Logan Gregorio turns 21 on Monday, but that milestone birthday might not be the only thing the former Waubonsie Valley baseball star has to celebrate on that date.

That happens to be the second day of the 2025 MLB draft.

Gregorio, a power-hitting catcher who recently transferred from Northern Illinois to Auburn, said he has worked out for five MLB teams, including the Chicago Cubs.

“I’ve talked to my adviser and a few scouts, and it seems that I’ll be drafted between the 11th and 20th round this year,” he said. “There’s a lot of conversations with signing bonus money and other things.

“The draft is unpredictable somewhat, so to have a spot at Auburn in case it doesn’t work out or a certain number doesn’t get met, I’m really happy about that.”

Gregorio took the path less traveled to arrive at this point, but he’s happy with his journey. He didn’t get any Division I looks coming out of high school, and his top three choices were Lewis, North Central and Benedictine.

Gregorio’s father, Frank, who was on Waubonsie Valley’s coaching staff this past season, and his brothers Luke and Cole all played at North Central. But Gregorio chose Benedictine.

“Logan was obviously a very talented baseball player for us, but he had such a high ceiling and such a high work ethic that you kind of knew that eventually he would be better than he was,” Waubonsie Valley coach Bryan Acevedo said.

“But he’s also a guy that didn’t chase the label of that Division I or Division II. He had a really good mindset going into the whole recruiting situation. It was, ‘I want to go somewhere where I can play from day one.’ Benedictine gave him that opportunity.”

Gregorio took that opportunity and ran with it. He was the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference freshman of the year in 2023, hitting .413 with 56 RBIs in 39 games.

As a sophomore, Gregorio was named to the Division III All-American fourth team. He hit .365 with 10 home runs and 53 RBIs, leading the Eagles to their first conference championship.

Gregorio then transferred to NIU, thereby realizing his dream of playing at the Division I level.

“When I was in high school, I really wanted a walk-on opportunity at a Division I,” Gregorio said. “That was my goal. I wanted to challenge myself and play at the highest level, but unfortunately that didn’t end up turning out.

“But after my second year at Benedictine, I wanted to challenge myself again. I still had that feeling, so I decided to go into the portal.”

Gregorio quickly proved himself at NIU this past season. Starting all 54 games, he hit .332 with 19 doubles, 18 home runs and 69 RBIs, all team highs, and set the program’s single-season record with 151 total bases.

His home run and RBI totals rank second on NIU’s single-season list, and he was named to the All-MAC second team.

“Logan was instrumental in our offensive success this year,” NIU head coach Ryan Copeland said in a news release. “His ability to hit for power consistently led us to break several single-season records.”

Gregorio said he got great coaching at Benedictine — where his personal hitting coach, Kevin Sullivan, is on the staff — and at NIU.

“I enjoyed my time at Northern, and they further developed me,” Gregorio said. “Joe Kelch, the hitting coach, helped me in finding my power and being a bat that can produce more consistently to the pull side and hit home runs.”

Gregorio is still driven to take his game to new heights, which is why he transferred again. He picked Auburn over Kentucky and Georgia.

“It’s really impressive what he’s done,” Acevedo said. “He kind of bet on himself going to a smaller school when maybe he had the skill set to be a little bit bigger than that at the time. It certainly paid off for him.”

Indeed, Gregorio finds himself in a win-win situation. Soon, he’ll be playing professionally or continuing his college career in the SEC with another chance to be drafted next summer.

“I’m really excited about Auburn, and if that ends up being the route I want to take, that would be great,” he said. “But if I get an opportunity to play at the professional level, I’d love to take that.

“I’m very blessed with the choices that I’ve been given. I’ve talked to my parents about it, and I’ve prayed on it, and I don’t think I can go wrong either way.”

Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.

challenge myself again. I still had that feeling, so I decided to go into the portal.”