MLB.com Live Coverage of 2011 Draft
New York Mets' Minor League Affiliates

NEW YORK - With their 18th-round pick in the Major League Baseball first-year player draft, the New York Mets selected Cal Poly Pomona's Travis Taijeron.

The Broncos' senior centerfielder has amassed an enormous list of accolades throughout his CPP career, including being named the 2010-11 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Male Athlete of the Year earlier on Tuesday.

He is the 83rd player in the history of CPP baseball to be selected in the MLB draft and the second Bronco to be picked by the Mets. The New York organization selected outfielder Chris Butterfield in the 36th round of the 1989 draft.

This marks the third-straight year that the first-year player draft has featured a CPP student-athlete, as Brad Wilson went in the 33rd round to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009 and Josh Krist was picked in the 39th round by the Seattle Mariners in 2010.

Taijeron, a native of San Diego, Calif., capped an impressive collegiate career by being selected an NCAA Division II All-American in the Daktronics, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) award announcements. He also swept the Daktronics ABCA/Rawlings and NCBWA West Region Player of the Year awards, and was named the CCAA's Most Valuable Player. 

During his final collegiate season, Taijeron led the CCAA in virtually every offensive category as he batted .392, clubbed 16 home runs, scored 59 runs, collected 51 RBI, tallied 148 total bases, walked 50 times, posted a .744 slugging percentage, recorded a .534 on-base percentage and had a 1.000 fielding percentage. His defensive play helped him land a spot on the ABCA National Gold Glove Team.

Taijeron batted .542 over the final month of the season to help Cal Poly Pomona make a late-season run that resulted in a CCAA Tournament berth and NCAA Regional appearance.

At the conclusion of the year, Taijeron picked up even more honors, including selection to the West Region All-Tournament Team and the College Baseball Lineup Division II All-Star Team along with inclusion as a semifinalist for the Tino Martinez Award, given annually to the top Division II baseball student-athlete.