Red Sox Sign Jay Broughton, The Pitching Version of Dustin Pedroia

Well this is a pretty cool story:

Jay Broughton spent $3,000 in borrowed money on a last chance at playing professional baseball in the winter and is now on his way to join the Boston Red Sox organization.

The Calgary Vipers rookie pitcher was signed by the Red Sox Thursday night following a 6-4 road loss to the Orange County Flyers that he started, throwing six scoreless innings in which he allowed three hits and struck out five batters.

"I'm so excited, I still can't believe it," said Broughton, 23, who will report to the Lowell Spinners in the 'A' New York-Penn League. "My phone has been ringing off the hook today."

Broughton was drafted in 2005 by the Milwaukee Brewers but chose to attend Ball State University on a partial scholarship instead, playing there for four years.

[...]

After finishing his degree, the Indianapolis product enrolled in graduate school last fall but he couldn't stop thinking about baseball.

"I felt like I still had the stuff ," he said. "I kept thinking over and over again, 'What are you doing?' "

It's a good story, but can the kid pitch? It seems like he can, but we'll need to see how it translates to pro ball. He'll start the year in Lowell.