Jeanerette resident and West St. Mary graduate Woody Drexler, second from right, speaks with parents Wrenwick and Samona and sister Ashly at a gathering of family and friends Thursday to celebrate his being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday. Drexler played center field at Grambling for four years. He travels to Arizona to join the team’s Rookie League squad today.

JEANERETTE — Edwin “Woody” Drexler told his mother Samona while he was still at West St. Mary High School that if he ever played college baseball he would someday play in the pros.

Drexler takes the first step in his professional baseball career today when he travels to Phoenix, Arizona, to join the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rookie league team, the AZL Dodgers. The Dodgers selected the 22-year-old Jeanerette resident in the 38th round of the draft on Wednesday after he wrapped up his four-year college career at Grambling State University.

“I always envisioned this,” Drexler said. “It was very exciting. I was speechless. The only words I had were ‘Thank God.’”

Drexler, who will turn 23 on July 1, said he was visiting his sister in Houston when a friend, Chris Butts of Jeanerette, called to tell him he’d been drafted.

“I was playing Grand Theft Auto,” Drexler said of the call he got about the draft. “I received so many congratulatory calls and texts, it’s crazy.”

His dad, Wrenwick Drexler, said he was listening online to the draft when he heard his son’s name called. Family and friends gathered for a small party at the Drexler home in Jeanerette Thursday evening to celebrate.

“I knew he had gone to Atlanta to work out for the Dodgers, and a few other teams were interested in him, like Cincinnati, Tampa and Boston,” the elder Drexler said, adding that he’s always pushed his son as hard as he could. “All of them (young people) need a little nudge sometimes to say you need to stay focused on the job at hand.”

Proud of his son’s baseball accomplishments, he said the family is more pleased at his recent graduation from Grambling with a bachelor of science degree in sports management.

A center fielder for four years for the GSU Tigers, Drexler said he talked with the Dodgers scout who recommended he be drafted and was told the team likes his athletic ability, speed and defense and want to see if he can handle the bat a little better and make the adjustment to wooden bats.

“Grambling was a great experience but it was tough at the same time,” Drexler said. “You don’t have a lot of the things the bigger universities have like facilities and equipment. But if you work hard, anything is possible.”

The real hard work starts now, Drexler and his father said.

“I want to thank the Dodgers for giving me this opportunity,” Woody Drexler said. “I just have to study the game a little more. Basically the hard part is adjusting to the pitching. Defense is basically the same except the ball comes off the bat a little faster.”

“The hard work is just starting now,” Wrenwick Drexler said. “Now, everybody’s good.”

Being drafted by a historically rich organization like the Dodgers is good, both said, but almost every major league organization is good right now. And with the vagaries of minor league life, Drexler could well end up with another team at some point as prospects often get traded.

“I’m glad he was able to go to an organization with a history like the Dodgers,” Wrenwick Drexler said.

“It’s exciting,” his son agreed. “You’re in L.A. Jackie Robinson played for them.”

The family will follow his career as closely as they can, depending on where he ends up playing, the elder Drexler said. If they can make it to games, his parents will go when they can. If not, they’ll follow on the Internet.

“Basically it depends on where he ends up,” Wrenwick Drexler said.