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Rancho Bernardo High grad Wynton Bernard closing in on MLB dream

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Every time Wynton Bernard looks behind him at the road he has traveled in his professional baseball career, he just flashes that big grin and laughs out loud.

Drafted in 2012 by his hometown team, the San Diego Padres, Bernard has veered a bit off course. He is now with his third organization.

He says that is not the path he envisioned to reaching the major leagues.

“It’s been quite a roller coaster,’’ understated the former Rancho Bernardo High School outfielder.

Through it all, the 6-foot-2, 205-pounder has finally reached the last rung of minor league baseball, playing for the Sacramento River Cats, a farm team of the San Francisco Giants.

He is one step from the major leagues.

Bernard was a 35th round draft pick of the Padres after playing for Niagra University, near Buffalo.

He hit .232 in the Arizona Rookie League in 2012 and .251 while playing with four teams in 2013.

Bernard was released just prior to spring training in 2014.

“Being drafted by the hometown team — Tony Gwynn played there — was perfect,’’ Bernard said. “I was just getting out of my car at Rancho Bernardo to run the stadium steps one day when the farm director called me and told me the Padres had no place for me.

“It was a one-minute call. That was it. I started crying because my dream was gone and I didn’t even see it coming.

“I was always the extra outfielder every place San Diego sent me. I never got a chance.’’

Bernard, who turns 27 on Sept. 24, was one of more than 100 players at a tryout camp after his release. He was the only player signed by the Detroit Tigers.

In 2014, while playing for Grand Rapids in Michigan, Bernard had his best season in the pros and was named the Midwestern League’s most valuable player after hitting .323 with six home runs and 47 RBIs.

“I proved to myself I can do this,’’ Bernard said. “I kept telling myself not to give up, don’t give up.

“I guarantee every time I played the Padres team (El Paso Chihuahuas) during that MVP season, I crushed the ball. I must have hit over .400 against them.’’

After three seasons, the Tigers released Bernard and he signed as a free agent minor leaguer with the Giants.

With Sacramento, Bernard is hitting about .244.

“I’m so determined to succeed,’’ Bernard said. “Some people would have given up, but champions strive to be better.

“There have been times where it was extremely hard to keep going. I have to remind myself why I’m still here.

“As up and down as it’s been, there are millions of people who would love to be in my shoes, going to the ballpark and playing baseball every day.’’

Bernard was introduced to baseball at age 8 and said he fell in love with it while his dad took him to the batting cages every day after school.

In his first year of Little League, Bernard said he led the league in hitting.

He was hooked at that point.

Not even the arduous adventure that is minor league baseball has worn him down.

“The long bus rides get to everyone,’’ Bernard said. “At least in the (Pacific Coast League) we fly to a lot of towns.

“A typical night is we leave the park at 11 p.m., get up at 4 a.m. for a 7 a.m. flight and play a game that night at 7.

“I wouldn’t trade this life for anything else.’’

The carrot right in front of him is a spot on a major league roster, a dream he has all the time.

“I can’t wait to walk out on a big-league field for the first time so I can say everything was worth it,’’ Bernard said. “I’m so close now, I can’t give up.

“That first call will be to mom because I can’t wait to hear her scream as loud as she can. I know she won’t believe me until she sees it with her own eyes.’’

Bernard might not either.

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