Woodfin Signs With Cleveland Indians

Olonzo Woodfin, a left-handed pitcher from Sylmar High, signed a contract with the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday for a package that included cash, college tuition and incentives worth $54,000.

Woodfin, 18, was selected by the Indians in the eighth round of the baseball draft earlier this month. He was the first Valley-area high school player selected.

“I really felt all along that I was going to sign,” said Woodfin, who leaves Friday for Burlington, N.C., the Indians’ Class-A affiliate in the Appalachian League. “It was my dream to be a professional athlete and I took it.”

Woodfin, 6-4, 187 pounds, was 4-2 and had a 1.44 earned-run average last season. He suffered a broken ankle early in the season but said that both his ankle and arm are sound.

“We don’t think that he has come close yet to reaching his full ability,” said Jeff Scott, the Indians’ director of scouting.