This pol\u2019s flip flop comes from the heart. <\/p>\n
NYC Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola\u2019s nephew Joe was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Major League Baseball Draft last week \u2014 and the longtime Mets fan is already switching her allegiances.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m changing my hat,\u201d the Queens GOPer and new Diamondbacks fan declared to The Post. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. Blood is thicker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe Ariola, a 6-2 190-pound lefty hurler, played three seasons at Wake Forest University and was tapped in the seventh round by the Diamondbacks with the 213th\u00a0pick \u2013 guaranteeing him a $274,100 signing bonus.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s nearly double his aunt\u2019s $148,500 take as a council member.<\/p>\n
Joe Ariola, a New York native and nephew of NYC Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola, is a top pitching prospect.. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very special to me because he\u2019s my godson, and because it was hard work and determination that got him there,\u201d she said. \u201cHe has achieved the dream of every Little Leaguer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pol also offered a glowing scouting report of her new favorite player: \u201cHe\u2019s a lefty pitcher that could throw between 93 to 97 miles per hour, and he\u2019s got a curveball that is next to unhittable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The younger Ariola, who was born in Queens and raised in Malverne on Long Island, has faced his share of obstacles throughout his young career.<\/p>\n
He had a spectacular freshman year at Chaminade High School, giving up only a single earned run while striking out 80 batters in just 34 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n
NYC Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola offered a glowing scouting report of her nephew Joe Ariola. Michael Nagle<\/p>\n
\u201cOur eyes popped out when we first saw him pitch. It was like finding a winning lottery ticket you didn\u2019t know was there,\u201d recalled the high school\u2019s baseball coach Joseph Caso.<\/p>\n
However, the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled Ariola\u2019s sophomore season and then he underwent Tommy John surgery, wiping out his last two seasons in high school.<\/p>\n
But he had already shown more than enough ability to score a scholarship to play for baseball powerhouse Wake Forest.<\/p>\n