Matt Gedman will get a chance to make it as a professional in the same organization where his father was an All-Star.

Gedman, who hit .402 as a third baseman for the University of Massachusetts this spring, was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 45th round (1,372 overall) of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft Wednesday. Gedman hit five home runs and drove in 32 runs. He was honored as an All-New England and All-Atlantic 10 Player as a senior.

Gedman is the son of former Red Sox catcher Rich Gedman, who played in Boston from 1980-90 and also played for St. Louis and Houston.

Gedman was playing baseball with friends in Dennisport on Cape Cod when the Red Sox selected him. As he came off the field he got the news on his voicemail.

"Just to go is pretty special. I'm not worried about where. I talked to a few teams I (just) didn't know what was going to happen," Matt Gedman said. "The Red Sox were one of those teams. For them to take me is pretty cool."

Gedman could get a chance to play for his father, who is the hitting coach for the Lowell Spinners, the Red Sox short-season Single A affiliate in the New York-Penn League, a league where college players often begin their professional careers. The rookie-only Gulf Coast League is another possibility.

Playing for Lowell "would be good because my dad has been my hitting coach my whole life," Gedman said. "But wherever they send me would be good. Wherever I am, I just want a chance to play."

Gedman figured his bat helped get him drafted, but he planned on improving his whole game.

"I had good numbers offensively," Gedman said. "I have to get faster and work on my defense."

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.