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Baseball Star Zac LaNeve Heads Off to College

Pine-Richland graduate passes on offer from Florida Marlins.

Like millions of other recent high school graduates, Zac LaNeve will head off to college today.

But unlike most of these young people, Zac could have played professional baseball.

Zac, a 2011 graduate of and Richland Township resident, was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 44th round.

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“When he was drafted, I knew this could go either way,” said his father, Matt, referring to the opportunity to play ball for the Marlin franchise or attend the University of North Carolina where Zac had been recruited to play baseball.

Zac had planned to attend UNC, a division-one school, but when he received the call from the Marlins in early June, his plans became uncertain.

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“We knew he had to be the one to make the decision,” explained Matt.

After graduation, the LaNeves weighed Zac’s options even while on a two-week vacation this summer to Italy.

“In fact, he was really worried because he couldn’t work out during that time,” said Matt.

When they returned home, Zac and his mother, Dayna, went to Jamestown, NY, where the Marlins have a minor-league team.

“He worked out for their scouting director and I think the assistant general manager,” said Matt.

The Marlins and Zac then went through the offer process and Zac ended up with what his father called, “A really good and serious offer.”

Finally, the family sat down one night and had a long discussion. At the end of the discussion, Zac had decided on college for at least the next three years.

“He can be drafted again when he turns 21, during his junior year or during his senior year,” said Matt.

When he called the scout to let him know of his decision, Matt said the scout offered to drive to their home to discuss one final offer.

“But he had made up his mind,” said Matt.

The Marlins ended up offering Zac what Matt referred to as “fourth- to eighth-round money” –  a figure in the $200,000 to $300,000 range.

It was a tough decision for Zac, but Matt feels like it was the best one.

“The fact that it was UNC has a lot to do with it,” said Matt. “It is an excellent school and the baseball team is one of the top five in the country.”

Zac told his dad that if he attends UNC for three years and gets drafted, but then decides after four or five years he doesn’t want to play, it will be easier to go back and finish his degree with only a few semesters left.

“If he had been offered a million dollars, it would be different or if it wasn’t UNC, it may have been different,” said Matt.

Throughout the whole process, Matt said he was impressed with the Florida Marlins.

“They were a pretty class act team. They had told him they would either draft him in the fourth to eighth rounds or late but offer him fourth-to-eighth-round money,” he explained. “And they did.”

As Zac heads off to UNC, Matt said his brothers and sisters, along with his parents, will really miss him. Zac has a 16-year-old sister, Alex, and three brothers, Cody, 14, Troy, 11, and Christian, 7.

“We are a close family. Just the other day, Christian said, ‘Can’t he just go to school around here and stay at home?’” said Matt, “But we will go down there tons.”

 

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