Gavin Bruni is officially a professional baseball player.
The Alliance High School alum signed with the Washington Nationals on Monday, he announced via his Instagram account.
Bruni, who was selected in the 17th round (500th overall) of the Major League Baseball draft last week by the Nationals, had a year of eligibility left at Ohio State if he chose to return to college. The deadline to sign is Aug. 1.
But he didn’t need that much time. The 21-year-old pitcher has chosen the professional route.
Bruni is the first Alliance product to be drafted since Tim Saunders was selected in the 32nd round out of Marietta College in 2012. Bruni’s selection marked the seventh straight year a Stark County product was picked.
Bruni, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound lefty, went 4-3 with a 5.81 ERA in 14 appearances (13 starts) this past season as an Ohio State junior. He struck out 60 batters in 57.1 innings. For his Buckeyes career, Bruni was 9-6 with a 5.57 ERA in 36 appearances.
His best season at Ohio State came as a sophomore when he went 5-3 with a 4.87 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 57.1 innings. He was named Academic All-Big Ten and an OSU Scholar Athlete that year.
Bruni has been a highly touted prospect going back to before he threw a pitch in high school. He was ranked as the No. 1 high school prospect in Ohio for the class of 2021 by multiple outlets. As a senior for the Aviators, Bruni allowed one earned run in 37 innings while striking out 79 batters. He was named EBC Player of the Year and First Team All-America by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
He finished his high school career with 209 strikeouts in 107 innings.
