On June 10, the Cubs drafted Downer Grove’s Dan Sheppard was drafted in the 30th round.
This was a team he grew up rooting for.
He admitted this was a dream come true.
This was also going to lead to a tough decision to make.
See, the Downers Grove North catcher had already made a decision to attend the University of Iowa on a baseball scholarship.
So throughout the summer, he was juggling the two teams in his head.
Iowa? Cubs? Iowa? Cubs?
And it didn’t help when the Cubs invited Sheppard to Wrigley Field one day to play catch with some of the members of the parent squad and to take batting practice.
“It was a great experience,” Sheppard said. “I got to play catch with Jake Fox. It did some drills. I met some guys on the team. I hit with them in the batting cages. I want to get there [to Wrigley Field] eventually.”
He waited until the Aug. 17 deadline to make his choice.
He picked Iowa.
“I have a better chance [of making it to the majors] if I go to college now and get better,” he said.
While the lure of getting a pro career started right away is intoxicating to some athletes, others have benefited by playing a few years in college. Scouts and major league teams have been drafting more college players in earlier rounds than high school players.
But it still doesn’t make the decision easier.
Sheppard hit .430 with six homers and 28 RBI for North and had a successful year with the Downers Grove Longshots in the summer. Sheppard was the top-ranked catcher in the state according to Perfect Game Cross Checker and Prep Baseball Report. He was also the sixth-ranked in Illinois according to Prep Baseball Report and the 417th best player in the country by the PG Cross Checker service.
“The Cubs have been following him this summer,” Longshots coach Rob Rooney said. “He’s a great example of the value of travel baseball. His junior year he played behind a pretty good catcher at Downers Grove North. He had to take his turn. But all the college guys and the pro guys saw him catch in travel baseball. They knew who he was and what he was before he played the spring season. He got a lot of offers before the varsity season started.
“He’s a terrific kid. He has a good work ethic. When we bring kids in, we’re selective about character. Colleges want to know about that.”
The Hawkeyes had a rough 16-35 mark in 2009 but are hoping to turn things around next spring.
Another Hawkeye recruit, Matthew Dermody, was selected in the 26th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates but, like Sheppard, decided to go to college.
By Jeff Vorva
Triblocal.com reporter
