Hours ago, Baltimore Sun writers Dan Connolly and Mike Klingaman reported that O’s first round draft pick Matt Hobgood will sign a contract by June 27th.

“That’s the plan. We’ve pretty much got [the contract] set,” said Hobgood, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound right-handed pitcher from Norco High in suburban Los Angeles. “Nothing is final, but they [the Orioles] presented us a deal and we’ll work something out. I’ll for sure sign on that Saturday.”

Last year at Norco, he was 11-1, posted a 0.92 ERA, winning National Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year. If you take a look at his game log, you would understand WHY he was tabbed with the fifth overall pick:

3/6/09 vs. Tahquitz HS: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER.

3/13/09 vs. Paloma Valley HS: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER.

3/24/09 vs. Poly HS: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER.

3/31/09 vs. North HS: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER.

4/9/09 vs. Elsinore HS: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER.

4/14/09 vs. Aptos HS: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER

4/23/09 vs. Poly HS: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER

5/2/09 vs. Santiago HS: 6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER

5/7/09 vs. Santiago HS: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER

5/14/09 vs. Centennial HS: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER

5/22/09 vs. Brea Olinda HS: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER

5/26/09 vs. Temecula Valley HS: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER

5/29/09 vs. Mater Dei HS: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 6 ER

He only had one bad game, and on top of the dominant pitching performance, he also hit .475 with 21 home runs.

“I’ve said from the beginning we thought this would be quicker than the past couple of years. The kid is excited, but we have to get him into Baltimore first,” said scouting director Joe Jordan.