Eldridge, Farmelo among top prospects for MLB Draft

Two high school baseball players from northern Virginia are top 50 prospects for the MLB Draft

NORTHERN VIRGINIA (DC News Now) — Two high school baseball players in northern Virginia are high up on the MLB boards coming into this years draft.

Madison senior pitcher/first baseman Bryce Eldridge (21) and Westfield center fielder/shortstop Jonny Farmelo (48) both rank in the top 50 on the draft prospect list on MLB.com.

Eldridge comes in as a dual threat pitcher and hitter, and is looking to do the same at the next level. Farmelo has speed to his game, and can also hit very well, and has shown it, even against Eldridge last month.

“We kind of had a saying this winter,” said Farmelo. “We would say ‘let the best man win’ because we knew it was going to be like this.” We knew “

During Tuesday night’s match up between Madison and Westfield, MLB scouts were lined up to watch these two guys go head-to-head. It was something that both Eldridge and Farmelo would talk about in the off season.

“We were talking about how cool these match ups were going to be,” said Eldridge. “It’s the last one of the regular season, but I’m sure we are going ot get another one against them in the postseason.”

Both players have known each other for a while. They both workout with each other in the offseason, and face off against one another a couple of times a year. They are the best two players in Virginia, and it shows when going to their games.

“Just to have this kind of atmosphere,” said Westfield head coach Rob Hahne. “Two high school players in the same conference who are potential draft picks that high is pretty special. You don’t see it very often. Two great kids who have worked very hard to get to this point.”

“To have these two at the same time in the same conference is really special,” said Madison head coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand. “They are two totally different types of players. It’s great for our conference, great for the state of Virginia, and really great for northern Virginia.”

In Tuesday night’s match up, Westfield was able to defeat Madison 3-2.