It came down to the final round, but recent Columbia High School graduate Dominic Voegele finally heard his name called Tuesday afternoon in the Major League Baseball Draft.

Voegele, a 6-foot-2 right-handed thrower and hitter, was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 20th round of the draft. He was the 595th overall pick and the final selection in 2023 for the Diamondbacks.

In fact, Voegele was the only high school player selected among Arizona’s 21 total 2023 draft picks.

Voegele told the Republic-Times there was a range of emotions when he saw his name appear on the draft board.

“Half of it was disbelief, shock,” he said. “The other part was that I was pretty pumped about it.”

This year’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch All-Metro Baseball Player of the Year, Voegele was recently selected to the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Class 2A All-State Team. 

Voegele, a University of Kansas commit, went 10-0 on the mound with a 1.04 ERA and St. Louis-area leading 111 strikeouts in 67-plus innings pitched.

At the plate, he led the entire area with 12 home runs, 20 doubles, 51 RBIs and 57 runs in addition to hitting .488 with a .961 slugging percentage and 23 stolen bases. 

He was also an all-state baseball selection last year.

This past fall, Voegele received all-state football recognition at quarterback for the Eagles.

Voegele, with a fastball that has been reported to top out at 95 miles per hour, was the winning pitcher for the Eagles in the IHSA Class 2A state semifinal played June 2 in Peoria. 

A major showcase of Voegele’s talent came during a much-anticipated Breese Central Sectional championship showdown between the Eagles and Father McGivney. Voegele faced Ole Miss commit Gabe Smith in a pitching duel, lasting six and two-thirds innings with 12 strikeouts for the victory. 

His fastball was clocked at 95 miles per hour in the sixth inning of that contest, according to Prep Baseball Report Illinois.

Voegele has been playing this summer for the Valmeyer Lakers in the Mon-Clair League. In fact, he ranks among the league’s top hitters with a batting average of .548 (17-for-31) with 10 runs and nine RBIs.

He also pitched in the title game of the Valmeyer Midsummer Classic for the Lakers on July 4. 

Many followers of local high school baseball believed Voegele would be taken higher than he was. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch predicted he would be selected between rounds 3-10.

Voegele thought he could have been selected sooner as well, but kept a level head about the process.

“We thought maybe I’d go a little higher, but there’s also the chance it could not happen at all,” he said.

Voegele joins a select group of other former Monroe County high school standouts with the distinction of being selected in the MLB Draft over recent years.

The most recent local draftees were Gibault’s Zach Neff (2018), Columbia’s Josh Fleming (2017), Waterloo’s Jordan McFarland (2016) and Waterloo’s Garrett Schlecht (2011). 

Voegele said he has a good relationship with Arizona’s Midwest area scout, and that the scout had been in touch with him many times and came out to see Voegele play over the years.

He’s not yet decided on whether to report to the Diamondbacks or stick with his commitment to college ball at Kansas. Voegele said the deadline to have details finalized is July 23.

Dom’s father Matt Voegele told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he was “90 percent” certain his son would attend Kansas.

Still, the excitement of being drafted made Voegele a popular young man on Tuesday.

“My phone was blowing up for hours,” he said. “It was all pretty crazy.”

Columbia baseball head coach Neal O’Donnell was proud of his former standout.

“It’s special to have a player drafted, and we’re all super proud of Dom,” O’Donnell said. “He’s such a great competitor, but he’s also a tremendous teammate and leader. Regardless if he goes to KU or signs with the D-backs, someone is getting a great one.”