Dreams really do come true.

Just ask Reece Wissinger.

Wissinger, a 2019 graduate of Burlington High School and 2021 graduate of Southeastern Community College, accepted a contract offer with the Toronto Blue Jays as an undrafted free agent on Monday evening.

Wissinger, a pitcher, will sign his contract on Wednesday in Dunedin, Florida.

Wissinger, who most recently played for the Burlington Bees of the Prospect League, will continue his baseball journey which began with the Burlington Little League.

Dreams really do come true.

“It’s incredible. I am so excited. It really is a dream come true for me,” Wissinger said in a telephone interview Monday night from Florida. “They called me about 2 o’clock this afternoon, then called back around 7:30 and offered me. I said yes and then it all went from there.”

Wissinger spent five years in college as a relief pitcher before transitioning to a starting pitcher role this past spring for Southeastern University.

In his first four starts, Wissinger had a 0.00 earned run average with 32 strikeouts. He finished his final season with a 9-0 record and a 2.66 ERA with 205 strikeouts in 142 1/3 innings. He was a second team All-Sun Conference pitcher.

Wissinger has hit 97 miles per hour on the radar gun and was throwing consistently between 94-96 as a starter.

Wissinger credits Southeastern Community College baseball coach Justin Schulte with helping him develop as a pitcher.

“Justin Schulte did an outstanding job,” Wissinger said. “He is a well-trained coach. He really knows the game inside and out. He showed me so many different things to be better on the mound, better in the classroom and better in the work force. He is really good at pushing you to work hard and do a little bit better every day.”

Wissinger was 1-3 with a 2.92 ERA as a senior at BHS. In 36 innings, he allowed 33 hits and 15 earned runs, walked 23 and struck out 48. Opposing teams hit just .220 against him.

“I am so excited for Reece,” Schulte said. “He has a great story. He was very raw when he got here, but he is a super-elite competitor. He loves to compete. If you love to compete, you are going to be successful like he is. He put his time in, that’s for sure.”

In three seasons at SCC, Wissinger pitched 48 1/3 innings with a 1.86 ERA and had 17 saves. In 2021, he had a 0.43 ERA, allowing just one earned run in 21 innings and striking out 38.

“I had to develop another pitch this year as a starter,” Wissinger said. “I threw my slider a lot better and I added a change-up. Because my arm slot and throwing motion are different than most guys, I had to mess around with a lot of different grips until I found one that worked for me. It was working really well.”

After graduating in May, Wissinger wanted to pitch for the hometown Bees one more time.

“I wanted to pitch one more time in my hometown,” Wissinger said. “I wanted to do it until I was either done or got the chance to keep playing. I needed to be prepared in case that chance came.”

That chance came Monday afternoon. Wissinger, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound right-hander, said it was a nerve-wracking day until his phone finally rang.

“My heart stopped,” Wissinger said. “I was shaking really bad. It was so nerve wracking.”

Wissinger, who was staying at his fiance’s parents house in Florida when he got the call, will make the four-hour trip to Blue Jays & TD Ballpark in Dunedin on Wednesday to sign his contract, go through testing, then go through Draft Week training with the team. From there, he will be assigned to a Blue Jays minor league affiliate to begin a trek he hopes will land him in Toronto.

And it all started in Little League in Burlington.

“Keep chasing your dream and never give up,” Wissinger advised young players who aspire to make it to professional baseball some day. “If you work hard and keep grinding every day, you will have a chance to catch your dream. If you do that, no matter where you come from or who you are, you will always have a chance to make it big.”