Japan's teenage baseball star Yuki Saito, who led his team to its first title at the national high school baseball championship last month, said Monday he decided to attend university instead of playing pro baseball.

"After discussing the matter with family and school advisers, I have decided not to become a candidate for pro baseball. I have decided I will attend university," Kyodo News quoted the 18-year-old pitcher as saying.

"I want to go to university and develop my skills as a baseball player and also grow as a person. I might be taking the long route by going to university for four years, but I'm not that naive to think I can just go directly to the pros and perform at a high level," Saito told a news conference held at his school in Tokyo's Kokubunji.

Saito struck out 13 in the final of national high school baseball championship, helping Tokyo's Waseda Jitsugyo to its first title on Aug. 21.

He was closely monitored by professional scouts during the duration of the summer tournament. A number of pro teams had already shown interest in acquiring the services of Saito, who boasts a fastball in the mid-140 kilometer range and a nasty change-up.

Source: Xinhua