An Oklahoma high school shortstop went No. 1 overall in the Major League Baseball draft Sunday, just not the one everyone was expecting.
The Washington Nationals chose
Eli Willits, a shortstop out of
Fort Cobb-Broxton (Fort Cobb, Okla.), with the No. 1 overall pick in Atlanta. He becomes the first high school shortstop chosen No. 1 overall since Jackson Holliday of
Stillwater (Okla.) in 2022.
Much of the speculation leading up to the draft was that Holliday's brother
Ethan Holliday would become the first overall pick, making the two Hollidays the first two brothers to be taken No. 1 overall in the MLB draft.
Instead, Ethan Holliday lasted until the No. 4 pick, going to the Colorado Rockies. Holliday's father Matt played six of his 15 seasons in Colorado.
At age 17, Willits becomes the youngest No. 1 MLB draft picks in history. After reclassifying to the Class of 2025, Willits emerged as one of the top hitters in the Class, batting .516 as a senior while leading his team to a state championship.
Shortstops were the prized selections among the prep ranks with 11 selected among the top 24 picks.
JoJo Parker of
Purvis (Miss.) went No. 8 to the Blue Jays,
Steele Hall of
Hewitt-Trussville (Trussville, Ala.) went No. 9 to the Reds,
Billy Carlson of
Corona (Calif.) went No. 10 to the White Sox,
Gavin Fien of
Great Oak (Temecula, Calif.) went No. 12 to the Ranges and
Daniel Pierce of
Mill Creek (Hoschton, Ga.) went No. 14 to the Rays;
Kayson Cunningham of
Johnson (San Antonio, Texas) went 18 to the Diamondbacks,
Xavier Neyens of
Mount Vernon (Wash.) went No. 21 to the Astros,
Tate Southisene of
Basic (Henderson, Nev.) went No. 22 to the Braves and
Jordan Yost of
Sickles (Tampa, Fla.) No. 24 to the Tigers.
