Athletics draft another Delaware player

Aaron Holiday and Zack Gelof squared off in the 2018 DIAA state baseball championship and again in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

Now they might be playing for the same team.

Holiday, the Old Dominion University junior pitcher out of Caravel Academy, was chosen in the 13th round, 398th overall, by the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday in the Major League Baseball Draft.

The A’s had chosen Gelof, the Virginia third baseman from Cape Henlopen, in Monday’s second round.

Should Holiday sign, the two are likely minor-league teammates. They'd played together with the Mid-Atlantic Red Sox travel team in high school.

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Holiday, from Bear, is a hard-throwing, 6-foot-3, 205-pound right-hander who was second-team All-State as a Caravel senior, when he was the starting pitcher in the Bucs’ 5-3 state final loss to Cape. He’d also played on Caravel’s 2017 state title team.

Holiday was also on the mound in relief when a 10th-inning home run sent Virginia to the NCAA Super Regionals in a 4-3 win over ODU.

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But Holiday had shown his pro potential by striking out 43 batters in 28 innings in 20 appearances, 19 in relief, for the 44-16 Monarchs in 2021. He was 4-2 with a 3.21 ERA and one save while limiting opposing hitters to a .150 average.

He did walk 32, however, so improving his control will be Holiday’s primary objective.

Holiday was 1-0 with one save and a 2.45 ERA in the 2020 season that was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. He began his college career by going 5-1 with a team-best 2.90 ERA as a freshman in 2019, when he struck out 40 in 40 1/3 innings.

Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com.