It’s been a whirlwind few days for Jeff Diehl.

On Saturday, the 2011 West graduate played his final game in a Cranston uniform as his Gershkoff Auto Body/Auburn Post 20 team was eliminated from the American Legion Northeast Regional.

On Monday, he signed a pro contract with the New York Mets.

And on Tuesday, he hopped a plane bound for Florida – the first stop of his professional baseball career.

“It’s been a little crazy,” Diehl said Tuesday, while on a layover in the Baltimore airport. “It’s all just hitting me now.”

The journey to this point began back in June, when Diehl was selected by the Mets in the 23rd round of the Major League Baseball Draft.

For most of the summer, things were pretty quiet. Diehl played for Gershkoff while keeping in touch with the Mets. In mid-July, he went to New York and took batting practice at Citi Field, the home of the Mets. He even got a few tips from then-Met Carlos Beltran.

All the while, Diehl and his family were weighing their options. Diehl had a scholarship offer from the University of Rhode Island, and he would have been happy accepting it if the contract negotiations didn’t yield a positive result. In fact, URI head coach Jim Foster was supportive through the whole process.

“Jim was fantastic throughout the whole thing,” said Diehl’s father, Jeff Sr. “He knew it was a good possibility that Jeff was going to sign, but he was going to be happy for him no matter what.”

Jeff Sr. knew the negotiations were likely to pick up once the Major League Baseball trade deadline passed on August 1. Sure enough, the Mets made contact last week, and the negotiations began.

“We went back and forth a few times with the Mets and Jeff’s agent, Alan Nero,” Jeff Sr. said. “The Mets really wanted to get a deal done, and we wanted to make sure we were making the right decision.”

Eventually, the Mets and the Diehl family agreed on a figure that was acceptable for both parties. On Monday, they put the finishing touches on it.

Area scout Art Pontarelli came to the Diehl house and went over everything. Around 4 p.m., Diehl put pen to paper and made the signing official.

“It was exciting,” Jeff Sr. said. “It’s something he always wanted to do, and now he’s on his way.”

As soon as the signing became official, the process picked up speed. Diehl packed his bags Monday night, and on Tuesday morning, his family dropped him off at T.F. Green airport.

He flew to Baltimore, and then it was on to West Palm Beach, Fla. The plan then was to drive to Port St. Lucie, the spring training home of the Mets and the home of the club’s Gulf Coast League team. Diehl was scheduled to have a physical.

Then – baseball.

“I have no idea when I’ll start playing,” Diehl said. “I’ll find all that out when I get down there. But I know it’s going to be soon.”

Diehl is expected to play the remainder of the season with the St. Lucie Mets, whose campaign concludes in the first week of September.

After that, Diehl will be back in Rhode Island for a few weeks before heading off to play fall ball. He’s expecting to return for the winter and then get ready for spring training.

For now, he’s focused on the beginning of his professional baseball career.

The whirlwind continues.

“We knew it was quick turnaround,” Jeff Sr. said. “That’s the way it goes with these things. It’s not easy – he’s 17 and one day he’s here, the next day he’s a pro baseball player. We’ll worry, but we’re fully confident that it’s going to work out well. He had a great opportunity and he took it.”