Baseball: Covey, Yelich celebrate being first-round draft picks

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The excitement in the voices of pitcher Dylan Covey of Pasadena Maranatha and infielder Christian Yelich of Westlake Village Westlake came through loud and clear on the phone after they were each first-round draft picks on Monday.

‘The whole room erupted and the house was shaking,’ Covey said Monday night.

Covey, taken No. 14 by the Milwaukee Brewers and the Gatorade state player of the year, was watching the draft from a friend’s house. He put away his phone and wanted to be surprised, and he was.

‘It was kind of nerve-racking, but it was fun,’ he said.

Yelich, who has signed with Miami, said he was even more surprised when the Florida Marlins took him at No. 23.

‘I had no idea it was coming,’ he said. ‘It was a complete surprise.’

But it was thrilling to Yelich and validated all his years of hard work.

‘Fourteen years of hard work and more to come,’ Yelich said. ‘It’s overwhelming and awesome.’

-- Eric Sondheimer