Elvin Soto’s week ended a lot better than it started.
The senior catcher from the Bronx put the disappointment of not getting selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft as expected to help lead Xaverian capture the CHSAA Class AA championship tournament final with a 7-1 victory against All Hallows on Friday at Kaiser Stadium on the campus of St. John’s University.
The University of Pittsburgh-bound catcher, who said he was told he could go as high as the top eight rounds, went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs as the top-seeded Clippers won their seventh Catholic crown and first since 2008.
“I could have just crumbled up and been upset at the world, but I came out here and gave it my all to get the championship trophy and now I’m just fitting my ring,” Soto said.
Soto said he knew he was going to get picked Monday when the first-round selections were made. But he painstakingly watched hours of coverage Tuesday, only to never hear his name called. The switch-hitting catcher with a gun for an arm played for Team USA in the IBAF ‘AAA’ 18U Junior World Championship last summer, belted a pair of home runs in the Scout Showcase.
Still, after 50 rounds, Soto went surprisingly undrafted. He said he didn’t even follow the draft Wednesday.
Soto said he used the disappointment of not getting drafted as motivation, both on Friday night and beyond.
“I’m just going to use that as a build-up, go to college, work hard and prove everyone wrong,” Soto said. “I’m going to college with a ring now. I get to show it off to all the freshmen when I go in on Aug. 15. It’s just an amazing feeling.”
