Dakota Freese plans to leave Cedar Rapids at 6 a.m. Sunday and drive to Louisiana with his mother, fully intending to enroll at LSU-Eunice and start college this month.

Freese said Saturday night he has rejected a final offer from the Chicago White Sox to sign a pro baseball contract. The signing deadline is Monday,
but Freese said the negotiations have ended.

"It's over," he said. "There's no chance."

Freese, 19, said the two sides were far apart in terms of money. "Oh, yeah. Big time," he said.

He declined to reveal what the White Sox offered or what he wanted as a signing bonus.

The White Sox picked Freese, a 6-foot-4 pitcher from Cedar Rapids Washington, in the 34th round of the draft this June.

"He had a decision to make," Rick Freese, his grandfather, said Saturday night. "There was an offer. It just wasn't in the cards for us. It wasn't enough."

The signing deadline is Monday, Aug. 15.

Freese was an all-state utility player at Washington as a junior in 2010. He split time this summer between the Warriors and a travel team in Chicago, compiling a 2-2 record and 3.50 earned run average in five appearances at Washington.

Freese has college orientation on Monday at LSU-Eunice, which is a junior college in Louisiana. He'll be eligible for the 2012 draft if he does not sign by Monday.

"I'm hoping for a really good season next year (at Eunice)," he said.

Freese wanted to turn pro this year, but felt Chicago's offer was not high enough. "I didn't want to wait, but I have to," he said.