The Cincinnati Reds selected 2026 Moeller High School graduate Matt Ponatoski in the 18th round of the Major League Baseball Draft Sunday night.Ponatoski, who is signed with the University of Kentucky for baseball and football, has until July 27 to decide whether he will compete at UK or accept a deal with the Reds.The 2025 Gatorade Ohio High School Baseball Player of the Year and the 2024 Ohio Mr. Football recipient was selected as a pitcher at No. 542 overall.The baseball program is extremely proud of Matt for being drafted by the Reds today, Moeller baseball coach Tim Held told WCPO 9 Sports in a text message. He has worked tirelessly to put himself in this position and we are very happy to see that hard work pay off.Ponatoski attended the MLB Draft combine in Arizona in late June and met with some teams. Scouts have kept close tabs on Ponatoski going back to this past winter when he told WCPO 9 Sports in February that he had spoken with 27 MLB teams including the Reds."Something that I will never forget you had your hometown Reds with three of their scouts, their scouting director, walk into your house," Ponatoski said. "That doesn't happen to a lot of people. I think it was a really cool experience."Ponatoski has the distinction of being at the top or near the top in several Moeller baseball program statistical categories including plate appearances (third in career, 344), hits (seventh in career with 101), home runs (10th in career with 7), runs scored (third in career, 91), runs batted in (second in career, 94) and walks (first in career, 67). He was also the ninth Moeller player to have 100 hits in his career.Ponatoski helped lead Moeller (25-7) to a Division I state runner-up finish in June.One thing is clear: Ponatoski made a significant impact at Moeller in football and baseball."His legacy is just going to be a guy that's going to be talked about for a long, long time," Held said. "With what he did on the baseball field. Where his name is going to be in our records. What he has done consistently for three years both as a hitter and adding this pitching piece to it. The football side of it you're put in as the starting quarterback in the middle of the playoffs as a freshman definitely draws a lot of attention. And so for him to have all that hype surrounding his name all these years and for him to continue to produce he'll be a guy that will be talked about at Moeller for a long, long time."Ponatoski is the 42nd Moeller graduate ever selected in the MLB Draft and the 48th pick overall in program history.Ponatoski becomes the 20th Moeller baseball player drafted straight out of high school and the first since left-handed pitcher Nick Bennett in 2016, according to Moeller Baseball Analytics.If Ponatoski signs with the Reds, he will be the 50thMoeller graduate to have played pro baseball.Xavier outfielder Clay Burdette, a 2023 Moeller graduate, was selected earlier Sunday afternoon by the Chicago White Sox in the seventh round (No. 195 overall).SIGN UP: Subscribe to our high school sports newsletter ...read more read less