) Simsbury, Conn. 38 1163 Boston

Matt Perry (Holy Cross) Sudbury, Mass. 41 1243 Detroit

Ben Waldrip (Cypress College) Medford, Mass. 42 1274 Atlanta

Eddie Campbell (Bridgewater-Raynham H.S.) Bridgewater, Mass. 44 1327 Cincinnati

Tim Boyce (Rhode Island) Swansea, Mass. 44 1332 Seattle

Zach Kapstein (Tiverton H.S.) Tiverton, R.I. 44 1343 Boston

Patrick Quinn (St. Petersburg) Quaker Hill, Conn. 46 1387 Cincinnati

James Wood (Trinity College) Windham, N.H. 47 1422 Seattle

Matt Abraham (Eckerd College) Worcester, Mass. 49 1476 Toronto

Trygg Larsson-Danforth (Yale) Mattapoisett, Mass. 49 1493 Boston