Orioles select left-hander DL Hall in first round of First-Year Player Draft

The Orioles last night selected left-hander DL Hall from Valdosta (GA) High School with their first selection as the 21st overall pick of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft. The Orioles also selected infielder Adam Hall at No. 60 overall from A.B. Lucas Secondary School (ON, CAN) and left-hander Zac Lowther at No. 74 overall from Xavier University (OH).

DL Hall, 18, compiled a 1.36 ERA in 51.1 innings while striking out 105 for Valdosta High School this season. He was named a 2017 Rawlings-Perfect Game First Team Senior Preseason All-American and to the Southeast - All Region First Team. Hall went 6-1 with a 1.81 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 2016, helping Houston County High School to the GHSA Class AAAAA state championship. He participated in the Perfect Game 2016 National Showcase, the 2016 East Coast Pro Showcase, and the 2016 WWBA World Championships. As a junior, he was also named a Rawlings-Perfect Game Preseason Underclass All-American in 2016. As a sophomore, Hall was named a Rawlings-Perfect Game High Honorable Mention Underclass All-American in 2015. He was ranked as the No. 8 overall pitching prospect and the No. 13 overall draft prospect in Baseball America's Top 200 Prospects and the No. 14 overall draft prospect by MLB.com. He becomes the first high school pitcher to be selected by the Orioles in the first round of the First-Year Player Draft since right-hander Hunter Harvey (Bandys High School, Catawba, NC) in 2013 and the first high school left-handed pitcher selected by the Orioles in the first round since left-hander Adam Loewen (Fraser Valley Christian High School, CAN) in 2002.

Adam Hall, 18, was a Rawlings-Perfect Game First Team Senior Preseason All-American in 2017 and named to the Canada/Puerto Rico - All Region First Team. As a junior, he was named a Rawlings-Perfect Game Second Team Preseason Underclass All-American in 2016 and was the only Canadian prospect to participate in the 2016 Under Armour All-American Game. In 2015, as a sophomore, he was named a Rawlings-Perfect Game High Honorable Mention Underclass All-American.

Zac Lowther, 21, went 5-5 with a 2.92 ERA (27 ER/83.1 IP) in 15 starts for Xavier University this season and led the BIG EAST Conference with 123 strikeouts. He was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team as a junior in 2017. In 2016, as a sophomore, Lowther went 7-5 with a 3.09 ERA (35 ER/102.0 IP) and 84 strikeouts in 16 starts. He tied for the BIG EAST lead in strikeouts, starts, and innings pitched, and was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team and BIG EAST All-Academic Team. He led the Cape Cod League in strikeouts (54) during the 2016 season. As a freshman in 2015 for Xavier, Lowther made 17 appearances (five starts), going 2-1 with a 3.78 ERA (22 ER/52.1 IP) and 42 strikeouts. As a student-athlete at Cuyahoga Heights High School in Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio, Lowther earned three varsity letters in baseball and two in football. He was named All-Chagrin Valley Conference Metro Division his junior and senior seasons in baseball.

The Draft will continue today, June 13, on MLB.com with rounds 3-10, beginning at 1:00 p.m., and conclude on Wednesday, June 14, with rounds 11-40 starting at 12:00 p.m.