​NEW YORK — Few enjoyed the top of the Red Sox’ draft board more than UNC head coach Scott Forbes, who watched from a Carolina beach Saturday as Boston selected two of his players — shortstop Jake Schaffner and outfielder Owen Hull — with their first two picks.Forbes, whose Tar Heels fell one win short of their first-ever College World Series championship last month, only got to coach Schaffner and Hull for a year each. Both players — Schaffner from North Dakota State and Hull from George Mason — had transferred from smaller schools before the season.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn just one year in Chapel Hill, the pair of roommates made a big impact — and will now begin their pro journeys together. Just a few weeks after hitting first and second in Carolina’s lineup in a winner-take-all game for a national championship, Schaffner and Hull were drafted into the same organization in a matter of hours Saturday.“That’s just cool,” Forbes said via phone shortly after the picks were made. “They were together all year and spent so much time together. It helps to have somebody that you know when you’re going through it, especially when they both have their heads on straight.”Schaffner, who hit .356 with six homers, 19 doubles and a 1.019 OPS in 68 games as Carolina’s shortstop, was a surprise pick in the first round at No. 20 overall. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the 75th overall and Baseball America had him even lower — at No. 97 in the draft class. Forbes, though, thinks the Red Sox got a steal.“I know that they took him earlier than people thought, but he’s that good,” Forbes said. “Tough as nails, can hit anybody’s fastball — and that is important in today’s game. He’s not afraid. He can play short at a high level. I just don’t think there’s anything that fazes him.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“He can run. Not much swing-and-miss. Got better at short. Has a ton of range. And his makeup is an 80 (on the scouting scale). The makeup is off the charts.”Schaffner, a Wisconsin native who was only recruited by NDSU out of high school, first got on Forbes’ radar when NDSU played Arkansas in a Regional during the 2025 Tournament. Watching at home on TV, Forbes thought that the scrappy shortstop might fit well on his roster as a junior. Schaffner hit the portal and the Heels jumped. An early goal was for Schaffner to get stronger and work on hitting the ball harder with UNC hitting coach Jesse Wierzbicki. That plan resulted in Schaffner having the greatest increase in average exit velocity of any college hitter this spring. He hit the ball at an average of 82.4 mph with the Bison in 2025. This spring, that number jumped to 88 mph.“Jake’s very coachable; he’s a sponge,” Forbes said. “He gained a lot of strength through the fall, and we work hard in the spring to try to keep gaining. We talk about our exit velocity improving as the season goes along, but the kid has to put in t