Sal Frelick, son of ex-Greensburg Central star, picked 15th overall by Brewers in 1st round of MLB Draft

Jul. 12—Sal Frelick, whose grandfather, Henry, was a quarterback at Greensburg Salem and father, Jeff, was a star football and baseball player at Greensburg Central Catholic, passed up both of them Sunday night.

Sal, a center fielder at Boston College, was selected 15th overall in the first round of the MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Over three seasons at Boston College, he hit .345, with 12 home runs, 63 RBIs and 38 stolen bases. He never made an error over 237 putouts and five assists, and this season he was awarded the first Gold Glove in Boston College history. That was after he was named first-team All-ACC and the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.

Attention from MLB teams increased this spring when Sal, a junior, batted .359 with a 1.002 OPS, 17 doubles, two triples, six homers and 27 RBIs in 48 games. Another attractive quality: He walked more times than he struck out in his Boston College career (60/50).

"Unbelievable athlete," ESPN's Eduardo Perez said after Frelick was drafted. "He's got unbelievable footwork (at the plate). He understands how to be able to find barrel. Sal Frelick does that and he does it well and he does it consistently."

One of Frelick's home runs this season came against Pitt on May 8 at Charles L. Cost Field. BC lost 4-3, but Henry and Jeff, a former Pitt walk-on fullback, were there to see it, along with several South Greensburg supporters, former coaches and teammates.

In a few years, if certain mileposts are reached, Frelick will be in PNC Park several times a season to play the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Brewers' rivals in the National League Central. "That will be great for a lot of family and friends back home," Jeff Frelick said.

Sal has two years of eligibilty remaining at Boston College, but Jeff said the chances of his son signing wth the Brewers are "very high."

"He's itching to play. Especially being a three-sport athlete, you're always playing. You've never been off this long."

Jeff said the swirl of phone calls from teams picking in first half of the draft started last week, followed by the moment Sunday night when the Brewers called — about two minutes before it was announced on TV — and, later, congratulatory back-slapping and hugs. The entire family was invited to attend the draft in Denver, but Sal declined.

"He wanted to stay home," his dad said. "He said, 'I want to celebrate and hang out with some family and friends and teammates.'

"We kind of took the approach in our family that we're so blessed and so appreciative where Sal is. And he is as well."

Sal (5-foot-9, 175 pounds) earned 12 letters at Lexington (Mass.) High School and was a two-time captain of the football, baseball and hockey teams. As a senior quarterback, he combined for 50 touchdowns passing and rushing and was named Gatorade's football player of the year in Massachusetts.

The Frelick family has lived in Lexington, Mass., for the past three decades. Sal, older brother, Nico, and younger sister, Francesca, played hockey and baseball/softball while growing up. Sal was born 13 months after Nico and Francesca arrived 13 months later.

Nico was the bullpen catcher at Northeastern. Francesca, who plays softball at Duke, was Massachusetts' Division III softball athlete of the year as a high school junior, a hockey defenseman and New England's girls high school player of the year at Austin Prep.

Sal told ESPN that there was a sibling rivalry among the three of them.

"It was that thing where you come home from school, do your homework and, basically, go outside and beat each other up," he said. "That's how it was every single day."

Jeff brought his young family back to Westmoreland County several times, but most of those visits ended when the kids started playing sports.

"We rolled right from spring baseball and softball to travel ball." Jeff said. "Football started in August and we rolled right into hockey and that was over Christmas break.

"One year, I looked at the calendar and I said, 'Oh, my gosh, we have two weekends, it seems like, in March and August where we don't have anything; 50 weekends a year (we had) some athletic commitment with the kids.' "

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter .