Top sports moments: Matt Vedo drafted by Seattle Mariners, begins pro career

Few players have the opportunity to be drafted by their favorite team, but the Seattle Mariners gave Colusa High alumnus Matt Vedo that chance by selecting him with their 24th-round pick during the 2012 First-year Player Draft in June.

The 22-year-old right-handed pitcher sat in his environmental history class at the University of California, Santa Barbara, on June 6 preparing for finals, when his phone began to fill with texts from his Gaucho teammates who were following the 2012 Major League Baseball First-year Player Draft.

"They were like, 'Oh my gosh, your favorite team picked you up.' Then I got a call from the scout, so I jumped out of my seat and ran out of the classroom and kind of made a scene," Vedo said.

By the end of June, the 2008 Colusa High graduate and former Yuba College pitcher joined the Mariners' short-season single-A team, the Everett AquaSox in the Northwest League.

After struggling in July with a 7.11 ERA, he settled into the professional game, striking out 18 in 10.2 innings while posting a 3.38 ERA. He finished the season with 31 strikeouts in 20.2 innings while posting a 3.92 ERA, and notched a 1-3 record with four saves in 16 games out of the bullpen.

Last year the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim drafted Vedo in the 49th round but he turned down their offer to return to Santa Barbara to play his senior season, a wise decision in retrospect.