Montclair State senior left-handed
pitcher Jeff Gogal was selected in the Major League Baseball
First-Year Player Draft in the 12th round by the World Champion
Florida Marlins on June 7. He was the 368th player chosen overall.
A former All-American, Gogal became the 13th player under head
coach Norm Schoenig to be selected in the draft, and the fifth
pitcher in the last five years to be chosen. Gogal will join former
teammates Ryan Costello (Double A Huntsville Stars), Corey Hamman
(Class A Lakeland Tigers) and Brian Ellerson (Class A Brevard County
Manatees) as well as pitcher Greg Belson (Class A Lancaster JetHawks)
as former Montclair State players to currently be in the MLB Minor
League farm systems.
Gogal closed out his career this past season by posting a 6-2 record
with a 2.25 ERA. He was named First-Team All-NJAC for the second
straight season and was chosen Second Team All-Mid-Atlantic Region
by the American Baseball Coaches Association and First-Team All-New
Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association. Gogal pitched 76 innings,
allowing 66 hits while striking out 68 batters. He led the Red Hawks
in innings pitched, ERA, strikeouts and complete games (3) while
finishing second in victories.
The MSU Senior Male Athlete of the Year, Gogal was named the
Division III National Pitcher of the Week by the National Collegiate
Baseball Writers Association as he tossed a five-hit shutout with 11
strikeouts in a 6-0 blanking of No. 17 Rensselaer on March 27. In
his final appearance in an MSU uniform, Gogal did not allow a hit in
five innings of work as Montclair blanked sixth-ranked Ithaca
College, 3-0, in a rain-shortened victory on May 15.
For his career, Gogal fashioned a 27-6 record with 10 complete games
and five shutouts. In 304.1 innings pitched, he allowed just 258
hits and struck out 292 batters while walking only 87, with hitters
batting just .230 against him. Gogal ranks fourth all-time in
victories on the MSU career list, and is fourth in innings pitched
and third in strikeouts.
Gogal put together his best season last year as he posted a 7-2 mark
and became the 42nd All-American in Montclair State history. He also
was named to the 2003 Third-Team ABCA Division III squad. He was
also a First-Team All-Mid-Atlantic Region, All-NJAC and All-NJCBA
pick as well as the Montclair State Junior Male Athlete of the Year.
In 11 starts in 2003, he completed three games and went seven or
more innings 10 times. In the summer of 2003, Gogal pitched for the
Falmouth (MA) Commodores of the highly-regarded Cape Cod Baseball
League. For Falmouth, he recorded a 3-1 record with a 0.66 ERA and
allowed just three earned runs in 44.2 innings, striking out 46
batters and walking seven.
Gogal made a name for himself in his first year with the Red Hawks
as he posted a 7-1 mark and 2.10 ERA in helping lead Montclair State
to the 2001 New Jersey Athletic Conference championship and the
Boyertown Regional title. He played a vital role in helping MSU
reach the Division III Baseball Championship for the second straight
year. He then became the first Montclair pitcher since Dan Olsson in
1984 to throw a complete-game shutout at the World Series, blanking
Salisbury University, 1-0. |
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