BRADENTON -- Aaron Baker is happy to be a Bradenton Marauder.

He’s driving in runs and hitting for average. He’s playing every day. He’s an All-Star for the first time in his professional career.

So much for best-laid plans.

Growing up in Texas, Baker figured on signing a professional contract out of high school. But when the Minnesota Twins drafted him in the 37th round of the 2006 draft, Baker passed. He and a bunch of baseball buddies decided to play at the same junior college.

That didn’t happen.

“Everybody started going to different places,” Baker said.

So he followed suit, taking his game to the University of Oklahoma.

Suffice it to say, everything worked out.

“I really enjoyed that experience quite a bit,” Baker said prior to Wednesday night’s game against the Charlotte Stone Crabs.

Baker spent three seasons with the Sooners, driving in at least 50 runs each year and finishing with 167 RBIs, good enough for eighth in school history. He also spent a summer playing in the prestigious Cape Cod League, where his 25 RBIs were tops for the Wareham Gatemen during the 2008 season.

“What I learned was being on my own and adapting, and being more independent in a way,” Baker said of the college experience. “Mom and Dad aren’t around as much anymore.”

All that production paid off in June 2009, when the Pittsburgh Pirates took him during the 11th round.

“There are not many guys who can just flat-out hit,” Sooners hitting coach Tim Tadlock told the Denton Record-Chronicle prior to that summer’s draft. “His power really improved this year.”

Baker did what he does best, drive in runs, during his first two seasons in the Pirates’ system, bringing in 111 runs in 187 games with the organization’s short-season team in State College and its low Single-A team in West Virginia.

That hasn’t changed this year. Baker entered Wednesday with 46 RBIs in 61 games, helping him earn an invitation to Saturday’s Florida State League All-Star Game in Clearwater.

But Baker also came in hitting .275, which is 24 points higher than he hit the past two seasons.

“It’s big from the team aspect,” Baker said. “A lot of times, you may be leading off an inning and you’ve got to get on base, get something going. It takes more than just being a power hitter.”

Such a scenario played out Wednesday. With two outs and none on in the first inning, Baker doubled off the wall in right to extend the frame. The next batter, Calvin Anderson, followed with a towering two-run home run to left.

Drafted by the Twins as a catcher, Baker has settled in as the Marauders’ first baseman and is thriving during his first season at high Single-A.

Could a promotion to Double-A Altoona be in the works?

“That’s not in my hands. All I can focus on is how I play here, how I produce here and be a good teammate for the guys around me,” Baker said. “If a call-up in the future is in the cards, that would be fantastic. But I really can’t get caught up in that. All I can do is produce and help the team win more games.”