Former Lobo batboy Schoolcraft grew into first-round MLB pick

It turns out that serving as batboy for the University of New Mexico baseball team can be quite the résumé stuffer.

A youthful stint with the Lobos certainly did nothing to hurt the prospects of Kruz Schoolcraft, selected as the 25th overall pick by the San Diego Padres in this week’s MLB Draft. A left-handed pitcher/first baseman, Schoolcraft was selected after a standout senior season at Oregon’s Sunset High School. The 18-year-old’s first-round slot is valued at $3.61 million.

Schoolcraft is one of five players with New Mexico connections who will be trying to climb the ladder with MLB franchises after this week’s draft. Brent Iredale and Brayan Orrantia heard their names called after turning heads at New Mexico Junior College. Rio Rancho native and former Lobo Dayne Pengelly and Las Cruces native Isaac Silva signed as undrafted free agents.

Those four players have more typical baseball ties to New Mexico than does Schoolcraft, who not too long ago was scooping up bats and elbow guards for then-coach Ray Birmingham’s Lobos at Santa Ana Star Field. Asked if he predicted his batboy’s rise to first-round MLB draft pick, Birmingham chuckled.

“Not quite,” Birmingham said. “Kruz always had incredible passion for baseball and his family gave him all the tools he needed to succeed. But he was kind of a small kid, so we helped him work on speed and arm strength when he was here. I thought he might project as a center fielder — then he got to high school and hit this huge growth spurt.”

A growth spurt, indeed. Schoolcraft is now listed as a 6-foot-8, 229-pound pitcher/first baseman with a 97-mph fastball and considerable pop in his bat.

“I was kind of a late bloomer,” Schoolcraft said in an interview on youtube.com after he was drafted by the Padres. “I had to learn how to fail a little bit, and always being the underdog is something that made me the person I am now.”

Schoolcraft also followed a trail blazed by Boston Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman, an Albuquerque native who served as UNM’s baseball batboy before going on to become a collegiate star at LSU and an MLB All-Star with the Houston Astros.

Could Schoolcraft eventually follow Bregman’s path to the sport’s upper echelon? Birmingham doesn’t see why not.

“I connected Kruz with Alex so he’d have someone to lean on a little bit,” Birmingham said. “They already have quite a bit in common.”

Here’s a quick look at the other four players with New Mexico connections:

Brent Iredale

Selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in round seven, Iredale was the starting third baseman for Arkansas in its run to the 2025 College World Series. A native Australian, Iredale played at NMJC in 2023 and ‘24 and earned NJCAA All-American honors as a sophomore when he hit .441 with 25 homers and 78 RBIs in 58 games.

Brayan Orrantia

A 6-foot-2, 190-pound right-handed pitcher, Orrantia went 12-3 with a 3.16 earned-run average as a sophomore for NMJC in 2025. A native of Mexico, Orrantia was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 14th round.

Dayne Pengelly

A Rio Rancho native and Cleveland High School alum, Pengelly completed his collegiate career with two seasons at UNM. The right-hander went 7-7 in 2025 working primarily as a starter. He struck out 93 over 92 innings with a mid-90s fastball and sharp slider but sometimes battled his command. Pengelly signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as an undrafted free agent.

Isaac Silva

Like Iredale, Silva recently capped his collegiate career at the College World Series. A 6-foot-2, 190-pound right-hander who excelled at Organ Mountain High School, Silva helped spark Murray State’s remarkable CWS run, going 9-3 with a 4.84 ERA and 81 strikeouts over 87 innings. Silva, who previously pitched at Eastern Arizona and Troy, signed as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.