A former Fountain Hills Falcon baseball star is taking his first steps into the world of Major League Baseball after signing with the Oakland Athletics organization.

Devin Foyle, who graduated from Fountain Hills High School in 2015, was picked up by the Athletics on June 15 in the 17th round of the MLB draft.

Being drafted to play at the major league level was not a straightforward path or one with a lot of certainty.

“Getting drafted by the A’s was definitely a process,” Foyle explained. “I really did not know who I was going to get drafted by. It all happened so fast, as any team could pick you up at any point. There was just a lot of calling back and forth until finally their pick came up and I found out it was me.”

Foyle still has more levels to move up before he joins the field with the likes of Matt Chapman and Dustin Fowler.

“Now that I have been drafted there is a long process until the majors,” Foyle said. “I have to go through a bunch of different levels of A’s affiliates until I make it. I am currently in Low A short season. The process goes from Rookie, to where I am now, to Single A, High A, Double A, Triple A, and then the majors. So it will still be a long process to make it there.”

Foyle’s Mother, Connie, was unsure if Foyle would make it to the next level after college but said she could not be more excited for her son.

“It has been really exciting,” Connie said. “I never thought it would come to this. I am just happy he gets to play a sport he loves.”

Foyle, who is 21 years old now, started his baseball career at the age of five playing T-ball in Fountain Hills Little League. Foyle was following family tradition.

“I started playing baseball when I was really young,” Foyle said. “I remember always watching my older brother play and I wanted to be out there on his team. I started playing T-ball and loved it ever since.”

Connie remembers Foyle as being an all-around athletic child growing up. Along with playing baseball, Foyle also participated in soccer; but baseball remained his true passion.

“In Fountain Hills I played Little League up until the minors for one year,” Foyle said. “Then I went to go play travel ball in Scottsdale when I was eight years old. I played middle school baseball in Fountain Hills and remember always staying to watch my brother’s practices in high school. Then I played all the way throughout.”

It was Foyle’s time in club ball that helped him sharpen his natural skill from the game.

“When Devin was 10 or 11 there was one coach, Dave Fortney, on a club team who really supported him,” Connie said. “He saw the talent Devin had. He was actually the first person to have Devin bat left handed.”

Foyle is an ambidextrous batter who finished college with an average SLG of .451 as well as 13 homeruns.

The person from town that Foyle believes has helped him the most is his father.

“My father and me would go hitting almost every day at Golden Eagle Park from when I was about 10 all the way until college,” Foyle said. “He would take me hitting no matter what the weather was like, if it was raining we would go find a cage somewhere. He just loved to take me and I loved going with him and it became a daily thing where we would just wake up and both knew that we would go hit.”

Despite starting out of town club ball at a young age Foyle has plenty of memories from his time on the Falcon baseball squad.

“My favorite memory playing with the Falcons would be my sophomore year, winning the state championship and the experiences we had making it there,” Foyle said. “My senior year was also very memorable because everyone on the team, we all grew up playing together and just seeing how far we had come and still have fun together made us have the best memories.”

Foyle also has fond memories of a town where he feels that no one is ever really a stranger.

“My time at Fountain Hills is something I will never forget,” Foyle said. “Growing up here in a small town was nice because, really, everybody knew everyone so there were really no strangers. I made a lot of friends here that love to just go out and play catch or hang out at the baseball field together, even if they don’t play anymore. We all have such a great bond that we really could do anything and have fun.”