Matt Gedman, third baseman for the Massachusetts baseball team got the phone call every college ball player dreams of last Wednesday. He was drafted by a professional team.

Gedman, coming off of a standout season at UMass in which he batted .402 and was named to the Atlantic 10 Baseball All-Conference First Team, was selected drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 45th round of the MLB first year player draft.

Minuteman coach Mike Stone said that Boston seems like a perfect fit for Gedman. His father Rich was a catcher for the Red Sox for 11 years.

“It’s probably a good spot for him. When you go up, [to the majors] you need a little arm strength at every position,” said Stone.

Primarily a third baseman at UMass, the Red Sox drafted Gedman as a second baseman, a position that he hasn’t played since the 2009 season.

Gedman’s accomplishments at the plate this season landed him the Atlantic 10 batting title (.406) and placed him second all-time at UMass in hits for a single season (76). His batting average also ranks fifth in school history on the all-time list for a single season.

Gedman held the 16th best batting average in the nation this season. No other player in the A-10 ranked in the top 30.

Stone said that Gedman would be most remembered for his timely hitting and reliability in clutch situations, as well as being a happy, go lucky kid that was enjoyable to coach.

Gedman leaves UMass with a career batting average of .334 with 33 doubles, four triples, 14 home runs, 94 Runs-Batted-In and 99 runs scored.

According to an ESPN Boston article written by Marty Dobrow, Gedman was told by a Red Sox scout that he will either play for the Gulf Coast Red Sox in Fort Myers, Fla. or the single-A short-season Lowell Spinners, where his father is the batting coach.

“A door has been opened,” said Gedman in an interview with UMass Athletics. “It’s up to me to take advantage of it.”

Eric Mansfield can be reached at [email protected].