Phillies draft eight players on second day of MLB draft including season-ticket holder Nate Fassnacht

A decade ago, Nate Fassnacht was one of those rally-towel-waving fans who rocked Citizens Bank Park as the Phillies played deep into another postseason.

Fassnacht grew up in Lancaster County, and his parents have season tickets in the lower bowl between home plate and first base. Watching Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley play made the 80-minute drive from Ephrata, Pa. feel like a breeze.

And those cold October nights made a moment like Tuesday afternoon feel like a dream.

The Phillies called Fassnacht about five minutes before making their eighth-round pick in Major League Baseball first-year player draft to alert him that he was their next selection. At his brother’s place in Washington, Fassnacht, his parents, and his girlfriend huddled around a computer, as his sister watched via Face Time.

Philadelphia Phillies, Pick No. 240, Nate Fassnacht, George Washington University

“It’s definitely surreal that it’s them,” Fassnacht said. “The hometown favorite team.”

The Phillies made eight selections on the second day of the draft. They started by drafting Jamari Baylor, a power-hitting high-school shortstop, in the third round. They loaded up on college power arms, including relief pitcher Andrew Schultz and his triple-digit fastball from Tennessee and Minnesota closer Brett Schulze. They took a fifth-round chance on Gunner Mayer, a 6-foot-6 junior-college right-hander who has the tools to be an elite arm but is still learning how to pitch after shifting from the infield.

For each of them, being drafted was always the dream. But the moment that their dream was realized -- a Tuesday afternoon call from the Phillies to say they were being drafted -- could not have felt more sweet than it did for Fassnacht.

“I grew up there, going there all the time,” Fassnacht said. “I’m super excited.”

He was the Atlantic 10’s player of the year this season, hitting .372 as a junior, with a 1.108 OPS, in 54 games. The shortstop tied the university’s record with 23 doubles and was named a third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball.

Fassnacht was so good as a freshman that he was invited to play that summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League, an elite collection of college talent. But his production tailed off in his sophomore year. He was not trending toward a phone call from the Phillies.

George Washington coach Greg Ritchie, a former Pittsburgh Pirates hitting coach, helped Fassnacht simplify his approach, eliminate his leg kick, and become more aggressive early in counts. His batting average increased by 95 points. He cut his strikeout rate by more than 50 percent, hit 10 more homers, and doubled his RBI production. He led the Atlantic 10 in slugging percentage, total bases, and RBIs, was fifth in homers and second in doubles. Fassnacht was ready to be drafted.

“It was a lot of mental work,” Fassnacht said. “My sophomore year was a big learning year for me. Teams learned how to pitch to me, and I had to learn how to make adjustments. Working on the mental side and analyzing my game, night after night, and going through my at-bats really helped out.”

In high school, Fassnacht watched 15 to 20 Phillies games a year at the Bank. He was in the stands for the 2008 and 2009 World Series.

For the last three years in Washington, though, he has pursued his own baseball dream.

He soon will find himself in a minor-league outpost, and his goal will be to get back to Citizens Bank Park. It won’t be as easy as those drives down the Pennsylvania Turnpike, but if Fassnacht makes it back to South Philly, he’ll know exactly what to expect.

And what would that rally-towel-waving fan have thought of what happened Tuesday?

“It’s almost like it would have been fake.”