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Cross Creek's Jon Egan remembers the time he went to the Putt-Putt Family Fun Center off of Washington Road on a mission.
He was 12 years old. He'd just finished his first year of organized baseball. Egan took $12 in change to the batting cages to learn how to hit the fastest fastballs around.
"I remember swinging and swinging and swinging," Egan said. "Swung so much my hands hurt. I was determined to learn how to hit off the fastest pitching machine that place had."
The 12 bucks should lead to a signing bonus of $500,000 dollars or more after Egan's name is likely called within the first 65 selections of today's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
The Egan family will hold a combination end-of-the-year social for the Razorbacks' baseball team and draft party. Up to 200 people have been invited to fill the banquet tents set up in the family backyard.
"It looks like the circus is coming out our window," Egan said.
Bet on Boston as a likely destination for the 6-foot-4, 220-pound catcher. Egan's scouting profile on mlb.com includes the comments "serious raw power especially the opposite way" and "generates bat speed with overall brute strength" as testaments of his skills.
Egan hit 17 homer runs and almost .600 for Cross Creek this spring. His on-base percentage hovered at the .750 mark.
The right-handed slugger spent last week in Boston, crushing seven pitches out of Fenway Park in a pre-draft prospect event.
"It doesn't hit you until you're done that you just hit balls out of a major league park," Egan said.
Egan sat behind home plate, ate dinner on the rooftop in right field and even got to take in an inning or two sitting on top of the Green Monster.
"The highlight was shagging flies in the field," Egan said. "You got to see what Manny Ramirez has to put up with every night with that crowd. Then you step in the box and hit. It feels like that Green Monster is on top of you. It feels like it's in your back pocket."
Boston has spent a lot of scouting dollars on Egan. The Red Sox have six of the first 59 picks in the draft, thanks to sandwich selections for losing Type-A free agents Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe and Orlando Cabrera.
Egan is expected to go among the final four of those six selections.
Egan wouldn't rule out the likelihood of fulfilling his scholarship offer to the University of Georgia, but suggested he'd have to be picked very low for him to consider signing on.
"If I went to Georgia I'd have to wait another three years before I could enter the draft," Egan said. "I won't say there's no chance, but it's just not likely."
Egan's 43 career varsity home runs and intensive summer travel schedule generated plenty of interest. The Arizona Diamondbacks, Florida Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers and the Red Sox have shown the most interest in Egan.
"It's just going to be unbelievable to be drafted wherever," he said. "I'll really start to pay attention around 1:30 or so. That's when I guess I can expect my name to be called from then on."
Evans first baseman Ryan Pressley will most likely also hear his name called today. Pressley worked out at the Reds' Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
"The big thing for me was walking back and forth from the infield dirt to the outfield," Pressley said. "Where the dirt stops and the grass starts is seamless. I couldn't get over it."
Pressley, a 245-pound switch-hittter, hit home runs from both sides of the plate at his scouting evaluation. Pressley's 6-foot-6 frame has also caught the eyes of the Los Angeles Angels and the Colorado Rockies.
Pressley could be chosen as soon as the 12th round, but he's likely to go somewhere between the 15th and 20th rounds.
"All I want to do is go play professional baseball," Pressley said. "I'm just looking for a chance to get introduced into the world of pro ball. It's all I've really wanted to do since the eighth grade."
That would mean foregoing a scholarship offer to play at Middle Georgia College this fall.
"I've made up my mind," Pressley said "If I get picked, I'm going to go play professional ball; I can always go back to college."
Reach Jeff Sentell at (706) 823-3425 or jeff.sentell@augustachronicle.com.
MLB DRAFT
Today is Major League Baseball's draft. It is the first time in the draft's 40 years that the selection order is based on the previous year's record from worst to best.
The draft is 50 rounds over two days and is conducted by conference call.
