Dace Kime chooses Louisville over Pirates

DEFIANCE, Ohio - Defiance's Dace Kime's entrance to the big leagues will have to wait. The pitcher has chosen college ball at Louisville over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"It was just the mindset thing," he said. "Something in my head, I kind of woke up that day and said, 'You know what? I just want to go to school today.'"

Kime had until August 15th to agree to a deal with the Pirates after they selected him in the 8th round of the recent MLB draft.

However, it was that contract negotiation process, that ultimately turned him away from the big leagues and to Louisville instead.

"It kind of dragged on and it wasn't a bad thing," Kime said. "I'm not saying that the Pirates organization is a bad organization, but it just took a toll on me and my mind kind of changed.

"I called head coach McDonald first and they had a little kids camp down there, a little baseball camp," he said.

"I told him I was going to go to college and he said, 'You know Dace, I've been having a pretty bad day at camp, but you just turned my day around.'

"I'd imagine they were pretty excited. I was excited. I'm really excited to go down there and play for them. Great coaching staff. Great program. It'll be a lot of fun," Kime said.

All the excitement and Kime's big-league dreams stay alive: he can re-enter the draft in three years.