Delbarton's Anthony Volpe Signs With The Yankees

MORRISTOWN, NJ — It's official: Delbarton's Antony Volpe is a Yankee, after having signed on the dotted line on Monday.

"It was definitely surreal, I've dreamed of being a New York Yankee since I was little and for it to come to fruition today, I still don't think it's hit me but it's pretty awesome," Volpe told the YES Network. "And to be there with my family and my high school baseball coach is really awesome."

The Monday signing at Yankee Stadium was Volpe's first taste of life as a Yankee. Before the signing, Volpe said he toured the club house and field, and met with management and other players. He said everyone he'd met had been very kind.

Volpe was taken in the first round of the draft as the Yankee's first pick and the 30th pick overall. He's likely to get a signing bonus over $2 million. A shortstop, Volpe hit .488 with 34RBI and 17 steals in 84 at bats while at Delbarton.

The pressure of being a first-round draft prospect could be enough to get to a player, but not Volpe, who said he was able to put the future on the back burner to focus on his high school baseball season.

"My focus this spring was play my last year of high school, my senior year, and focus on winning a championship— that's where my mindset was. I knew stuff was going on on the outside, but I tried to block that out, stay focused, win as many games as possible," Volpe told YES.

"He got drafted by the team that he's always dreamed of playing for. It just worked out that way. I know that he's thrilled and so are his teammates," Delbarton coach Bruce Shatel told the New York Post.

Volpe cited Jack Leiter as a big support system through the draft maddness. Leiter, who will probably head to Vanderbilt in the fall, was also drafted by the Yankees after appearing to be an early-round draft pick. Leiter was taken in the 20th round, but will honor his Vanderbilt commitment.

Volpe was also slated to attend Vanderbilt, but the chance to go pro was too much to pass up. Separating from Leiter was bittersweet, Volpe said, telling YES, "He's gonna do great things and it'll be two short years and he's gonna be here, hearing his name called early [in the draft], so it is bittersweet but I couldn't be more happy with everything he's accomplished."

The last time the Yankees picked a New Jersey high schooler in the first round was back in 2003, when they drafted Florham Park resident Eric Duncan out of Seton Hall Prep, the Daily Record reported. Volpe is from Watchung.

This is what MLB had to say about his draft prospects:

Volpe is the kind of player who grows on evaluators the more they see him, with his whole being greater than the sum of his parts. He gets an 80 on the 20-to-80 scouting scale for his makeup and work ethic. He does have a solid approach at the plate with excellent bat control and while he doesn't have a ton of power, there is enough strength to keep pitchers honest, like when he went deep at the NHSI. Though he's not a burner, Volpe runs well and has good instincts on the bases and defensively. He has good hands and footwork and while he might have an average arm, some feel it might mean that second base will be a better long-term home for him, even if a team sends him out as a shortstop initially