Weighing Options
YOUNGSTOWN — Placing the college baseball season on hold was bothersome to most players.
It may prove beneficial to Dom Bucko.
The Knoch graduate will turn 22 in November. Because this season was curtailed, the Cuyahoga Community College transfer and incoming Youngstown State University senior still has two years of college eligibility.
He still has his goal of reaching professional baseball intact as well.
“The way everything is playing out, that may happen this summer,” Bucko said of signing with a major league organization.
Before the 2020 college season was lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bucko was Youngstown State's starting right fielder. He hit .281 in 10 games, collecting nine hits in 32 at bats, with two doubles, a home run and two outfield assists.
His .378 on-base percentage was second on the team.
Bucko will play for the Morehead City Marlins of the Coastal Plain League this summer. That league will begin play July 1. He will play center field.
“The Cape Cod is considered the No. 1 summer college league out there and that league has shut down for the year,” Bucko said. “The Coastal Plain League is the second best league.
“There's going to be plenty of scouts checking out that league this year.”
Bucko played on a state championship baseball team at Knoch. He went on to play for Cuyahoga Community College in Ohio the past two years, hitting .386 and .358, respectively, while collecting 20 home runs, 104 RBI, 126 runs scored and 42 stolen bases.
Youngstown State was 13-41 last season, 46-119 over the past three years and has not won 20 games in a season for a decade.
The Penguins were off to a 7-7 start this year, winning five of their last seven.
“From what people tell me, this is the best team they've had there in years,” Bucko said.
If he has his way, he won't be returning to it.
Major League Baseball's amateur draft — scheduled for Wednesday — will consist of only five rounds this year. Teams will be permitted to sign as many nondrafted players as they like afterward, but cannot offer more than $20,000 to any of them.
Bucko had three hits in a game at Abilene Christian (Texas) early this season. He had a run-scoring single and three-run homer at North Carolina Central, two hits and a run scored in a win at Pitt.
“I felt like I was just settling in, hitting my stride when the season was stopped,” he said.
Should Bucko play well this summer, a big league club may knock on his door.
“I'd have to think long and hard about it,” he admitted. “I know $20,000 can be gone in a hurry, but my dream has been to play pro ball. My dad has told me that if you really believe in yourself and are willing to take your shot, you'd play for $5,000.”
Bucko is majoring in general studies at YSU. He hasn't minded the two-plus months of no baseball.
“It was a nice break, to be honest,” he said. “But now I'm itching to get back at it.
“My goal is to get signed (by a pro team), hopefully this summer. That hasn't changed. But I do have two years of baseball eligibility left at Youngstown. I've still got options.”
