Former Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) baseball All-American Jake Adams has signed a professional contract with the Houston Astros of the American League after being drafted by the Astros in the sixth round of the recent Major League Baseball Draft.

Adams, who is from Brandon, S.D., played at DMACC during the 2015 and 2016 seasons, earning All-American honors and setting school records for home runs in a season and career. He played the 2017 season at the University of Iowa, helping the Hawkeyes to the Big Ten tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.

Adams, a first baseman, has been assigned to Tri-City of the New York-Penn League, Houston's Class A affiliate. The Valleycats opened their season June 20 against Connecticut. Adams has spent the past several days at the Astros' training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., before joining the team on June 20.

Adams said he was contacted by 29 of the 30 Major League teams prior to the draft with Cleveland and Minnesota showing the most interest. He said the Astros also contacted him prior to the draft and then called again during the first day of the draft.

"I kind of knew that is where I was going to end up, but I didn't know what round," Adams said. "I finally got the call about two minutes before they drafted me and I knew that finally all my hard work had paid off and that's where I wanted to go."

Houston uses the designated hitter because it is an American League team, but Adams said he has been told he will probably play first base and DH occasionally.

"They said they've seen me play first base and want me on the field," Adams said, adding that he might also play some third base. "I want to be on the field, but if DH is where they are going to put me, I'll definitely take that."

Adams said he knew following his high school career that he would sign with a community college, choosing DMACC because he liked what he saw.

Adams hit 17 home runs as a freshman and 25 as a sophomore setting school records for most career home runs and most home runs in a season. He earned All-American honors and ranks in the top 10 in 10 other single-season categories and six all-time categories.

Adams actually signed with the University of North Dakota during the fall of his sophomore season at DMACC, but shortly thereafter, baseball was eliminated from the school's sports programs so Adams' recruiting process was reopened.

Sean Moore, a former DMACC standout who also played at Iowa, was serving as a DMACC assistant coach at the time and contacted Iowa coach Rick Heller about Adams, who was invited to Iowa City for a visit. Moore is now an assistant coach with the Hawkeyes.

"They brought me in for a visit and I signed," Adams said. "I wouldn't change that for anything. I had a phenomenal year. It was fun."

Adams started all 61 games for the Hawkeyes and hit a school record 29 home runs, breaking a mark that had stood since 1986. His 29 home runs were also the most by a Big Ten player since 2010 and also led NCAA Division I. He led the conference in runs batted in, slugging percentage, runs scored and total bases and ranked second in hits, sixth in batting average, 12th in on-base percentage and 14th in doubles. Adams, who batted .335, hit safely in 46 games and reached base in 53 games. He had 27 multi-hit and 16 multi-RBI games this season.

Adams capped the season by earning unanimous Big Ten Player of the Year honors and was the only unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten First Team.

"I made the transition to (NCAA Division I) pretty easily," Adams said. "I started off pretty hot and by mid-season I started hitting a bunch of home runs, more than I ever thought I would. DI pitchers have a little bit more location and their breaking balls are a little bit better, and I knew going into DI I was going to have to shorten my swing quite a bit. I worked with Sean Moore and he helped me quite a bit."

Adams said he hit his first home run at the age of 10 and knew that he had raw hitting power.

"I just kept working on my swing and generating power," He said. "When I got the call (from the Astros), I knew I was going to pursue my dreams. I've been dreaming about this my whole life."