06/07 at 11:36 PM

Third baseman Dan Gamache was a bit of a surprise to be the first Tiger taken in the 2011 MLB Draft on Tuesday.

Even to himself.

“I was expecting to go a little later,” said Gamache, who was listening to the draft broadcast on MLB.com. “When I heard my name I was surprised. It’s very exciting.”

The Pittsburgh Pirates took the junior from Exeter, R.I., with the first pick of the sixth round of the draft — 182nd overall — making him the first of six Auburn players and one Tiger signee to go off the board in the second day of the draft.

Gamache was followed by Slocomb High pitcher and Auburn Class of 2011 signee Clay Holmes (ninth round, 272nd overall, Pittsburgh), junior shortstop Casey McElroy (11th, 353rd, San Diego), junior pitcher Derek Varnadore (17th, 523rd, Florida), senior pitcher Bradley Hendrix (22nd, 690th, Tampa Bay), senior catcher Tony Caldwell (24th, 733rd, Florida) and senior first baseman Kevin Patterson (30th, 919th, Toronto).

An Auburn player has been selected in every draft since 1975.

The three juniors picked — Gamache, McElroy and Varnadore — have to decide whether to make the jump to professional baseball or come back to Auburn for their senior years.

Gamache hit .299 with five home runs and 29 RBIs last season and was hampered with a hamstring injury down the stretch.

He injured his left hand, which required surgery, in the season’s final series against Tennessee and missed the SEC Tournament. He has a .337 average, 16 home runs and 77 RBIs in three years at Auburn.

McElroy, a three-year starter, exploded onto the scene during his junior year, leading the Tigers with a .372 average, nine home runs and 53 RBIs.

The three-year starter, who earned first-team All-SEC honors last season, is a .330 career hitter at Auburn, with 25 home runs and 131 RBIs.

Varnadore went 6-3 with a 3.68 ERA in his first year at Auburn after transferring from Chattahoochee Valley Community College, striking out 74 in 88 innings.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-hander said before the draft he’d been told he could be taken in the first 10 rounds.

So he started worrying as he started to slip. Varnadore was on the phone with his adviser when one of his friends, who was watching the draft tracker on his laptop, loudly let him know that the Marlins had picked him.

“I’d been waiting all day,” Varnadore said. “I waited a little bit longer than I wanted to. But I can’t complain anymore.”

Varnadore said he’d have to hear what the Marlins had to offer before making his final decision on whether to forego his senior year.

But he wouldn’t mind playing another year of college ball.

“I’ve got a lot to think about,” Varnadore said. “I love it here, and I know what I’d be coming back to next year. I don’t know what the Florida Marlins have for me next year. I’ve got to talk to them, see what happens. We’ll figure it out from there.

“I’m in a good situation to be in. I can play ball and fulfill a lifelong dream, or I can come back to a place I love to be anyway for one more year and still have a chance to play pro ball.”

Auburn’s highest junior to get picked in the MLB Draft but return for his senior season in the past 20 years is pitcher John Powell, who was picked by the New York Mets in the 13th round of the 1993 draft.

He went to Texas in the ninth round the next year.

If Varnadore does decide to turn pro, he could be pitching to Caldwell again in a couple of months.

Caldwell caught both of Varnadore’s complete-game shutouts last year, along with hitting .332 with seven home runs and 44 RBIs and throwing out 47 percent of baserunners trying to steal.

“(Varnadore) called me right after I got drafted and told me, ‘Congrats,’ saying we’re going to stick together, stuff like that,” said Caldwell, a second-team All-SEC performer as a senior. “It’d be great to work with him and be on the same team. We work pretty good together.

“But he has a big decision to make. More than mine.”

Caldwell was one of three Tigers seniors drafted, with Hendrix and Patterson.

Hendrix, a 30th-round pick of the Cincinnati Reds last year, closed his Auburn career with a 2-1 record and a 4.82 ERA as a senior.

Patterson was picked in the 24th round by the Chicago White Sox out of Oak Mountain High and the 23rd round by Tampa Bay after a big power year in platoon duty as a junior.

The 6-4, 250-pound first baseman struggled a bit as a senior, hitting .277 with eight home runs and 43 RBIs, but still found a home with the Blue Jays.

The draft concludes with rounds 31-50 starting Wednesday at 11 a.m., with 14 more draft-eligible Auburn players — including previous draft picks Justin Fradejas and Creede Simpson — still on the board.

They’ll have to wait another day to hear if their names are called.

“It was a special feeling,” Caldwell said. “It was just a real thrill.”

Auburn players taken in 2011 MLB Draft

Name                 Pos.    Round (Pick)          Team

Dan Gamache* 3B     6th (182)              Pittsburgh Pirates

Clay Holmes+          RHP   9th (272)              Pittsburgh Pirates

Casey McElroy*      SS     11th (353)              San Diego Padres

Derek Varnadore*    RHP   17th (523)              Florida Marlins

Bradley Hendrix       RHP   22nd (690)            Tampa Bay Rays

Tony Caldwell         C       24th (733)              Florida Marlins

Kevin Patterson         1B     30th (919)              Toronto Blue Jays

* - Junior

+ - 2011 signee