Matt Sisto had been through so much draft drama that he tried to sleep through it.
The Philadelphia Phillies made sure he wasn’t asleep for long.
The former Hawaii pitcher was selected in the 20th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft that concluded with rounds 16-40 on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-5 right-hander from Anaheim, Calif., was taken with the 648th overall pick and was the first of three players with local ties drafted on Wednesday.
UH outfielder Breland Almadova was selected in the 37th round (No. 1,143 overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Hilo’s Blake Amaral, who just completed his senior season at Hawaii Pacific, was taken in the 40th round (No. 1,227) by the Los Angeles Angels.
Recent Baldwin graduate Branden Kaupe was the only other player with local ties taken during the three-day draft, marking the fewest draft picks from Hawaii in 21 years.
Sisto, who wasn’t one of six Hawaii pitchers drafted a year ago, said he was contacted by the Boston Red Sox and thought he was going to be taken Tuesday in the 10th round.
Once that fell through, he decided he’d try to sleep through Wednesday’s proceedings.
“I tried to sleep as long as I could so that I didn’t worry about it,” said Sisto, who was 8-4 with a 3.46 ERA as a senior. “(The Phillies) woke me up when they called and asked if I was healthy and I said ‘yeah,’ and then they told me they were going to pick me.”
Sisto, whose 55 career starts are tied for the second-most in UH history, didn’t pitch in the final home series because of a groin injury.
He was hit hard in UH’s season-ending loss to Louisiana Tech in the Western Athletic Conference tournament but didn’t blame his performance on the injury.
A representative with the Phillies is expected to meet with him today and he was told he would fly out Sunday to wherever he will pitch.
“I don’t know where yet,” said Sisto, who said he planned on signing a contract today. “It’s always been my dream to play pro ball and now that it’s happening I’m stoked.”
Sisto pitched at the top of UH’s rotation each of the past two years and went 5-5 with a 3.67 ERA as a junior. UH won all four postseason games Sisto started prior to this year, yet he wasn’t drafted in 2011, forcing him to come back for his senior season.
“At this point last year it didn’t seem all that great, but looking back now, it was the best thing that could have happened to me,” he said. “I was able to go to school and get my degree and play my last year (at UH).”
Almadova was drafted later than expected after hitting .267 in a tough junior year that followed a summer in the West Coast League in which he was an all-league selection.
He worked out for the Diamondbacks last week in Arizona and is the third UH player drafted by the club in the past two years.
If he doesn’t sign, Almadova can return to UH for his senior season.
Amaral hit .358 with 14 doubles, four home runs and 45 RBIs as a senior with the Sea Warriors. He’s the first local player from HPU drafted since Kaimi Mead in 2008. UH had only two draftees for just the second time since 2005. None of UH’s nine signees from its 2013 recruiting class was selected.
