Sports

Another Jersey Baseball Star has Major League Dreams

Westfield's A.J. Murray joins Carl Thomore as one of two New Jersey residents drafted by MLB this week.

 senior  was drafted Wednesday afternoon to play baseball for the Houston Astros. He joins East Brunswick's as one of two New Jersey players drafted by Major League Baseball this week.

Ranked as the 77th high school player nationwide, Murray was a 48thround pick during the Major League Baseball draft. Murray, a catcher, has been one of the stars of the WHS baseball team, which is competing Saturday in the state championship game. The drafting occurred after Murray helped make the team the first from Westfield to reach the state baseball championship.

“I am excited about it,” Murray said. “It is a cool thing to be drafted by a major league team. It is a dream come true. I am excited about it.”

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Murray  tofor Georgia Tech next year. The Astros draft opens a new door to Murray on his future plans. Murray said he has not had time to think about the ramifications of the Astros draft on his future plans. He said he wants to take time to think it over and talk to the Astros before making a final decision.

Murray has been known to be excited about the Georgia Tech opportunity, which was his first choice school. While drafted Wednesday by the Astros, Murray has not had conversations with the baseball organization about the details of the possibility of playing with them in the future.

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Murray has been in contact with scouts from the Astros organization for several months and scouts from the team have been to several games over the course of the season to observe Murray in action.

With an offer from the first major league team to head to Texas, Murray is excited to have been approached by the team.

“I remember watching Roger Clemens on the Astros,” he said. “They have a good organization there. It is real honor to be drafted by them.”

Murray has been an athletic powerhouse for the Blue Devils, playing for both the baseball and football teams during his four years in high school. He was a captain of the varsity football team as a senior and he received athletic academic honors for his work on the gridiron. As a sophomore, Murray was first teamed with then WHS baseball pitching powerhouse  and started to stand out. In addition to his work behind the plate, he has excelled at the plate batting.

Murray’s signing follows his older brother, , who was signed by the San Francisco Giants in 2010 following his graduation from Wake Forest. Mike Murray Jr., a 2006 WHS graduate, played baseball for both the Blue Devils and Wake Forest.

Murray’s father, Mike Murray Sr., said he is proud of his son being drafted out of high school to a major league team.

“I’m proud of A.J., I did not need the Astros to pick him to be proud of him,” Mike Murray Sr. said. “These are the choices he made. This is what he has chosen to work towards. I am happy for him. To me it’s a great thing. Right now all he is thinking about is winning the state championship on Saturday. I don’t think it will sink in until Westfield is done on this great run they are on.”

Murray confirmed that his full focus is on Saturday’s game against Manalapan. The Blue Devils will face off for the state title at 2 p.m. at Toms River South High School.

“It feels great,” Murray said of being on the first Westfield team to reach the state title game. “This team has accomplished a lot already. Winning sections and getting here has been a great experience so far.”


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