SAN ANTONIO — In a sign of the times, St. Mary's
Drake Roberts learned his dream to play professional baseball had come true on — where else? — Twitter.
"I was on the phone and I got a Twitter notification saying, 'Congratulations @drake_roberts6 for being selected,'" the junior second baseman/shortstop said. "I was like, 'No way!' I checked the draft tracker and, sure enough, there was my name."
Roberts, a native of Brenham, Texas, was selected Saturday by the Cleveland Indians in the 29
th round of the 2014 Major League Baseball First-Year Players Draft.
The 22-year-old, who was listed by Cleveland as a second baseman with the 878
th selection, said he will forgo his final season at St. Mary's to pursue his lifelong dream to chase a shot at the big leagues.
"I was just crying tears of joy," said Roberts, a 5-foot-9, 160-pounder who is considered a tools player with plusses in the throwing and running departments. "The whole experience is just breathtaking. It hasn't set in yet.
Said St. Mary's coach
Charlie Migl: "Any time anybody from our team can have a chance to go to the next level we're really proud of him. Drake did a good job for us this year and I just hope the best for him in coming years. Hopefully, we see him on TV one of these days."
Roberts called it the "greatest moment in my baseball career." Yet it isn't actually the first time Roberts has heard his name called on draft day.
Roberts was drafted out of high school by the Minnesota Twins in the 49
th round of the 2011 draft after a standout high-school career at Brenham High School in Brenham, Texas, where he was named a 2011 Rawlings Second Team All-American.
But the switch-hitter passed opted to attend college, playing for Oklahoma University for one season before transferring to Navarro College in 2013. He transferred to St. Mary's prior to the 2014 season.
Roberts started 54 games for St. Mary's this season, batting .289 with a team-high 33 RBIs. Roberts homered three times and added five doubles, two triples and scored 27 runs. He helped lead the Rattlers to the No. 2 seed in the Heartland Conference Tournament.
Not wanting to get his hopes up, Roberts said he entered the draft with no expectations — but he was certainly praying the opportunity to play professionally would come.
"It's a dream come true," he said of the opportunity to play for Cleveland's organization. "I've been all around, from school to school to school. I hadn't found a home, but thought I found a home at St. Mary's and would be there for two years. But this call came. I couldn't be more blessed to have the opportunity."
Roberts, who has been playing summer ball with the Victoria Generals, is St. Mary's first draft pick since 2012, when catcher M.P. Cokinos was selected in the 31
st round by the Houston Astros.
Cokinos now plays for the Astros' Double-A affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Texas League.
The 2014 draft lasted 40 rounds and saw 1,215 players selected.
St. Mary's University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community service, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. The University has six athletic national titles: men's basketball (1989–NAIA), baseball (2001–NCAA Div. II), softball (1986–NAIA and 2002–NCAA Div. II) and an individual national champion in men's golf (2006–NCAA Div. II) and a national academic championship in men's golf (2009–NCAA Div. II). St. Mary's also had more than 40 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. St. Mary's student–athletes graduation rate is 65 percent, higher than the NCAA Division II average of 55 percent. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.rattlerathletics.com.