Sal Romano made it official Saturday morning. Not long after 10 a.m., he put pen to paper and signed a contract to play professional baseball for the Cincinnati Reds.

“I don’t have words for it,” said an ecstatic Romano afterwards. “A couple of days ago I was ready to go to Tennessee and then all this stuff happened with Major League Baseball and I’m just so honored to represent the Reds.”

The contract came with a signing bonus of $450,000, the second largest bonus handed out by the Reds to date (the club gave its second round pick a reported $500,000 to sign). Along with the bonus, Romano will get $75,000 towards a college education to any Connecticut public institution if he were to go that route at some point. The third monetary piece of the contract is an $1,100 per month salary for Romano, which is the minor league norm. However, all his expenses are paid for by the organization, so the money, more or less, goes into the pocket.

“They were actually willing to give more of a bonus and take away the school and we said, ‘No, school’s got to be there,’” said Romano’s father, who’s also a Sal.

The entire process happened over a 48-hour span from Wednesday to Friday. Romano got home from summer classes and workouts at Tennessee Tuesday night, then heard an offer from the Reds Wednesday. The initial bonus they threw his way was $400,000.

“He was very excited that the first offer was $400,000,” said mom Lynne, as well as dad.

'Little' Sal returned the call asking for a little more, the Reds said they wouldn't go as high as $500,000 and so they settled on $450,000.

“It was like two, three times just went back and forth and finally we just came to an agreement that, ‘All right, that’s what I’m looking for and I’ll sign,” explained Romano. “I guess they knew what they were planning to do the whole time and it worked out in theirs and my favor.”

Prior to Wednesday, the thought amongst the Romano household was that Sal would be heading back to Tennessee Monday ... for good and not just to pack up his things.

“Thursday I thought he was going back to Tennessee," said his father. Both parents concurred that they believed Sal would play professionally, just not yet, but instead after three years of baseball at Tennessee.

Romano was joined at his house by Lee Seras, the Reds' Northeast Supervisor of Scouting, to sign the deal. Seras had been following Romano's path much of the way and was crucial in the entire process.

He said that the reason Romano got picked later than expected had nothing to do with ability, but more to do with sign-ability.

“Especially up in the Northeast, a lot of kids are going to go to school unless they get significant money,” explained Seras. “So it’s tough to sign a lot of kids in the Northeast so they’ll take kids later in the rounds, even though he might be like a fourth or third round-type of guy.”

Even with the 23rd round selection, Seras said that multiple Reds scouts saw him and all said the same thing, “He’s really a fourth, third round-type of kid.”

Romano will drive down to Knoxville, Tenn., with his mom Monday night to pack up. From there, he'll return to Connecticut, then head out to Arizona Friday for a two-week throwing program. He'll come back home until the fall when he's back out to the Instructional League. After that, it's home in Connecticut until spring training.

“I’m excited to get started,” Romano explained. “All of the guys that I’ve met in the organization, I’m very excited to get acquainted with them and meet all the coaches in all of the systems and hopefully one day get to the top.

“I’ve always had to work my way up to the top, so I’m ready for the challenge.”

Though on Saturday, it was about soaking everything in as a 17-year-old professional athlete (he turns 18 Oct. 12).

“Right now it’s basically the excitement of being here with all my family,” he said with a Major League smile. “I’m just enjoying it.”