Wait is worth it for JSerra's Hedges

Austin Hedges may have had to wait a day but early Tuesday morning he heard the news that every kid who's ever picked up a glove and donned a cap dreams of hearing.

The JSerra standout catcher had been selected by the San Diego Padres as the No. 82 overall pick in the second round of the 2011 MLB first-year player draft.

The news capped off a pretty good start to June for Hedges, who had recently graduated from high school and is enjoying the beginning of summer vacation.

"It kind of took a while to sink in but it finally (is)," Hedges said. "I got a bunch of calls from people that are close to me so it's been pretty cool so far."

Hedges, who already has signed with UCLA, is regarded as one of the top catching prospects in this year's draft and is ready to compete on the professional level from a defensive standpoint, according to his longtime coach Brett Kay.

Hedges said there were offers from other teams made to him Monday in the first round, but they weren't the right fit.

"(The offers) didn't meet what we were ready to do yet. We're very committed to college," Hedges said, "It was pretty difficult to pass on that to be honest. It was a little disappointing yesterday, but right now I'm pretty excited ...we made good decisions and I'm excited to see where it goes from here."

There has been no official deal drawn up yet between Hedges and the Padres.

No matter where Hedges chooses to go, he'll be staying local. UCLA and the Padres organization both offer the Southern California kid a chance to be close to friends and family.

"It's kind of win-win isn't it?" Hedges said of his choice.

Hedges still has until the Aug. 15 signing deadline to decide where he wants to go.

"Right now we're not really thinking about the choice yet, it's just kind of enjoying that it happened and all this hard work I've put in is paying off, at least right now." Hedges said.