Bulldogs or Rangers for Parkview Grad?

When outfielder Zach Cone was selected in the Major League Baseball draft out of high school in 2008, he chose instead to play at University of Georgia.

Drafted again this week after his junior season with the Bulldogs, he might make a different choice.

This time the former Parkview High player, chosen by the Texas Rangers in the draft's 37th pick, sees the Majors as more enticing than when the Los Angeles Angels drafted him as the 112th pick in the third round those three years ago.

"Now I have three years of college under my belt and am pretty comfortable with [playing professionally]," Cone said. "[In 2008], I was young, and it came on so quick. I didn't feel comfortable about doing it. Now, I feel like I've grown up a little."

Cone was a compensatory pick between the first and second rounds in Monday's first day of the draft. His selection was a defining moment in a career that has Lilburn abuzz.

Cone was named Parkview's most valuable player and Region 8-AAAAA co-player of the year as a senior, the year he batted .425, hit eight home runs, stole 17 bases and was 6-0 as a pitcher. He hit .426 with six homers and a team-high 26 RBI as a junior.

For the Bulldogs this season, he was named to the Southeastern Conference's All-Defense team for his perfect fielding percentage. He also batted .275 with 35 RBI and had two of the 11 career triples that rank fourth in school history.

Having 19 multi-hit games this season, including three three-hit performances, he helped the Bulldogs rebound in the NCAA Regionals from an initial loss to Creighton to beat Arkansas-Little Rock and Creighton, before being eliminated by Oregon State on Sunday.

Before him now is one of life's tough decisions: whether to try his hand in professional baseball or return to Georgia for his senior season. To the extent money matters, he speculated he might have gotten a few hundred thousand dollars for signing in 2008, but could garner exponentially more now.

Such amounts give one pause.

"It's going to be tough decision for him to make, but I know he'll make the right choice," said former little league buddy and Parkview teammate Caleb Shrader, with whom Cone reached the state quarterfinals against Lassiter as freshmen. "I'm sure [dad] Ronnie and he will have a long-winded chat about everything."

Ever since Cone played little league for the A's, against Shrader for the Mariners, Shrader sensed his friend had potential to be where he is.

"I knew he'd be something awesome," Shrader said. "I've been watching him blowing it up at Georgia. We always knew he'd be something special. He just keeps getting better and better."

Cone said he plans to discuss options with his parents and take time to decide, but is leaning toward going pro. If he leaves college, tough, he plans to complete his degree at some point.

"I'm pretty close to graduating, and that's something I really want to do," he said. "I've spent too much time in school not to."

As the Bulldogs traveled back from Regionals in Oregon, players were watching the draft on hand-held devices. They celebrated with Cone when the Rangers called to congratulate him upon being drafted. Likewise, a weekend earlier, Cone had been following his Parkview Panthers on the web, as they beat Hillgrove for their fourth state championship.

Cone was as proud as anyone that Parkview rallied from two runs behind in the final inning of the championship series' decisive third game and won, 21-10. He remains close to Panthers coach Chan Brown and looked forward to congratulating him by phone.

"I'm really happy for them. It's a big accomplishment," Cone said. "There's a lot of baseball history and tradition at Parkview."