Three former Vaquero baseball players were selected in the 2012 Major League Baseball draft June 4 through 6.

Abe Ruiz, Zak Edgington who played for the Vaqueros in 2010, and Richard McCaffrey who played at City College last season, were all selected in this year’s draft.

“It’s very rewarding as a coach to have your players drafted,” said Walker.

The Chicago White Sox took Ruiz, a first baseman and designated hitter for Arizona State, in round 16 with pick 501. Ruiz transferred from ASU to City College for the 2010 season. He batted .343, had 11 homers and 40 RBI’s for the Vaqueros before going back to ASU where he lead the Pac-12 with 13 homeruns and was second in slugging percentage at .595.

“[Ruiz] had a phenomenal season before we sent him back to Arizona State,” said Vaqueros pitching coach Justin Aspengren. “It’s good to see a guy like that get back to where he started and then get the reward that he was due.”

The San Francisco Giants selected Edgington in round 34, number 1048 overall. The lefty was named the Western State Conference North Pitcher of the year in 2010, going 6-3 with a 2.92 ERA.

Aspengren said that Edgington was a good player but he didn’t see his potential at first.

“I have watched [Edgington] go from a soft throwing left-hander to a power pitcher,” said Aspengren, “Now he is a pro, it makes me proud.”

Edgington played his last two years for UCSB. He became the Sunday starter last season, posting a 3.35 ERA for the Gauchos.

The Cincinnati Reds selected left-handed pitcher McCaffrey with pick 1,042 in round 34. He was an All- WSC honorable mention pitcher last season for the Vaqueros. He went 5-4 with a 4.13 ERA, one save and 76 strikeouts.

McCaffrey ended the season with a strong performance at Oxnard that clinched the WSC title for the Vaqueros. He pitched 8.1 scoreless innings of relief in a 16 inning 6-5 playoff win.

“He was a good athlete and it showed,” said Walker. “When he started to play pro ball he had a good summer, which was exciting to see.”