LEWISBERRY, Pa. — Friends and family of a former Red Land High School baseball star celebrated Sunday night as he was selected in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies.
Benny Montgomery, 18, was selected by the Rockies with the 8th overall pick in the draft.
He celebrated the moment with a crowd of his closest supporters at his home in York County and on Twitter:
This past season, Montgomery hit .420 with seven home runs and 22 RBI's while scoring 44 runs and stealing 19 bases as a senior.
He helped lead the Patriots to a 25-5 overall record, and won the Gatorade Pennsylvania Baseball Player of the Year award.
Currently, Montgomery is committed to play baseball at the University of Virginia in 2022, but that could change if Montgomery decides to sign with the Rockies.
Whether Montgomery attends college or goes pro in the future, he is expected to be a star at the big league level.
If Montgomery chooses to sign with the Rockies, he is signing with a team that will almost certainly be undergoing a full rebuild, with shortstop Trevor Story approaching free agency this off season.
That could make Montgomery a centerpiece of the team's plans in the future.
Typically, high school draftees take longer to reach the Major League level, so we could still be a few years away from seeing Montgomery reach the game's top levels.
For now, he will decide his next step: sign with the Rockies and go pro, or attend college and play baseball at the University of Virginia.
Either way, he will be taking the next step in his baseball career and moving to a higher level of play in the coming months.
You can watch highlights from his senior season here: