Seattle Selects Newfield with Sixth Pick : Baseball Draft: Marina star is only third Orange County player to be drafted in the first round out of high school.

Two years ago, Seattle Mariner scout Ken Compton went to a Marina-Westminster high school baseball game to watch Westminster first baseman Ryan Klesko play.

Compton left the park that day raving . . . about Marina’s Marc Newfield.

“By the time the game was over, I was scouting Newfield,” Compton said. “He hit two balls out of the park. I’ve been following him ever since.”

And Compton was among the first to congratulate Newfield Monday, when the Mariners drafted the 6-foot-4, 210-pound first baseman sixth overall in the amateur free agent draft.

“We’re taking a gamble by selecting a high school (player), but that’s the risk you have to take,” Compton said. “I feel very lucky. It’s a scout’s dream to get a first-round guy.”

Newfield said he and the Mariners are negotiating a contract and signing bonus, and he expects to reach an agreement “within the next few days.” The sixth pick in last year’s draft, Paul Coleman of Frankston, Tex., received a $160,000 signing bonus from the St. Louis Cardinals.

“I was really happy to get drafted,” Newfield said. “Seattle’s pretty much where I wanted to go. I don’t think all this has sunk in yet. Maybe it will later.”

If Newfield, 17, decides to sign, he will need to have his parents, Richard and Dee, do it for him. Players must be 18 to sign a major league contract.

Newfield is only the third Orange County player to be drafted in the first round out of high school. Sonora first baseman Brian Greer was taken in the first round by the San Diego Padres in 1977. In 1987, Ocean View pitcher David Holdridge was selected by the Angels in the supplemental draft after the first round.

Newfield also joins a list of well-known players who have been drafted in the first round by the Mariners, including Dave Henderson (1977), Darnell Coles (1980), Mike Moore (1981) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1987).

Newfield, who bats right-handed, hit .467 this season with six homers, eight doubles and 20 runs batted in. He was one for four and scored twice Saturday in Marina’s 6-4 victory over Diamond Bar in the Southern Section 5-A championship game.

“He’s a power hitter with a very exciting bat,” said Roger Jongewaard, Mariners’ vice president of scouting and player development. “He’s the type of guy who could be a (cleanup) hitter someday. We look for him to play left field or right field.”

Compton said Newfield’s future as a first baseman is bleak because the Mariners are already loaded at the position with Alvin Davis, Pete O’Brien and Tino Martinez.

“We’ve been cornering the market on first basemen,” Compton said. “Marc can run and throw well enough to play left field at least. That will just make him that much more valuable to us.”

Newfield has been recruited by Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach and the University of the Pacific. He also considered attending Rancho Santiago College or Golden West, but said Monday his only goal is to play professionally.

“Going to college is still an option for me if I don’t make it in (pro) baseball,” Newfield said.

Scouts have compared Newfield’s swing and batting stance to those of Cincinnati Reds slugger Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry of the New York Mets.

Compton has drawn his own comparisons.

“He holds the bat similar to Davis,” Compton said. “Others compare him physically to (Angel Dave) Winfield.

“But I think Marc will be someone that people compare other players to someday. Hopefully he’s a guy who, in the year 2010, is still playing and hitting 30 homers and 100 RBIs.”

The Mariners also selected USC shortstop Bret Boone, a former El Dorado player, Compton said. Boone, the son of former Angel catcher Bob Boone, was taken in the fifth round.

Boone, a junior, hit .313 with 12 home runs this season, including six homers in five games in the NCAA South I Regional playoffs. In his three-year career at USC, Boone hit .304 with 29 homers and 160 RBIs. He was a preseason All-American selection by Baseball America.

“I’m excited about Boone,” Compton said. “If we get Newfield and Boone in our park (the Kingdome) it will be something. It’s a hitter’s paradise, even though they moved the left-field fence back 10 feet this year. Boone has quick hands and I think he has a good chance.”

Gary Mota, a sophomore outfielder from Fullerton College, was taken by the Astros in the second round. Mota hit .314 for Fullerton with 13 home runs and 48 RBIs.

Mota has made an oral commitment to Arizona State.

Mota is the fourth son of Dodger coach Manny Mota to play baseball at an Orange County college.

Times staff writer Steve Kresal contributed to this story.