Angels draft Reinhardt

Mike Sciacca

Doug Reinhardt realized a childhood dream on June 7 when the Anaheim

Angels selected him in the 10th-round of the Major League Baseball

draft.

The Laguna Beach resident, who recently graduated from Santa

Margarita High, was the eighth overall pick by the Angels.

He said he watched the draft unfold from his home computer,

surrounded by family and friends.

Reinhardt had not signed with the Angels as of Wednesday --

contract negotiations were still underway, he said.

“I’m thrilled with this,” the 18-year-old said. “I’ve dreamed

about something like this since I was a little kid.”

Reinhardt had been heavily recruited by top collegiate baseball

programs with USC, UCLA, Notre Dame and Stanford, among the schools

pursing him.

He had verbally committed to USC last summer, and signed a letter

of intent to play for the Trojans.

But he said he didn’t hesitate with his decision to take advantage

of his draft status.

“I thought that if I wanted to be a Major League Baseball player,

then I should get started right away, instead of three years down the

road,” said Reinhardt, who has been playing baseball since age four.

“I always told myself that if the opportunity to play was there, then

I’d take advantage of it.

“But I do plan on continuing with my studies in the off-season. I

want to get a degree in business.”

Reinhardt played on travel teams and in national tournaments as a

youngster, and was exposed to the “baseball lifestyle” by his uncle,

Brady Anderson, formerly of the Baltimore Orioles.

Reinhardt, 6-foot-3, 210, was a two-sport star at Santa Margarita.

On the football field, he was starting quarterback as a freshman

and sophomore, then started at linebacker his junior year.

He earned three varsity letters.

In baseball, he was a two-time All-CIF and All-Serra League

selection and was ranked among the top 50 prospects in the nation by

Student Sports magazine.

Most recently, he was selected to play in the North/South All-Star

Baseball Game on June 8 -- one day after he was drafted.

As a student, Reinhardt was on the school’s honor roll, won an

academic athletic award, carried a 3.45 GPA and had a 1,170 score on

the SAT.