By Andy Loigu

Going to Kansas City? Oldies music buffs recall the old 50’s classic lyric “Going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come.” 

The Kansas City Royals selected former two-sport Warren Hills standout Anthony Veneziano in the 10th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on June 4. He announced that he will soon sign and will head for a two-week mini camp in Arizona.

Veneziano was a standout lefty pitcher for Coastal Carolina University after graduating from Warren Hills, where he played both baseball and basketball. He was the Blue Streaks’ leading rebounder when Warren Hills won the sectional basketball championship in his senior season.

This columnist is happy to see a local two-sport athlete get drafted, because so many parents who wish for their sons to have a professional baseball future push them into specializing and only doing baseball training all year long. That’s not the way to go. Playing another sport gives a young arm a few months in the year of not throwing at the kind of velocity baseball pitchers deliver, while maintaining optimal physical fitness.

“Now’s the time to go and start my professional career,” Veneziano said. “It’s awesome. I knew coming in I was going to get drafted,” indicating he was not sure which round. “This is a great opportunity,” he declared.

He joins an elite list of three Warren Hills players who have been drafted by major league organizations from distinguished college baseball programs during the past decade, following Seton Hall pitcher Greg Terhune and UConn infielder Mike Nemeth.

***Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.