Ronan sticks with Pitt

When the 2018 MLB Draft concluded, the decision-making process began.

The Pitt baseball program had five players drafted, plus two of the Panthers' top recruits also heard their name called.

One of those recruits to be drafted was Mason Ronan, a left-handed pitcher from Penn Cambria HS in Cresson (Pa.). He was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 29th round, but he opted to honor his commitment to Pitt, he announced via Twitter this week.

The MLB Draft process is a little different from the more widely-covered NFL and NBA drafts. With 40 rounds and different signing bonus money for each pick, it can be a complicated process to follow.

Ronan was able to shed some light on the process, and what led to him coming to Pitt in the end.

“It was mostly just the money - for a high school prospect to sign for what I got offered, it wasn’t a lot," Ronan told Panther-Lair.com. "But especially having a chance to go work with Coach (Jerry) Oakes for three years, I knew that if I didn’t get good money now, that there was a chance that I would be able to go to Pitt for three years and just get so much better and get a ton if experience playing in the ACC.

“Just hopefully going to be a higher draft pick in three years.”

Some projections had Ronan possibly going as high as the second day of the draft (rounds 3-10) and some had him going on the third day, which is where he was selected.

“I had a couple of teams call earlier in the rounds to see if I like what they offered me, but I told them that’s not what we were looking for," Ronan said. So he waited to see if and when he would be selected.

“It was a little nerve-racking, just sitting there anticipating, waiting to hear your name called. At the same time, it is really exciting to see some of your buddies that you’ve played with get taken, especially with a couple of guys that were taken early that I knew pretty well, so that was pretty cool.

"From my area especially, to be able to say that I got drafted and go through that process is pretty neat because not a lot of kids get to go through that.”

Ronan added he was notified ahead of time that he would get drafted by the Red Sox, but the anticipation was still a bit stressful.

“Actually, the round before that my advisor called me and he said, ‘The Red Sox plan on drafting you with their next pick.’ So you knew it was coming and you kind of sat there and waited for that ten minute span or however long the round was and that felt like it was longest-however-many-minutes of my life," Ronan said.

"But when it finally happened, it was really, really cool. I can’t really put it into words, because I’ve worked so hard to get there to this point.”

Being drafted by a historical franchise like Boston was exciting for the future Panther, and it made him think long and hard about his decision.

“Yeah that’s really cool, because it’s the Red Sox - they are one of the best franchises ever, and to think of some of the players on their team now and to think I could possibly play with them if I signed, it would been really cool, too."

But now his focus is shifting to Pitt, and he said the coaching staff was excited to hear the news from him.

“Oh yeah, they were really happy to hear that I was coming on campus and that I’m on board,” said Ronan.

The Pitt baseball recruiting class is ranked as the 48th best in the country according to PerfectGame.org. In addition to Ronan, Malvern Prep RHP Billy Corcoran also announced that he would play at Pitt after being selected in the 36th round by the Texas Rangers.

“There’s some high expectations for us; the coaches have said this is one of the best recruiting classes they’ve had,” Ronan said. "We lost a couple of players to the draft this year, so there’s going to be some spots that need filled and some of us freshmen coming in are going to have to step up and do our job coming this spring to replace the people that have gone."

Pitt lost ace pitcher Matt Pidich, who was a senior and an early draft pick by the Cincinnati Reds, and closer Yaya Chentouf, who opted to sign with the Detroit Tigers. So there are some opportunities for early playing time for a newcomer like Ronan, and he is setting the bar high for himself.

“I want to come in and I want to be a starter. I know that’s not going to be handed to me, I’ve got to bust my butt everyday, but I want to come in and be able to impact the team right away and do my job to help us win, whether that be a starter or coming off the bench as a reliever,“ Ronan said.

The next step for Ronan will be summer classes in Oakland beginning next week.

“I’ll actually be going on campus on the (June) 24th to take a couple of classes and work out. All the incoming baseball recruits, that’s what they’ll be doing, they’ll be coming in the 24th, take six weeks of summer classes and working out, then we’ll have a 2-3 week break before the fall semester starts.”