Unionville's Hissey expects to sign with Red Sox

At Fenway Park one day, at Citizens Bank Park the next.

Pete Hissey, an outfielder for Unionville High, made the rounds last week before Major League Baseball's draft. He worked out in Boston on Monday and the Phillies had him in for a private workout Tuesday.

On Thursday, the Red Sox chose the 6-foot-1, 180-pound outfielder with the final pick of the fourth round (142d overall). It happened at about 7:30 p.m., with Hissey, family and friends tracking the draft from a home computer.

"I had talked to Boston a little bit before that," Hissey said, "and they said they weren't going to let me slip past the fourth round."

Hissey, a quick-footed player with a sweet lefthanded swing and strong arm, has signability issues. Though the 18-year-old would not discuss numbers, it is believed that it will take a seven-figure signing bonus to get him out of his college commitment to Virginia. One area cross-checker said the minimum amount is $1.2 million.

"Yes, my signability is very low," Hissey said. "A lot of teams did not want to pursue me because of that. Fortunately, with Boston, that wasn't an issue."

Unlike most, including the Phillies, Boston is an organization that typically has not followed the salary-slotting recommendations of the commissioner's office. The Red Sox have exceeded those recommendations to strengthen their farm system.

That said, Hissey fully expects to come to terms with Boston within the next month (the deadline for signing drafted players is Aug. 15) and begin his pro career. If that happens, he would begin playing for the Red Sox in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League. His new playing home would be City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla.

"I want to get my career started as soon as possible," Hissey said. "It's always been a dream of mine to play pro baseball. I'm anxious to get things going."

On his trip to Boston, Hissey was joined by his parents, David and Laurie, and 14-year-old brother, Ryan. At Fenway, he worked out in front of Theo Epstein, the general manager.

A day later, Hissey was at Citizens Bank Park for a private workout. Watching him take swings and shag flies were Phillies general manager Pat Gillick, assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., and director of scouting Marti Wolever.

After the workout and before the Phillies' 3-2 win over Cincinnati, Hissey and close friend Chris Gosik, a centerfielder for Malvern Prep, toured the park and met with players.

Hissey and Gosik chatted with Reds centerfielder Ken Griffey Jr. for nearly a half hour. "That was really cool," Hissey said. "He talked about his [left knee] injury, about going for his 600th home run. He's a nice guy."

Phillies second baseman Chase Utley signed a broken bat and presented it to Hissey. "I asked him about playing in the Cape Cod League and his days at UCLA," he said.

"Shortie" picks Keystone. Frankford's Esteban "Shortie" Meletiche said after Thursday's 3-2 loss to Hempfield that he has committed to play at Keystone College in La Plume, Pa.

"I like the school, the environment there," said Meletiche, a shortstop and ace pitcher for the Pioneers. "I think I'll be successful there."

Meletiche expects to play shortstop for Keystone, which this spring went 32-12 and reached the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regionals before losing to Rowan, 9-2.

Notes. Today at 4:30 p.m. in a PIAA Class AAAA semifinal, Spring-Ford (18-9) will face Hempfield (22-5) at Memorial Stadium in Ephrata. The Rams are expected to send southpaw Jason Ferrie to the mound. The Black Knights, District 3's third-place finishers, will counter with righthander Brett Houseal. He has 82 strikeouts in 60 innings. Ferrie must pitch carefully to No. 3 hitter John Moser, who smacked a two-run home run to right-center in the win vs. Frankford. The ball traveled approximately 390 feet. . . . William and Mary lefthander Sean Grieve, a 2004 graduate of Germantown Academy, was drafted in the 21st round (646th overall) by the Phillies. As a senior at GA, Grieve was The Inquirer's Southeastern Pennsylvania player of the year, batting .423. On the mound, he was 9-0 with a 0.13 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 52 innings.