High School

2025 MLB Draft: Flurry of college players with Texas roots highlight Day 2

Four high school players were taken by MLB teams on final day of 1st-year player draft

Cody Thorn

TCU Horned Frogs pitcher Ben Abeldt (46) celebrates after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. The McKinney Boyd product was drated by the Texas Rangers on July 14. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
TCU Horned Frogs pitcher Ben Abeldt (46) celebrates after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. The McKinney Boyd product was drated by the Texas Rangers on July 14. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Day 2 of the MLB Draft featured nearly 40 players from the Lone Star State getting drafted.

A majority of those were from the college ranks, but four prep players heard their name announced when the draft picked up with round four on Monday, July 14.

Day 1 featured Kayson Cunningham (Arizona) and Johnny Slawinski (Los Angeles Angels) being taken out of high school.

Texas waited until the 11th round when the next high school player was taken. 

In the 11th round, Matthew Boughton from Colleyville Covenant Christian Academy was taken by the White Sox with the 316th pick. A multi-sport athlete, Boughton — listed as a shortstop — signed with Texas A&M. According to MaxPreps, Boughton was a TAPPS 4A first-team all-state pick. He also won state track and field championships in high jump (6-foot, 8 inches) and long jump (24 feet, 10 inches) at the TAPPS 4A championship.

His dad, Matthew, was a 12th-round pick by Arizona in 1996 from Northwood University. He played from 1996-1999 with the Diamondbacks and Rangers minor league teams, with a stop in independent ball. He was an infielder and also pitched. After his playing days, the elder Bougton was a minor league coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In the 12th round, two Texas prep players were taken: Blaine Bullard and Elijah Farley.

Bullard was taken 352nd overall by the Toronto Blue Jays out of Klein Cain. The switch-hitting outfielder has signed with Texas A&M.

The Houston Astros took Farley out of Navarro High School with the 336th pick. The left-handed hitting outfielder caught a scout’s attention by facing a pitcher the Astros were scouting, according to MLB.com.

Scouting director Cam Pendino told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart about Farley: “We think we can help him, but it’s a really toolsy kid. He can dunk a basketball and do some crazy things athletically, and we think it's the type of athlete that we put in our system and see what happens. It's the type of dart throw we do in Houston and I think has paid off for us in the past. We’re really excited to take Elijah.” 

The last higher schooler taken was Xavier Mitchell from Plano Prestonwood Christian Academy. The left-handed pitcher was taken 379th overall, in the 13th round, by the Los Angeles Angels.

Bullard and Mitchell were both on our list of players to watch ahead of the draft. Read about them here.

The most names called from Texas preps were those that went the college route. 

Here’s a quick rundown on those picks and where they played in high school.

4th round

St. Louis 

No. 120 — Cade Crossland, LHP, Oklahoma (Rockwall)

Seattle

No. 122 — Mason Peters, LHP, Dallas Baptist (Waco Live Oak Classical)

5th round

Texas

No. 146 — Ben Abeldt, LHP, TCU (McKinney Boyd)

Philadelphia 

No. 161 — Gabe Craig, RHP, Baylor (Tyler Grace Community)

Cleveland

No. 162 — Riley Nelson, 1B, Vanderbilt (Trophy Club Byron Nelson)

7th round

Seattle

No. 212 — Colton Shaw, RHP, Yale (Plano East)

Atlanta

No. 217 — Zach Royse, RHP, UTSA (Katy Cinco Ranch

Kansas City

No. 218 — Bryson Dudley, RHP, Texas State (Round Rock Cedar Ridge)

8th round

Arizona

No. 243 — Jack Martinez, RHP, Arizona State (Corpus Christi Ray)

San Diego

No. 250 — Jamie Hitt, LHP, Oklahoma (Magnolia Concordia Lutheran)

9th round

Texas

No. 265 — Owen Proksch, LHP, Duke (Southlake Carroll)

St. Louis

No. 270 — Michael Dattalo, 3B, Dallas Baptist (Keller)

Cleveland

No. 282 — Ryan Prager, LHP, Texas A&M (Dallas Hillcrest)

10th round

Pittsburgh 

No. 293 — Matt King, RHP, Arizona State (Humble Kingwood Park)

Tampa Bay

No. 297 — Trendan Parish, RHP, Texas Tech (Fort Worth Southwest Christian) 

Milwaukee

No. 305 — Braylon Owens, RHP, UTSA (Elgin)

New York Yankees

No. 314 — Connor McGinnis, 2B, Houston (Carrollton Hebron)

11th round

Tampa Bay 

No. 327 — Luke Jackson, RHP, Texas A&M (Austin Lake Travis)

St. Louis 

No. 330 — Jalin Flores, SS, Texas (San Antonio Brandeis)

12th round

Colorado

No. 347 — Brady Parker, LHP, Houston-Victoria (Victoria East)

Baltimore

No. 364 -- Daniel Lopez, RHP, Odessa College (El Paso Socorro)

13th round

Chicago White Sox 

No. 376 — Rylan Galvan, C, Texas (Sinton)

Rylan Galvan
Texas catcher Rylan Galvan (6) gets UTSA outfielder Mason Lytle (3) out as he slides for home in the first inning of the Longhorns' game against the UTSA Roadrunners, March 18, 2025 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin. Galvan was taken in the 13th round of the MLB Draft on July 14. / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

14th round

Miami 

No. 408 — Carson Laws, RHP, Texas State (San Antonio Clark)

Boston

No. 418 — Carter Rasmussen, RHP, Wofford (Justin Northwest)

Cleveland

No. 432 — Anthony Silva, SS, TCU (San Antonio Clark)

15th

Chicago White Sox 

No. 436 — Caedmon Parker, RHP, TCU (The Woodlands Christian Academy)

Colorado 

No. 437 — Dylan Crooks, RHP, Oklahoma (Euless Trinity)

San Francisco 

No. 446 — Damian Bravo, OF, Texas Tech (Haltom City)

16th round

New York Mets 

No. 493 — Zack Mack, RHP, Loyola Marymount (CA) University (Pearland Glenda Dawson)

17th round

St. Louis

No. 510 — Cameron Nickens, OF, Austin Peay (Magnolia)

Zane Petty
Red Raiders pitcher Zane Petty (34) was the starter for Texas Tech against the Gators in NCAA Regionals, Sunday, June 4, 2023, at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida. Florida beat Texas Tech 7-1 and advance to the Regional final game. Petty was taken in the 18th round of the 2025 MLB Draft by Cleveland. [Cyndi Chambers/ Gainesville Sun] / Cyndi Chambers / USA TODAY NETWORK

18th round

Cleveland

No. 552 — Zane Petty, RHP, Texas Tech (Corsicana)

19th round

Miami

No. 558 — Peyton Fosher, RHP, Nevada (Tomball)

San Francisco 

No. 566 — Braydon Risley, LHP, Grayson College (Haslet V.R. Eaton)

New York Yankees

No. 584 — Hayden Morris, RHP, Blinn College (Conroe Oak Ridge)

20th round

New York Yankees 

No. 613 — Garrett Stratton, RHP, Rice (Houston Strake Jesuit)

Published
Cody Thorn
CODY THORN

Cody Thorn is a veteran journalist who covers high school sports across the state of Texas and Missouri. He is based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has covered sports and news since 1999.

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