MLB draft: Haddon Heights’ Caden Bodine selected by the Baltimore Orioles in first round
The catcher played his best year of college ball this past season with Coastal Carolina. “There’s no mistake for where he is today,” said his former high school coach Eric Newell.
Caden Bodine wasn’t a high school ballplayer who traveled to compete in the top showcases or met with the best hitting and catching coaches around the country.
The Haddon Heights native is “self made,” said his former high school coach Eric Newell.
“He would go work out at the local indoor hitting place and pay for the tunnel, get the pitching machine going, and get some swings in there,” said Newell, who’s been at the helm for the Garnets since 2014. “We would practice on Saturdays, we’d lift at 8 a.m., and then would go out to the field for another three hours. After we go home, I’d run back out and drive by the field. There he is out there still working. He’s just a workhorse.
“There’s no mistake for where he is today.”
On Sunday, the 5-foot-10 catcher was selected by the Baltimore Orioles with 30th overall pick in the first competitive balance round of the MLB draft. Bodine is coming off his best collegiate season with Coastal Carolina, where the junior was named an All-American and won the 2025 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award. He helped Coastal make a run to the College World Series finals before falling to LSU.
He’s a considered an all-around player. He can hit with power from both sides of the plate and has a high contact rate, while also being one of the best defensive catchers in the country. This past season, Bodine batted .318/.454/.461 with five home runs and 42 RBIs in 67 games.
It’s no surprise, Newell said, to see his former player have success in college and be able to develop to the next level. Bodine is one of the best players to come through the Haddon Heights program and is the highest draft pick it has produced.
“His freshman year, he came in and he did all the right things,” Newell noted. “As he matured, he became a little more of a vocal leader, was able to rally guys around him. During his senior year, he was just very much into our team. He made our team better, and that made him a better player, too.”
Bodine was ranked New Jersey’s ninth-best player in the Class of 2022. In his senior year, the Garnets had their winningest season under Newell as they finished with 22-8 and made an NJSIAA Group 2 final appearance, the first in program history.
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He verbally committed to Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C., the summer of his sophomore year. He wasn’t one who wanted to shop around for other schools and knew early on what he wanted from a program.
“Caden went down there, he did a camp and performed well,” Newell said. “They fit his style. They’re very blue-collar, kind of no-nonsense. It’s not all about the glitz and glamour. It’s more about just playing good baseball and working hard — being a part of a team and a brotherhood, and that’s what he’s all about.”
The two stayed in contact throughout Bodine’s collegiate career. Newell followed the Chanticleers’ all season. He would reach out here and there with words of encouragement and reminding Bodine to take it “one pitch at a time.”
Bodine was back home in South Jersey to be with his family for the big day. Newell saw his former player a few days ago for the first time since last summer, and even after the catcher’s rising recognition this past season, he hasn’t changed a bit.
“He’s just a humble, a good kid,” Newell added. “He’s appreciative of everything that’s happening to him. ... He’s done it the right way all the way through, that’s he’s going to have success at the professional level, because his backbone is his character.”
So what will the Orioles be getting from a prospect like Bodine?
“You’re going to get an extremely hard worker,” Newell said. “You’re going to get somebody that’s driven beyond belief. He’s not going to get distracted by people telling him how great he is. He’s going to stay focused. He’s going to work and you’re going to get an even-keel guy, somebody who’s able to handle the ups and downs of baseball.”
Frank Cairone to Brewers
Recent Delsea Regional graduate Frank Cairone was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers with the 68th overall pick.
The 6-3 pitcher, who made his college commitment to Coastal Carolina, was considered one of the top 20 lefties in the draft.
Cairone‘s biggest intrigue is his fastball. He threw up to 94 mph this year and could keep an 88 to 90 pace in later innings. At the draft combine, he showcased his 82-mph slider.
With Delsea, he struck out 94 in 44 innings, while helping the Crusaders to an NJSIAA Group 3 quarterfinal appearance.