MLB draft action heats up on final day

Gonzalez was coming off his freshman year at GCC, but for Nacapoy, who finished up his senior year at Cal State L.A. in the spring, there was no going back. The former Falcon said he was contemplating a free-agent route to the big leagues or an independent league stint before he finally got the news from Cal State L.A. teammate Daniel Duran that he had been taken with just two rounds left to go.

"I was getting nervous. ...[Duran] said look at the draft board and right when I looked was when my name popped up," said Nacapoy, a catcher, who batted .361 with two home runs and eight runs batted in in 24 games this season. "It was surreal. I had to stare at it to make sure it was me."

Nacapoy said the Rays' area scout had brought him in for a workout recently at Cal Poly Pomona. Nacapoy said he's now waiting for a call from the Rays to find out where his journey to the pros will begin.

"They were interested in me and said since I was a senior I would probably go in the later rounds," Nacapoy said of his communications with Tampa Bay prior to the draft. "I told them, 'Just take me and I'll go, just give me an opportunity and I'll take it.'"

St. Francis High's David Olmedo-Barrera was also drafted Wednesday in the 40th and final round at No. 1,219 by the Oakland Athletics.

"Honestly, I am really just so honored to be drafted," said Olmedo-Barrera, who just finished his senior year with the Golden Knights. "I guess it's kind of like my dream to always play professional baseball and to be drafted is a really huge honor. Being paid to play a game is very surreal. My family and I are really excited."

Olmedo-Barrera earned first-team All-Mission League honors this year at St. Francis with a team-high .410 (32 for 78) batting average, 15 runs scored, nine stolen bases, five RBI, five doubles and two triples with team-highs in on-base (.466) and slugging (.526) percentages.

The news he'd been drafted came as a surprise to Olmedo-Barrera, who wasn't even following the draft Wednesday and now has a decision to make after he'd previously planned on playing for Cal State Fullerton next season.

"Obviously, there is negotiating now," Olmedo-Barrera said. "We are going to sit down and talk with an agent and see what happens and what they offer. Hopefully, whatever I decide will be the best decision. We want to listen to what they have to say. … I just want to make the best decision for myself and my family."