Baseball: Tamaqua’s Ligenza selected by L.A. Dodgers in MLB Draft

Tamaqua's Mason Ligenza stands in the batter's box (Photo by Kelly Wiley).

BROCKTON — Professional scouts were a common occurrence at Mason Ligenza’s games throughout the 2025 high school baseball season.

Cameras and phones lined the backstops at Schuylkill League and postseason contests, with the recent Tamaqua Area High School graduate often putting on post-game batting practices for those scouts in attendance.

Monday, the 6-foot-5, 197-pounder found out which team liked him the most — the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ligenza was selected with the 195th overall pick by the defending world champions on the second day of the Major League Baseball Amateur Player Draft being held in Atlanta. The pick was the 30th and final selection of the sixth round and comes with a slot value of $317,200.

According to available records, the 18-year-old Brockton resident is the first Tamaqua baseball player to be selected in the MLB Draft since pitcher Gary Zedonek was taken in the 24th round of the 1979 draft (No. 612 overall) by the Baltimore Orioles after playing college ball at Mansfield University (then Mansfield State College).

“I am so happy for Mason,” Tamaqua head coach Jeff Reading said. “It’s a great achievement for him to have his name called and picked by the Dodgers.

“Everything that is coming his way he has worked really hard for, and he continues to do so. As great of a player as he is, he is even a better person. He has a positive attitude and his work ethic is second to none. We are all very proud of him.”

Chosen as the Division I Player of the Year by the Schuylkill League Baseball Coaches, Ligenza hit .448 (26-for-58) with 44 runs scored, 16 RBIs, four doubles and 11 home runs for the Blue Raiders, who finished 21-2, won a second straight Schuylkill League championship and reached the District 11 Class 4A title game before falling to Northwestern Lehigh.

Ligenza walked 29 times and struck out just eight times in 90 plate appearances, compiling an on-base percentage of .644 and an OPS of 1.730. He was also Tamaqua’s top pitcher, finishing with a 7-1 record and 0.25 ERA in 10 games, striking out 100 and walking 14 over 55.1 innings, allowing just two earned runs.

For his career, Ligenza hit .415 with 103 hits and scored 102 runs. He recorded 59 RBIs, with 18 doubles, five triples and 20 home runs, putting together a career on-base percentage of .527 and career OPS of 1.287.

Ligenza was ranked 217th overall by MLB.com, with scouting grades of 40 hit, 55 power, 55 run, 55 arm, 50 field and 40 overall on a 20-80 scale.

He was the first high school player taken from Pennsylvania in this year’s MLB Draft. Here’s a look at MLB.com’s scouting profile of Ligenza:

The son of Joe and Adrienne Ligenza, Mason signed to attend the University of Pittsburgh during the early signing period in November 2024 and will have to choose between going pro with the Dodgers or playing collegiate baseball for the Panthers.

Should he turn professional, Ligenza will become the seventh Schuylkill League baseball player currently in the pro ranks, joining North Schuylkill’s Reggie Crawford (Giants, Triple-A), Pottsville’s Travis Blankenhorn (Angels, Double-A) and John Holobetz (Red Sox, High-A), Schuylkill Haven’s Brandon Schaeffer (Mariners, High-A) and Blue Mountain’s Kaleb Sophy (White Sox, Low-A) and Nate Nabholz (Pioneer League). Marian’s Joe Nahas had been pitching in the Cubs’ minor league system before being released in June.