Achieving your dream isn’t for the faint of heart. For Vandenberg Village’s Luke Kovach, that dream started at a local Babe Ruth field in Lompoc, where he dreamed of making it to the pros. That dream is now a reality after hearing his name called in the 19th round of the 2025 MLB Draft.
After only pitching 8 and 2/3 innings this past year for Cal Poly as a redshirt junior, Kovach was picked by the Toronto Blue Jays.
“I kind of was more focused on Luke and Jim [Luke's dad] because they were both pretty emotional," Luke's mother, Stephanie Kovach, recalled about the announcement.
“To actually hear your name, knowing that it's real, it's just a completely different feeling that I'm like still trying to process at this moment,” Kovach said.
The kid from Vandenberg Village grew up playing at local ball parks like George Meyer Field in Lompoc and Cabrillo High School before entering the college ranks at Allan Hancock College and then Cal Poly — all chapters in a book that is still being written for the promising left-hander.
“There's a lot of resilience and perseverance to keep coming back and it's always been his dream," his mother said.
However, he almost gave up baseball entirely after a series of injuries after transferring from Allan Hancock to Cal Poly. In his first year as a Mustang, he underwent Tommy John surgery in his left elbow, requiring him to miss the whole season. One year later, he tore his ACL in practice, which was supposed to sideline him the entire 2025 season.
“He thought his baseball career was over at that time," his father, Jim, said. "He was starting to think about it, but I think that lasted for about a day or two.”
During what was supposed to be a recovery that kept him off the mound this last season, he miraculously came back to pitch in half the time, contributing in the Big West Tournament and Regional round in Cal Poly’s magical postseason run. In his 8 and 2/3 innings, he threw for 17 strikeouts.
The comeback was complete with Luke ending his college experience on a high note — a journey that started under head coach Chris Stevens at Hancock.
“I thought that was the biggest thing I observed in his freshman year, him learning to handle failure, but then him learning how to overcome it, to make himself better," Stevens recalled.
“It was awesome. I loved it. I loved every single like pitch I got to throw at Cal Poly," Kovach said of his limited action.
Kovach follows in the footsteps of fellow Cabrillo alum and left-handed major leaguer Danny Duffy, who was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 2007, going on to win a World Series with them in 2015.
“I wanted to be like him. I wanted to be Danny Duffy," Kovach said.
While Cal Poly has players drafted every year from the baseball program, Kovach is one of the very few local names to get their shot at professional baseball.
“He's got a bunch of kids in this area that all look up to him and just see the way he reacts around them as a young adult is amazing," said Jeff Wolf, his former Babe Ruth coach.
Kovach is now in Florida at the Blue Jays' development facility, where he will continue to rehab his knee. He likely won’t pitch until spring training next year.
