Jefferies, Cumberland, Cederlind go in first 5 rounds of MLB draft

Day one of the 2016 major-league draft was a good one for Buhach Colony graduate Daulton Jefferies and Turlock alumnus Brett Cumberland.

It was also a good day for the University of California at Berkeley, the Central California Conference, the Stanislaus District … heck, even the Ellsworth Apartments complex.

Jefferies and Cumberland, batterymates at Cal who share an apartment in Berkeley, are former CCC MVPs who were named The Bee’s Player of the Year in consecutive seasons (2013 and 2014, respectively).

And both were among the first 76 picks Thursday, Jefferies going 37th to the Oakland A’s and Cumberland 76th to the Atlanta Braves.

Another CCC alum, 2014 Turlock High graduate Blake Cederlind – who spent the past two seasons pitching for Merced College – was taken in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

All three are expected to sign with their respective teams and forgo their remaining NCAA eligibility.

“I’m just kind of waiting on the draft to finish up so I know where they’re going to send me,” said Cumberland, whose agent, Jason Comte, has hammered out a deal with the Braves that should be signed in the coming days. “I was planning on signing the whole time, just wasn’t supposed to say so.”

Cumberland, who last week was named the Pacific-12 Player of the Year, led the conference in home runs (16), RBIs (51) and slugging percentage (.678). He ranked second in on-base percentage (.480) and total bases (122), and was fifth in runs (46) and sixth in batting average (.344).

Jefferies battled a strained shoulder muscle this season and was limited to eight starts. Still, he posted a 7-0 record with a 1.08 ERA. In 50 innings, he struck out 53, walked just eight and limited opponents to a .185 batting average.

“I feel 100 percent,” said Jefferies, who made his final two starts of the season. “I’m ready to put on a uniform.”

Cederlind, picked 165th, could reunite with yet another Turlock grad playing professionally, UCLA grad Kevin Kramer, who was taken in the second round (62nd overall) by Pittsburgh in 2015.

“It’s a good organization that’s having success right now, and I look forward to maybe playing with Kevin again,” said the right-handed Cederlind. “I’m excited to start my pro career.”

Jefferies and Cumberland were glad they were able to go through this process together.

“It’s pretty phenomenal,” Cumberland said about the battery being drafted on the same day. “I don’t think that happens too often.”

And both are proud that they came from Merced and Stanislaus counties.

“We always joked about being from the CCC,” said Jefferies. “We’d have a meeting before every game, and before we took our positions we’d say, ‘Best in the CCC!’

“It was just to remind ourselves where we came from, two kids from the CCC, playing in the Pac-12.”　

This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 7:23 PM with the headline "Jefferies, Cumberland, Cederlind go in first 5 rounds of MLB draft."