Central Bucks East infielder Chase Harlan drafted in the third round by the Los Angeles Dodgers
The 6-foot-3 third baseman, who signed with Clemson, led the Patriots to a Suburban One League Colonial Division title and a state playoff berth.
![Chase Harlan, who is committed to Clemson, was drafted by the Dodgers on Monday.](https://www.inquirer.com/resizer/o-M-gh7hO2o45mTNC2rIxx0bIZ8=/0x23:4797x3223/760x507/filters:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/32RPGHFXK5AR5KBDHBD24WKQB4.jpg)
Central Bucks East graduate Chase Harlan was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 98th pick in the third round of the Major League Baseball draft on Monday.
The 6-foot-3 third baseman was one of Pennsylvania’s top prospects. He’s known as a versatile infielder with a throttle arm and is dominant at the plate. The 18-year-old is enrolled at Clemson but now has the option to forgo college and begin his professional career.
Harlan finished his high school season with a .382 batting average with 26 hits, 23 RBIs, and 22 runs. He led the Patriots to a Suburban One League Colonial Division title and a state playoff berth, which marked the first time the program advanced in school history.
» READ MORE: Central Bucks East’s Chase Harlan is one of the state’s top MLB draft prospects
Harlan played for the local travel team, the Bucks County Generals, since he was 13.
The summer heading into his senior year, he joined the national circuit for the Artillery 17-and-under team in Gibbstown, N.J., which helped him capture the attention of scouts and play against national competition.
White Sox draft Penn alum
Jackson Appel, a 2023 Penn graduate, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox with the 169th overall pick in the sixth round. The catcher joined Texas A&M as a graduate transfer this past season after exhausting his Ivy League eligibility and helped the Aggies to the College World Series.
Appel hit .331 with 10 home runs in 65 games with Texas A&M, and was named first-team All-Southeastern Conference. The Houston native was the fifth Aggie overall and second position player to be selected in this year’s draft.
During his senior season at Penn, Appel led the Quakers to an upset of host Auburn in the 2023 Auburn Regional. With the victory, Penn became the first Ivy League school to defeat a SEC team in NCAA Tournament history.
Oakland selects a former Taney Dragon
Philadelphia native Jared Sprague-Lott was selected by the Oakland A’s with the 256th overall pick in the ninth round.
The infielder spent three seasons at Richmond before transferring to Arkansas for his senior year, and was named to the SEC’s all-defensive team. Sprague-Lott hit .290 with a .916 OPS for the Razorbacks this season.
Sprague-Lott graduated from Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, and is also a former Anderson Monarch. He competed alongside Mo’ne Davis at the 2014 Little League World Series.
Fellow Taney Dragon Scott Bandura was selected by San Francisco in 2023 out of Princeton, and is currently in the minor leagues.
Guardians take Chadds Ford’s Matson
The Cleveland Guardians selected right-handed pitcher Sean Matson from Harvard with the 265th overall pick in the ninth round.
Matson, a Chadds Ford native and graduate of Unionville High School, was second-team All-Ivy with the Crimson as a junior. He posted a 3.25 ERA across 11 starts, good for second in the conference, and recorded 77 strikeouts.
Sean hails from an athletic family — his older sister Erin Matson is the head coach of North Carolina field hockey. Erin won four national championships with the Tar Heels as a player before being named coach at 22 years old, and successfully defended North Carolina’s title in 2023 during her first year at the helm.