Greece baseball star turning pro after getting drafted by Chicago White Sox

If Casey Saucke debated after the Major League Baseball Draft whether to begin to play pro baseball or return to University of Virginia, it seemed like a short discussion.

Saucke was ready to fly to Arizona on July 19, so he could report to the Chicago White Sox, the ballclub that selected the Greece Athena graduate in the fourth round of the draft four days earlier.

Saucke's 21st birthday is July 24. By then, after a few days at the White Sox's spring training facility in Glendale, Arizona, Saucke may know which minor league team in the organization he has been assigned to. He played and studied at Virginia for three years, but now "I have a deal with the White Sox," he said.

"I'll have to go back to school," Saucke said. "Hopefully, it's in 15 to 20 years."

Saucke expected to sign his contract in Arizona, maybe early as the same week he was the 107th player chosen overall during the three-day draft. There were 20 rounds, 615 draft choices.

"No matter what I’ll be the same," Saucke said. "I’m confident in my game, confident in my ability. I'm not scared of change.

"I'm going with an open mind."

Saucke said the same mentality helped him first, get on the field, then into the Cavaliers lineup as a freshman on a team in the Atlantic Coast Conference or ACC.

"I could go on forever about this, I had an incredible experience (at Virginia)," Saucke said. "I feel like I played for the best coaches in the country. (Brian) O’Connor is the best (college) coach in the country, an all-time great. We have a winning mentality.

"You can’t accept failure there. You can’t accept losing. We just have an alpha mentality. As a freshman it took me a couple of months to truly adapt. I was learning. I have a learning mind and open mind."

Saucke drove in 159 runs during three seasons. That is the eighth-highest total in team history, according to the Virginia Cavaliers baseball team's website. A right fielder in his final season, Saucke was named to the 2024 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Second Team and was a third-team All-American.

Younger brother Sam Saucke was named to the 2024 Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester Baseball Team after his junior year at Greece Athena. Sam Saucke had a .460 batting average and played shortstop for the Trojans, who were a Section V finalist for the second consecutive season.

"Not as often as I would like to," Casey Saucke said about watching his brother play and workout. "I'm very proud of him. I would FaceTime my mom and dad, and they would be at his games.

"I've watched his at-bats. He's a young stud, I've seen him develop so much. Just this last year he's taken so many strides. The ball is coming off of his bat harder, and he's so fast. That might be his best tool."

Casey Saucke watched the first day of the MLB draft with family members and friends at his mother and father's home on a Sunday. The next day was a party, as Saucke "had an idea" he would be picked.

"I feel like I’ve been glued to it since (Monday)," Saucke said the day after he was selected by the Chicago White Sox.

James Johnson, who grew up in the city of Rochester and is a graduate of Edison Tech in the Rochester City School District, has worked as a full-time journalist covering high school sports for the Democrat and Chronicle since 1996. Follow him @jjDandC on X (Twitter). You can contact him atJAMESJ@gannett.com