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“You can’t compare it to anything, you can’t put into words how it feels all the hard work paying off,” said El Dorado Springs native Riley Boyd.
All his life, Riley Boyd has been chasing his dream to one day play Major League Baseball.
“It’s one of those things you always dream about. You never know if it will happen or not,” said Boyd.
In high school, Riley pitched for El Dorado Springs, but his small town didn’t shrink his aspirations.
“I just set little goals. My first goal was to play college baseball,” Boyd said.
And two years ago, he landed at Jefferson College — first goal accomplished.
“I knew [community college] was the best place for me to get better. The goal was always to play Division I, and I knew I had to go to JUCO to get that done,” Boyd said. “I remember our first game there were some pro scouts there, and I was like they can’t be here for me, they’re probably here for some other kids on the team.”
Riley is now done with his two years at Jeff. Co. and he’s set to play at Western Kentucky next season. But in the spring, those scouts were in his ear. He had a chance to be drafted. So, he tuned in, and as the rounds went by he began to lose faith.
“I went down stairs and turned on the TV and my mom started freaking out upstairs, and I was what’s going on. My advisor called me and was like, hey man, you just got picked up by the Royals.’
‘I was like, are you serious? It actually happened?” Boyd said.
Riley’s life changed in the 28th Round. The following 24 hours were filled with retweets and phone calls. He was the man.
“Coming from my town I didn’t have a whole lot of exposure growing up, so when that happened and to finally kind of have your moment of fame around here; it’s kind of cool,” Boyd said.
Being from this area of Missouri, people are usually Royals or Cardinals fans. Let’s just say, blue hasn’t always been Riley’s color.
“People always gave me crap for being a Cardinals fan, so it’s kind of ironic how things work out,” said Boyd.
Right now, Riley is still negotiating a contract with the Royals, but whether he signs or not, the 19-year-old is in a good spot.
“I’m very blessed to be in the situation I’m in right now. I’m either going to start my professional career, or go play Division 1 baseball for a really good school,” Boyd said.
