Two of the top 2025 MLB Draft prospects are set to meet at Edmond Santa Fe on Friday.
Stillwater’s Ethan Holliday, the No. 1 prospect according to MLB.com, and Fort Cobb-Broxton’s Eli Willits, who is ranked No. 11, will face off at 5:30 p.m.
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Each team will play two games Friday.
Stillwater will face Edmond Santa Fe at 3:30 p.m. before the Fort Cobb-Broxton matchup, while Fort Cobb-Broxton will open against Stillwater before taking on Edmond Santa Fe at 7:30 p.m.
Here’s a look at Holliday and Willits, and what to know heading into their matchup.
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Family business
Holliday and Willits — both infielders — hail from elite baseball families.
Holliday is the son of former MLB and Stillwater star Matt Holliday. His older brother, Jackson, is the starting second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles after being selected with the first pick in the 2022 draft.
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Willits is the son of OU associate head coach Reggie Willits, a Fort Cobb-Broxton alum who starred for the Sooners before a six-year MLB career with the Los Angeles Angels.
Eli’s older brother, Jaxon, is a sophomore at OU and starts at shortstop.
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Stillwater’s Ethan Holliday catches a line drive during the high school baseball game between Dale and Stillwater at Carl Albert High School in Midwest City, Friday, April, 11, 2025.
Like father, like son
Ethan Holliday has some similarities with his older brother, Jackson, but they’re also different in ways.
Both are left-handed hitters, but at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, Ethan is about four inches taller and tends to draw more comparisons to his father, Matt, who stands at the same height and was a seven-time All-Star.
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Ethan, who signed with Oklahoma State, was named The Oklahoman’s All-State Player of the Year last season.
He had a .409 batting average, 12 home runs and 40 RBIs and helped Stillwater advance to the Class 6A state semifinals.
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Ft. Cobb-Broxton’s Eli Willits catches a foul ball during the Class B state baseball championship game between Ft. Cobb-Broxton and Roff at Edmond Santa Fe High School in Edmond, Okla., Monday, May, 8, 2023.
Moving up
Eli Willits was originally in the 2026 class but announced last May he was reclassifying to 2025.
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound switch hitter signed with OU in November, although many expect him to go straight into professional baseball since he’ll almost surely get drafted in the first round.
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“I’m excited for the opportunities God has given me and continues to bless me with through the game of baseball,” Willits said on X on May 7. “With that said, after a lot of thought and prayer, I have decided to reclassify for the 2025 class. I’m excited to have the opportunity to run it back one more time with @jaxonwillits one year earlier!!”
Along with excelling individually, Willits has had great team success with Fort Cobb-Broxton, which competes in Class B and is about an hour-and-a-half drive southwest of OKC.
Willits has helped the Mustangs claim two straight spring titles and three consecutive fall championships.
Last spring, Willits had a .614 batting average, 10 home runs and 30 RBIs.
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And although expectations are high, he hasn’t let that affect him in any way.
“Watching what he’s getting to do and the pressure the outside puts on him that he doesn’t let bother him is impressive, especially at that age,” Jaxon Willits told The Oklahoman.
“He’s supposed to be a junior and he’s going through it as a junior in this draft class. Seeing him with his head held high and leaning on the things that mean the most to him, like his family, his relationship with his girlfriend, his relationship with God. Seeing him be able to do those things and stay steady-headed at such a young age is pretty impressive.”
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Recent MLB Draft history of Oklahoma high school players
Three Oklahoma high school players have been selected in the first round of the MLB Draft since 2021.
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Kash Mayfield, a standout pitcher from Elk City, was drafted by the San Diego Padres with the 25th pick last year.
Former Stillwater infielder Jackson Holliday was selected first overall by the Baltimore Orioles in 2022, and former Heritage Hall pitcher Jackson Jobe was taken by the Detroit Tigers with the third pick in the 2021 draft.
The last time the state produced three first-round picks from the high school level was 2011 when Owasso’s Dylan Bundy (Baltimore), Broken Arrow’s Archie Bradley (Arizona) and Deer Creek’s Michael Fulmer (New York Mets) were all picked in the first round. Bundy and Bradley were selected fourth and seventh, respectively.
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Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @nicksardis. Sign up for The Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Top MLB Draft prospects Ethan Holliday, Eli Willits set to face off