As children, we are taught to dream big; to shoot for the stars; to pursue our passions to the ends of the Earth.<\/p>\n
Yet, for most people, that simply isn\u2019t realistic. Most won\u2019t grow up to be astronauts, movie stars, presidents, or professional athletes \u2014 not because they lack drive or talent, but because society doesn\u2019t allow for it.<\/p>\n
Still, there are outliers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Monday, former New Canaan baseball player Julian Tonghini became one of these outliers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tonghini, a pitcher out of the University of Arizona, was selected by the Washington Nationals in the seventh round of the MLB draft, fulfilling a lifelong dream.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as I saw my name pop up, I had so many emotions,\u201d Tonghini said. \u201cThis was the day that everybody talks about. This was the day that everybody wanted to have. I\u2019d always dreamed of playing at the highest level, so moving one step closer to that is so special.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cIt\u2019s really incredible because if you had told me a couple of years ago that I was going to be drafted, I wouldn\u2019t have believed you. I worked really hard throughout my younger years and didn\u2019t see results at first. Yet, now, to have finally seen the progress and success in recent years and for that to culminate in me reaching this point made the excitement when I got the call indescribable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tonghini worked through all of the levels of baseball to create this opportunity for himself. From town-wide tee-ball to playing at Mead Park on Mellick Field to endless hours at Bobby Valentine\u2019s Sports Academy, Tonghini\u2019s younger years were just like anyone else\u2019s. He then played two years for New Canaan High School before transferring to Salisbury School, and eventually played at Arizona.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday afternoon, Tonghini told NewCanaanite.com how his love for the game began.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I think back on where it all started, it would be outside of East School, playing catch with my dad,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019d play almost every day before school, right up until the first period started. From then on, my love for the sport continued to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, his love for the sport has swelled in such a way that it has become his profession.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love playing and going to the field every day because of my desire to win,\u201d Tonghini said. \u201cI\u2019ve always played in competitive leagues, starting in recreational soccer on Saxe Fields, and I developed a competitive mindset that has always pushed me to do whatever it takes to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tonghini\u2019s development process has included the support and advice of several people around him, including his father Eric Tonghini, mother Bettina Hegel, brother Ryan, and sister Alana.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d have to credit my dad, mom, brother, and sister for always showing up and being there for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d also like to thank all of the coaches I\u2019ve had throughout my journey. A specific moment I remember is playing at Mead Park in a game where I was losing it on the mound. I was walking everyone and was very emotional at the time. My coach, Arthur Hall, came out and just said \u2018Hey man, I\u2019m not taking you out.\u2019\u00a0 I got through the inning and learned a lesson of dealing with adversity that I still think back on to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tonghini hopes that his next step in the process will be playing for the Washington Nationals\u2019 Single-A affiliate, the Fredericksburg Nationals. Once he signs the necessary papers and clears a physical, he can jump right into the action.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the short term, I\u2019m just focused on executing my routine and going through the process,\u201d Tonghini said. \u201cLong-term, well, I hope to be winning the World Series with the Nationals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As children, we are taught to dream big; to shoot for the stars; to pursue our passions to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-5227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}