MLB DRAFT: Hewitt-Trussville shortstop leads in-state contingent in early round pick

Alabama right hander Riley Quick was selected 36th by the Minnesota Twins on Sunday. (Courtesy Unv. Alabama Athletics)

By TIM GAYLE

Hewitt-Trussville shortstop Steele Hall was the ninth pick overall and the first player from this state chosen in the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft on Sunday night.

The first 105 picks were held on Sunday, with the fourth round of the 20-round draft scheduled to resume on Monday at 10:30 a.m.

Hall celebrated his birthday 11 days early as the Cincinnati Reds made him their first-round pick. He became the first Alabama high school middle infielder taken in the first round since Condredge Holloway was selected fourth overall by the Montreal Expos in the 1971 draft.

 Ironically, both players had ties to the University of Tennessee. Hall had signed with the Volunteers, while Holloway passed on a baseball career and went to Knoxville to play quarterback at Tennessee.

 Hall was one of three Alabama players selected on Sunday, along with Auburn University catcher Ike Irish and University of Alabama pitcher Riley Quick. 

Irish was selected with the 19th pick by the Baltimore Orioles. He is the third highest drafted position player in school history, trailing only Frank Thomas and Gabe Gross.

Quick was one of 11 selections made in Competitive Balance Round A between the first and second rounds. He was the second pick of the Minnesota Twins and the 36th overall pick.

Fort Cobb-Broxton (Okla.) High shortstop Eli Willits was the first player selected in the draft, going to the Washington Nationals.

Another high school shortstop, Mill Creek (Ga.) High’s Daniel Pierce, went to the Tampa Bay Rays with the 14th overall pick. Pierce is the fourth shortstop taken in the first round by the Rays in the last seven years, joining Greg Jones (2019), Carson Williams (2021) and Brayden Taylor (2023). All three played for the Montgomery Biscuits in the last three years.