TOPSHAM – On the day that changed his life forever, Mark Rogers was still early for baseball practice.

Sleep-deprived but still wide-eyed, the 19-year-old pitching phenom from Mount Ararat High School continued to revel in becoming the first Maine high school player to be picked in the first round of Major League Baseball’s first-year player draft. He was selected fifth overall by the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.

“I got a couple of hours of shut-eye last night, but then this morning just dragged on,” Rogers said just before he and his teammates began practicing at Kingdon Field for Tuesday night’s Eastern Class A final with Brewer. “I didn’t think it was going to get here, to be honest. But when it came, it came fast.”

Recent draft reports listed Rogers as a top 15 selection, but Baseball America’s final draft projections released on Monday had him going third. He ended up being picked ahead of more publicized players such as Jered Weaver, brother of the L.A. Dodgers’ Jeff Weaver, and Stephen Drew, brother of J.D. Drew of the Atlanta Braves.

Rogers is the highest pick from Maine since the Seattle Mariners selected former South Portland and University of Maine star Bill Swift second overall in the 1984 draft.

At 6-foot-2, 205 pounds with a fastball clocked in the low 90s and what a Major League scouting report called a “potential hammer curveball,” he attracted dozens of Major League scouts to his games over the last two years.

Rogers shined in front of the Major League talent evaluators, going 9-0 this year with a 0.16 ERA while fanning 142 in 56 innings on his way to earning Gatorade’s National Player of the Year award.

Baseball America projects Rogers as a number two or three starter in the Major Leagues, while Major League Baseball’s Web site called him “One of the best high school pitching prospects seen in 15 years scouting” with “top of (Major League) staff potential.”

Rogers listened to a radio broadcast of the draft over the Internet at his Orr’s Island home with family, friends and teammates in attendance.

“Everybody in the house just kind of exploded. It was an unbelievable, once-in-a-lifetime feeling,” he said. “I’m just so happy that Milwaukee selected me. I think it’s a great organization and a great opportunity.”

Milwaukee has a history with Maine pitchers. The Brewers drafted Lisbon’s Jeremy Shorey in the 21st round in 2000. Pete Ladd of Portland was a reliever for them in the early 1980s, and Bangor’s Matt Kinney is currently a long reliever in the Brewers’ bullpen.

“They have a good history of developing players,” Rogers said. “They have guys that are coming up through their system that are just on the edge of making the majors. I feel like in the next couple of years they can be a contender, and I want to be a part of that.”

Rogers will turn pro despite accepting a full scholarship last summer to play baseball for the University of Miami. He is represented by Steve Springer and Don Mitchell, whose list of clients include the Texas Rangers’ Laynce Nix and several other highly-touted prospects. The agents will not be able to negotiate with the Brewers until after the high school season is over, which will be Saturday at the latest. Last year, Rickie Weeks, selected second overall by the Brewers, signed a five-year contract worth up to $4.79 million with a $3.6 million signing bonus.

Once the two sides agree to a contract, Rogers may report to one of the Brewers’ rookie league squads in Arizona or Montana.

“We haven’t had a lot of conversations about that yet, but I’m sure that’s to come,” said Rogers, who spoke with Milwaukee scouting director Jack Zduriencik and general manager Doug Melvin by phone Monday.

“This player is a quality individual, great aptitude, outstanding athlete, he loves baseball, and that’s the type of player we were looking for whether he’s high school or college,” Melvin told MLB.com.

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