Shortstop Kyle Gilligan received the call yesterday at lunch break from Etobicoke Collegiate.
As he entered Mr. Souvlaki restaurant, his mom, Pauline, phoned with tears in her eyes to say that the Boston Red Sox had selected Kyle in the 20th round.
"I got the big dinner combo to celebrate," Gilligan said later after returning from school.
Chris Emanuele was at home in Mississauga when he received a phone call that he'd been selected by the Toronto Blue Jays. Undrafted a year ago as a junior, the Northeastern University centre fielder was selected in the 26th round.
"I worked hard this past year," Emanuele said, " I wanted to prove people wrong. Now that I have my foot in the door the rest is up to me."
Montreal lefty Medhi Djebbar was the top Canadian selected yesterday in Day 2 of the draft.
The Milwaukee Brewers and the Jays each selected five players, the most of all the teams.
The Jays drafted shortstop Jonathan Fernandez of a Boca Raton, Fla. high schooler. He's the son of former Jays infielder Tony Fernandez.
When Gilligan, who plays for the Ontario Blue Jays, returned to school, teachers, office workers and friends were congratulating him. He's signed a letter of intent to attend Connors State College in Oklahoma.
"We'll see how things work out," said Gilligan, who attended a Red Sox workout last week at Fenway Park and didn't find "one bad hop."
"My brother Travis would hit me ground balls, plus my coaches Dan Bleiwas and Sean Travers helped my development," Gilligan said.
Emanuele was going to celebrate with dinner last night at home with "Mississauga's best cook" -- his mom Carol.
Jays scout Tommy Tanous, of Barrington, R.I., saw Emanuele during his freshman year at Northeastern and saw him improve steadily. Undrafted a year ago as a junior, Tanous said Emanuele's second season, a second all-star season, in the Cape Cod League helped.
"He got stronger over the past year and playing an extra year on the Cape really helped," Tanous said. "He has good instincts in the field and showed some good production this spring.
"He's a baseball player, it's what he wants to do, we were happy to draft him."
Like Gilligan, Emanuele played for the Team Canada National Junior team and coach Greg Hamilton, after playing for Team Ontario and Marc Picard.
"Coach Picard is one the great influences in my life along with my father and my late grandfather, who passed away four years ago," Emanuele said.
Playing for coach Ron Gotwalt's Mississauga North Tigers, Emanuele was part of two Ontario championships.
