MLB All-Star game special for Colleyville Heritage player

COLLEYVILLE, Texas - The Major League Baseball All-Star game was special for a North Texas high school player. The Colleyville Heritage High School standout showed off his talents Monday night.

FOX 4’s Mike Doocy talked to Bobby Witt Jr. He’s the son of former Texas Rangers’ pitcher Bobby Witt but made an All-Star memory of his own by winning the high school home run derby at Nationals Park. His dad was in attendance.

“It was almost like a dream happening. It was almost like it was fake but waking up it actually happened. It was outstanding,” Bobby Jr. said.

“It was kind of a little bit surreal. I mean I was like, ‘There’s no way he’s gonna make it.’ Because we weren’t expecting him to. He was probably the smallest guy out there. There were some big kids in that competition and I didn’t know how he was going to do but, you know, for some reason when he gets in there and when the lights go on he likes to shine,” Bobby Sr. said.

Winning the derby was only part of the All-Star package for Bobby Jr. He also got a chance to mix and mingle with baseball’s best.

“It was really cool seeing the guys you see on TV, like the guys that I’m looking up to,” he said.

Now he’s back home and practicing with his dad at the Colleyville Heritage batting cages.

“It’s awesome having him there and having him there last night. He said it was something really amazing and just him always being there for me,” Bobby Jr. said. “He’s always trying to get me better and always pushing me to be the best that I can be.”

“For me and him, I think our conversation are a lot of times more mental, you know, the mental side of the game and the success you can have, the failures you can have, how to try to stay even keel and not try to be full of yourself. I think he’s done of that,” Bobby Sr. said.

Bobby Witt Sr. was a hard-throwing right-hander who put together a solid 16-year career. In 1985 he was the third overall pick in the draft taken by the Rangers.

His son, a shortstop at Colleyville Heritage, could go number one next year. The University of Oklahoma commit will have a decision to make.

“Oklahoma is there. That’s such a great thing for him having that opportunity to go there if things don’t work out on the professional side and he knows that. But I think his dream is to obviously go on and try to play professional baseball, whether it’s next year or whether it’s three years from now,” Bobby Sr. said.

That decision can wait for now. Bobby Jr. will enjoy his All-Star experience and finish high school. He’s headed to Chicago on Wednesday to play in an elite high school all-star game at Wrigley Field.