Skye Bolt Opts For College Baseball Over Minors
6/7/2012
Class of 2012 baseball star will attend UNC in the fall after pro teams' contract offers fall short.
The specifics of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft, as they related to recent HI graduate
Skye Bolt, were these: the switch-hitting centerfielder was chosen in the 26th Round by the Washington Nationals - the 804th overall pick. Bolt came to within an eyelash of being the 79th pick - the top of the 2nd round - by the Cleveland Indians.
"We were getting calls from several teams, but we knew the Indians would get the closest to what we were hoping for," Skye's father - Mike - said. "The Indians called us a couple of times but it wasn't quite what we wanted. We gratefully thanked them for their offer and waited."
The deal didn't come through; the Bolts didn't hear anything until the Nationals made their move Wednesday.
"That was a classy move on their part," Mike said of the Nationals. "They knew Skye probably wasn't going to sign at that point. They just told us that they hope we remember this in three years at the next draft."
One would think a ballplayer would be disappointed to be so close, only to have his big league dreams temporarily derailed. To know Skye Bolt, however, is to know different.
"He was disappointed for about a day; now his focus is right back on track," Mike stated.
One would also think that Skye spent two days glued to the television waiting to hear his name called. Once again, they would be wrong. The recent HI alum spent the two days in the batting cages, working out, honing his game.
Looking forward, Skye is excited about joining an ACC team with arguably the best pitching staff in the conference - a team that was a bit weak in the hitting department last season. Not only that, the 18-year-old has already redefinied his goals.
"I want to stay healthy, be an All-American numerous times at UNC and be a top-10 draft pick in the 2015 Major League Draft," Skye summarized. "The draft was a fun, tremendous experience I'll never forget and I hope to go through it again."
As we've said many times when referring to the star, the Skye is still the limit. Good luck!