Padres select Freiman in 25th round of MLB Draft

Nate Freiman capped his magnificent baseball career at Duke University with a spectacular senior season.

The San Diego Padres took notice.

The Padres selected the hard-hitting 6-foot-8, 250-pound first baseman from Wellesley in the 25th round of the Major League Baseball draft on Wednesday afternoon, the 234th overall selection. He was the first of four Blue Devils to be chosen on Wednesday.

As a senior, Freiman led Duke in batting average (.352), home runs (20) and RBI (62) for the third straight year, earning second team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors. He broke the Blue Devils' all-time home run record as a senior and become only the second Blue Devil in school history to hit 20 home runs in a season.

He was also drafted in the 28th round of the 2008 MLB Draft as a junior, but opted to return to Duke for his senior season where he earned First Team Academic All-America honors. Also a member of the All-Ping!Baseball Team, Freiman finished his career ranked second all-time at Duke with a .356 career batting average and was among the ACC’s top 10 in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage (.703), walks (36), on base percentage (.463) and total bases (154).

At Wellesley High, Freiman was a two-time captain, a three-time all-Bay State Conference pick, and the state's Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior.

His teammate at Duke, right-handed pitcher Alex Hassan, a graduate of Boston College High School, was selected by the Red Sox in the 20th round.

-- Craig Larson