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Will Dion, former pitcher for McNeese State University and the son of Ville Platte native Monette Ortego Dion, signs with the Cleveland Indians after being drafted in the ninth round of the 2021 Major League Baseball. He is pictured on the right with Indian Scouting Director Scott Barnsby. (Photo courtesy of Derrick Dion )
Former McNeese State pitcher Will Dion did not attend high school in Ville Platte or Evangeline Parish.
However, the son of Monette Dion, formerly Ortego, recently did the region proud when he was selected in the ninth round of the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft by the Cleveland Indians.
“It felt great to hear my name called,” Dion said. “I wasn’t too concerned about the round. It was more of giving me any opportunity because if you give me an opportunity I will do something with it.”
Dion, a Sulphur High graduate, gets to fulfill a lifelong dream that many want but few actually achieve. He’s reported to Arizona for training and can’t be more excited about what is in front of him.
“It feels great,” he said. “Everyone grows up wanting to do it, but doesn’t really know what it takes. I’m out here in Arizona in 106 degree weather and smiling while running. Who smiles while running in this heat?”
Dion enjoyed a standout redshirt sophomore year for McNeese, going 9-4 with a 3.07 ERA that helped vault him up draft boards.
He led McNeese to a Southland Conference tournament championship and an NCAA Regionals appearance.
Dion appeared in two games during the conference tournament and ended his career with 13 wins and seven saves in his three seasons at McNeese.
That success piqued Cleveland’s, recently renamed the Guardians, interest. The difference from Sulphur, McNeese and minor league baseball are already obvious to Dion.
“Everything is so detailed,” he said. “The technology is so advanced compared to what I’m used to. But, I enjoy learning new things that help me pitch better.”
Dion has taken things from each level he’s played at that prepared him for where he is now.
“The strict coaching in high school made me more mature and in college I learned to be more on my own and work by myself,” he said.
Dion arrives in Cleveland’s farm system at an interesting time. While many may perceive it as a new era for Cleveland baseball, Dion sees it for what it is: a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
“To me it’s just a different name, but their program is still more advanced than others,” he said. “They could change the name to the Unicorns and I’d still wear the uniform.”
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