Three Georgia Southern baseball players are going to the next level.

Griffin Benedict, Ty Wright and Chris Mederos heard their names called during day two of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft Wednesday, and two might just be able to keep playing together.

It came as no surprise when Benedict was the first Eagle to get the call after he was rated as the Rivals.com No. 1 catcher in the country and led GSU in hits, home runs and RBI’s. He was selected by the San Diego Padres as the 474th overall pick in the 16th round.

"There'll be a period of getting used to my surroundings and just trying to adjust to the next level. Hopefully it will be an easy adjustment," said Benedict, whose father Bruce was a catcher and a two-time All-Star for the Atlanta Braves. "Everyone was very, very excited for me, and all the hard work my parents put in and all my hard work has really paid off."

Wright had an interesting thought when he sent his congrats to his teammate.

“I texted (Benedict) to congratulate him and I was thinking about it like, ‘Man, we talked to the same scout,’” said Wright, “It’d be great if we could play on the same team.’”

Little did he know, he would get his wish. Unfortunately, he wasn’t around when the Padres selected him in the 25th round.

“My dad called and was like, ‘Did you hear?’ I was like, ‘Hear what?’ I had a class at two, so I didn’t get back to my apartment until four o’clock and apparently he’d been watching,” Wright said. “Right then, the Padres guy I had talked to last week called me and told me they picked me up in the 25th round.”

Just nine picks later, Mederos was selected by the Oakland Athletics.

His father played the game in college and was also drafted his junior year, but elected to stay in school to play out his senior year. An injury ended his chances at fulfilling his dream.

“He wasn’t ever able to go do it, so he always wanted one of his kids to be able to do it just so he could feel the experience,” Mederos said. “It makes me happy because it’s always what I wanted to do ever since I was a little kid — to have the chance to play Major League baseball.”

Although Mederos only played at Georgia Southern for one season, he feels that the opportunity he received after his second year at Gordon College was what helped him reach his goal.

“(Georgia Southern is) one of the reasons I’ve made it as far as I have,” said Mederos. “I have to thank (pitching coach Jason) Beverlin and coach (Rodney) Hennon for teaching me and helping me get where I’m at.”

According to Mederos, the Oakland farm program is known for taking some of the lesser-known athletes from the college and prep ranks and grooming them into major leaguers. When he came out of high school, Mederos was considered too small to play at the Division-I level, so he’s used to the preparation.

“(The Athletics) get guys who aren’t really known all that well and they work them up to become great players and great pitchers,” said Mederos. “I’m actually glad they chose me because I heard their farm league helps pitchers come along really well.”

He also expects the wooden bats used in the pros will work to his advantage at the next level.

“It’s going to be a new level above high school and JuCo and Division I baseball,” said Mederos, “but I believe that my with pitching style and my types of pitches, going against wooden bats will actually help me be a step ahead of the high school pitchers and the junior college pitchers that were drafted by the same team.”

Each of the three former Eagles are excited about the opportunity to reach the next step in a process that started a long time ago.

“I’ve been waiting for this my whole life, starting from T-ball,” said Wright. “I always wanted to be a pro baseball player and I finally get that chance. It’s a good way to end my Georgia Southern career.”

Notes: Three players who had previously signed on to play baseball with Georgia Southern in 2010 were also drafted. Outfielder Travis Witherspoon (Sumter, S.C./Spartanburg Methodist) went in the 12th round to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, outfielder Victor Roache (Ypsilanti, MI/Lincoln) went in the 25th round to the Detroit Tigers and infielder Shawn Payne (Stone Mountain/Redan/Middle Georgia JC) was selected in the 29th by the Los Angeles Dodgers. … The Eagles have seen 10 players drafted since 2006. … The final round of the 2009 Draft will take place today.

Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9404.