CHANDLER, Ariz. — Chandler Hamilton shortstop Roch Cholowsky, one of the top high school draft prospects in the entire MLB Draft, failed to hear his name called within the first ten rounds.
The reason was his simple desire to fulfill his childhood dream of playing baseball for the UCLA Bruins.
"It was a pretty easy decision," Cholowsky said. "Especially with the last three or four years the coaching staff treated me family and I knew I just wanted to get there and make an impact."
Cholowsky told 12Sports he turned down multiple offers within the first twenty picks in the MLB Draft, contracts worth up to $3.5 million, because of his desire to become a Bruin and further his game.
A decision though, he said wasn't difficult to turn down.
"It wasn't really tough," Cholowsky said. "It kind of sounds bad coming out of my mouth because it is a lot of money but it was a pretty easy decision."
With the proper coaching and reps competing at the Division 1 level, the sky and (his) potential is the limit.
"That's always been my dream school," Cholowsky said. "There was no other place I wanted to end up. We kept my name in before the draft to see how everything played out, but I am happy with the decision."
The shortstop was ranked as the 44th best draft prospect by the MLB Draft Pipeline and after three years playing for the Bruins, it's likely that ranking will skyrocket in his favor.
"That's just the floor now for me," Cholowsky said. "I feel like if I get drafted three years from now in the same spot where I would've been drafted today, then I didn't do something right at UCLA. I know I will go in there and they're going to make me a baseball player than I am today, so the goal is to go higher than what I could've done out of high school."
Cholowsky also played quarterback for Hamilton for several seasons but said his career on the gridiron is over and his focus solely turns to baseball.
"I am done with football," Cholowsky said. "I am shifting my focus strictly to baseball for the next few years. It was a lot of fun playing football for the last 15 years but there is a time in life where you have to choose one or the other and I feel like after this year was the right time to do so."
Cholowsky will take his talents to Los Angeles where he is expected to move in come September. He is not draft eligible until after his junior season, which means it will be quite some time before he hears his name called in the MLB Draft.
In the meantime, the Arizona product will continue to work in hopes of getting his name to the number one spot on the 2026 Draft board.
"I want to be the first overall draft pick," Cholowsky said. "That's what I envision with myself going to UCLA, getting better for three years and showing everybody I made the right decision to go to college."
Sports
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