Article courtesy: Charlie Roth, Republican & Herald, Pottsville, Pa.

If you thought it was hot here in Schuylkill County last week, you should have been with Brandon Schaeffer.

The Schuylkill Haven product arrived this past weekend in Peoria, Arizona, the spring training camp of the Seattle Mariners, to scorching heat.

"When I got out here, it was 110," Schaeffer said by phone Thursday. "It was crazy heat.

"Today it's a cool day out here. It's 89."

Schaeffer, a Lake Wynonah resident, was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 18th round (No. 546 overall) of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on July 19.

The 22-year-old left-handed pitcher decided to forego his final year of college baseball eligibility at the University of North Carolina and signed a contract last week to play professional baseball.

Schaeffer reported last Friday to the Mariners' training facility, where he will spend the rest of the summer and fall working out in preparation for spring training in March.

"It's starting to hit me," Schaeffer said. "It's pretty cool to be able to say you're a pro. It's something I wanted to do my whole life.

"I've worked hard to get to this level, and the work is not done. But to be here, see big league players come down on rehab assignments, share the same locker room with them and suit up for a professional baseball team, it's pretty cool. It's something I've worked my whole life for and I'm happy to be able to do it."

A 2018 Schuylkill Haven graduate, Schaeffer went 7-3 with a 3.75 ERA in 21 appearances (18) starts this season for North Carolina, helping the Tar Heels go 42-22 overall, win the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and reach the NCAA Super Regionals.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder hoped he would be selected in the 20-round, three-day MLB Draft held Sunday-Tuesday, July 17-19, but wasn't sure. He said wasn't contacted during the first two days of the draft, rounds 1-10, but Tuesday was a "crazy day."

"It all started about an hour or so before the actual draft began," Schaeffer recalled. "I heard from the Mariners first, there was interest there, and I heard from some other teams."

Schaeffer said the Mariners had made an offer to select him in the early rounds of Tuesday's portion of the draft, but he turned that down as three other teams were in the picture. Those teams dropped out as the draft progressed, and the Mariners came back with an offer to take Schaeffer in the 18th round that he couldn't refuse.

Schaeffer received a signing bonus of $100,000, the 11th-most given to the 18 players signed so far by the Mariners. He is represented by Brian McGinn of McGinn Sports Agency.

"It was crazy, but it all worked out pretty good," Schaeffer said.

Schaeffer said it was tough to leave North Carolina, where he pitched for one season after two-plus campaigns at West Virginia University Potomac State College. But he's excited to go to the Mariners, who have a good track record of developing pitchers.

"It was a tough call leaving UNC," said Schaeffer, the son of Jeff and Laura Schaeffer.

"There was a lot of interest from the Mariners. They have a good track record of developing guys, especially pitchers. I think it was a good fit.

"It all came together well. There was interest from them from Day 1 and when I got a call from them, I knew they were pretty serious."

In previous years, when the MLB Draft was held during the College World Series in early June, draft picks would report to a short-season affiliate team, like the Williamsport Crosscutters.

Major League Baseball, however, moved the draft to July for the first time this season.

That, combined with the elimination of most of the short-season affiliates, means most of this year's draft picks will work out in MLB team's training facilities or see limited action for rookie-level teams.

For Schaeffer, that means building up strength and conditioning at the Mariners' spring training complex to be ready to go in the spring.

"I'm just basically going to be working out the next couple of weeks," he said. "I'm not going to be playing in any games or anything like that.

"I'm going to be put on a more specialized throwing program in the next couple of weeks. I'll be on a lifting, conditioning program to get everything ready to go for spring."

Contact the writer: Lboyer@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6026; @pubsportsboss on Twitter