OXFORD, Miss — Collierville baseball alum Grayson Saunier is already on campus at Ole Miss.
"It's been very valuable," he said. "I think it's great that I get to come here in the summer and prepare for the fall."
The talented right-handed pitcher has the ultimate win-win scenario ahead of him: Play college baseball for the reigning national champion Rebels, or start a professional career, if he gets picked in next week's MLB Draft.
"That's his goal and dream—to one day play in the MLB," Grayson's father Jason said. "But either way, he loves to play baseball."
"It just makes my momma heart soar and my eyes water," his mother, Jennifer, said. "He's worked so hard for this."
Grayson was just five years old when coaches made him move up and play with the older kids.
"He just threw too hard," Jennifer said. "Some of the parents and players complained. I knew kind of then he might have a chance of being good."
He was really good. By the end of his freshman year his fastball topped out at 87 miles per hour.
He currently tops out in the mid 90s; too fast to continue playing catch with dad.
"I told him this is getting few and far between, I'm not going to be able to do thing much longer," Jason said. "Even when he throws 75-85%, it's still coming at a pretty good pace."
To reach this point took countless hours of training and perfecting.
"He sacrificed a lot," Jennifer said. "I remember last summer we went to the lake, and it was one of his first times. He said 'Mom, is this what normal people get to do, go to the lake every weekend?' He spent his life on the baseball diamond."
And he'll continue to. Grayson is content pursuing either once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"I've been dreaming about playing in the MLB my whole life. I've also been dreaming about playing Division I baseball," Grayson said. "To me, they're both great opportunities. So we'll see what happens this summer. But that's the goal, to keep playing."