Fourteen players from North Carolina high schools taken in the 2026 MLB Draft

With Day 2 of the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft now concluded, here's where former N.C. high school players have ended up.

In total, we've counted only 14 North Carolina natives that were drafted — about half the totals from each of the last three years.

(If we missed someone, let us know at highschoolot@wral.com).

This year's draft stopped a nine-year streak of having at least one first-rounder from North Carolina.

Previous Drafts

2025 (27 taken, six straight from high school)
2024 (28 taken, three straight from high school)
2023 (26 taken, one straight from high school)

Rounds 1-4

Ethan Norby (1) of East Forsyth. No. 1 East Forsyth scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth to break an 8-8 tie and defeat No. 3 Hough in a late season non-conference contest on Thursday Apr. 20, 2023 (Photo: Evan Moesta/HighSchoolOT)

Players drafted on the first day of the draft have standalone stories. You can view them here:

Rounds 4-20

Note: Players drafted straight out of high school will have standalone stories linked. (Update: none were taken)

Luke Nixon (1) of New Hanover. No. 18 New Hanover baseball dropped a four spot in the opening inning to back pitcher Bromley Thornton on the mound as the Wildcats knocked off No. 22 South Brunswick 8-0 on Tuesday Apr. 18, 2023 (Photo: Evan Moesta/HighSchoolOT)

Luke Nixon, 2B, New Hanover (N.C. State)

5th round, 150th overall — San Francisco Giants

The son of Trot Nixon and younger brother of Chase was a three-year starter at N.C. State.
At N.C. State, he batted .238 as a freshman in 55 games (52 starts), .295 as a sophomore while starting all 56 games, and .367 this past year while starting all 56 games again.
He was second team All-ACC as a senior, and defense was his calling card, making just four errors all season.
In his three high school seasons with the Wildcats, he had 50 career hits and a .303 batting average with 55 runs scored.

Cooper Allen, RHP, Wake Forest High (UNC-Wilmington)

Cooper Allen (4) of Wake Forest. Wake Forest takes on T.C. Roberson in Game 2 of the NCHSAA 4A Baseball Championship. (Photo by Jerrell Jordan)

6th round, 167th overall — Washington Nationals

Two-time HighSchoolOT all-state selection, making the third team as both a senior two-way player in 2023 and a junior infielder in 2022.
Flourished in his first season as an every-weekend starter for UNC-Wilmington, making second-team All-CAA after posting a 2.79 ERA and .210 opponent batting average. Had a career-high 11 strikeouts in two separate games. Had 96 strikeouts in 87 innings.
Mad 20 appearances as a sophomore with 43 strikeouts and made 10 as a freshman.
For his three-year college career, he had an ERA of 4.02 with an 8-5 record and 148 strikeouts in 134 and 1/3 innings.
As a senior at Wake Forest High, he helped the Cougars reach the 4A championship series by batting .406, 41 hits, 32 RBIs, seven doubles, two triples, four homers, and 17 runs while also posting a 0.95 ERA on the mound with, 87 strikeouts in 58 and 2/3 IP with a .152 opponent batting average.
As a junior, he posted a 2.60 ERA on the mound and batted .494 with 41 hits, 26 RBIs, eight doubles, two triples, two homers, and 30 runs.
For his high school career he had 94 hits at the plate (.422 average) with 69 RBIs and a 1.41 ERA with 192 strikeouts in 119 and 1/3 innings pitched and a .162 opponent batting average.

Macon Winslow, C, Perquimans/Pro5 (Duke/UNC)

6th round, 190th overall — Philadelphia Phillies

Was a two-time HighSchoolOT all-state selection as a catcher at Perquimans while helping the Pirates capture the 2021 and 2022 1A state titles.
Was first-team all-state selection as a junior in 2022 after batting .623 with 38 hits, 29 RBIs, 13 doubles, three triples, three homers, and 25 runs.
Was third-team all-state as a sophomore in 2021 after batting .379, with 22 hits, 32 RBIs, seven doubles, one triple, six homers, and 26 runs.
Played his senior high school season with non-scholastic Pro5 Academy.
Started his college career at Duke, where he started 96 games and had 65 RBIs while batting .267 across two seasons.
Transferred to UNC for his junior year and started on the NCAA runner-up, batting .282 with 67 hits and 57 RBIs while making just two errors all season.

Tanner Marsh, 2B, Asheboro (Liberty)

9th round, 261st overall — Athletics

At Asheboro, Marsh was a two-time HighSchoolOT all-state team selection in 2023 and 2022.
As a senior, he was a first team HSOT all-state pick as an infielder, batting .570, 45 hits, 28 RBIs, 11 doubles, two triples, eight homers, 29 runs, and 12 stolen bases. Also had an 0.82 ERA in 25 and 2/3 innings pitched.
As a junior, he was honorable HSOT all-state team as a two-way player in 2022. He posted a batting average of .489 with 10 doubles and had an ERA of 1.57 with 51 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings pitched.
Made an instant college impact at Liberty, making the Conference USA all-freshman team and starting all 58 games. He started all 181 games for the Flames in three seasons.
He was named Conference USA Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year this past season as a junior as he batted .336 with 89 hits, 18 doubles, five triples, and five homers.

Chris Katz, 1B, Heritage (Wake Forest/Mercer)

9th round, 266th overall — Arizona Diamondbacks

At Heritage, he was HighSchoolOT third team all-state as a senior catcher in 2021, posting an average of .447 with 17 hits, seven doubles, and one home run in the short season that followed the pandemic's initial outbreak in 2020.
Initially played at Wake Forest University out of high school, starting 29 times over his first two seasons and having his junior year cut short by injury. He had seven starts at Wake Forest as a senior before using his grad transfer year to enroll at Mercer.
Had a breakout year as a grad student at Mercer, winning SoCon Player of the Year as an outfielder while batting .386 with 85 hits, 18 doubles, 23 home runs, 74 RBIs, and 82 runs scored.

Connor Marshburn, RHP, Panther Creek/Pro5 (UNC-Wilmington)

12th round, 370th overall — Seattle Mariners

Had a strong college career at UNC-Wilmington, posting a career ERA of 4.29 in three seasons with 180 strikeouts in 178 and 1/3 innings pitched. Started 15 games as both a sophomore and junior.
Played his senior high school season at Pro5 Academy.
In three seasons at Panther Creek, he had a career ERA of 5.55 with 84 strikeouts in 51 and 2/3 innings.

Brandon Crabtree, Grace Christian of Sanford

Brandon Crabtree, 1B, Grace Christian of Sanford (Gaston College/Catawba)

16th round, 477th overall — Texas Rangers

The slugger was a rare three-time HighSchoolOT all-state pick, making second team as a sophomore and as a junior, and first team as a senior.
As a senior in 2023, he batted .613 with 46 hits, 53 RBIs, 16 doubles, three triples, 13 HRs, and 47 runs.
As a junior in 2022, he batted .574 with 39 hits, 53 RBIs, 15 doubles, one triple, 12 HRs, and 45 runs.
As a sophomore in 2021, he batted .727, with 40 hits, 53 RBIs, 11 doubles, 8 triples, six HRs, 39 runs, and 20 stolen bases.
Crabtree was a monster this past season at Catawba, helping the Indians to the NCAA D2 semifinals and earning All-American honors.
In his one and only season at Catawba, he batted .413 with 102 hits, 18 homers, and 73 RBIs for the Indians.
Spent his freshman and sophomore years in JuCo at Gaston College, where he hit .364 with 108 hits and 13 homers with 92 RBIs over two seasons. Was originally committed to N.C. State.
For his high school career he batted .631 with 125 hits, 159 RBIs, 42 doubles, 12 triples, 31 home runs, and 131 runs scored.

Josh Swink, LHP, Fred T. Foard (Liberty)

17th round, 494th overall — Colorado Rockies

The lefty had solid junior and sophomore years at Liberty. In his career, he had an ERA of 4.82 with 57 appearances (44 of them out of the bullpen).
As a junior this past year he posted his best ERA (4.15) and opponent batting average (.257) in his most innings pitched (56 and 1/3) with a career-high in strikeouts (60).
As a senior at Fred T. Foard in 2023, he had a 2.32 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 45 and 1/3 innings pitched with a .192 opponent batting average.
For his career at Foard he had a 1.88 ERA with a 194 strikeouts in 112 innings pitched and an opponent batting average of .181.

Matthew Matthijs, RHP, D.H. Conley (UNC)

17th round, 520th overall — Seattle Mariners

Was a first-team selection on the first two HighSchoolOT all-state teams in both as a junior in 2021 and a senior in 2022.
As a senior he posted a 0.91 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched and an opponent batting average of .171. Also batted .373 with 28 hits, 31 RBIs, and five homers.
As a junior his ERA was just 0.49 with 71 strikeouts in 42 and 2/3 innings pitched with an opponent batting average of .172. He also hit .386, with 17 hits, 19 RBIs and four home runs.
Appeared in 103 games across his four-year college career with the Tar Heels, posting an ERA of 4.48 and striking out 153 batters in 128 and 2/3 innings, all out of the bullpen.
Pitched in the 2017 Little League World Series.
Finished his high school career with a 0.94 ERA and 263 strikeouts in 164 innings pitched.

Camden Wimbish, RHP, West Stanly (N.C. State/Campbell)

17th round, 523rd overall — Los Angeles Dodgers

In his only season at Campbell, he had a 5.04 ERA with seven starts and five relief appearances. Struck out 43 batters in 44 and 2/3 innings.
His first two college seasons were at N.C. State, where he made 17 total appearances.
Was used more as a catcher in high school and made just two appearances on the mound as a senior. He batted .328 with 19 hits, 23 RBIs, seven homers, and 24 runs that senior year.

Luke McGrath, RHP, Myers Park (James Madison)

18th round, 547th overall — Chicago Cubs

As a redshirt sophomore he this past season he posted a 5.79 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched. He came out of the bullpen in 23 of his 24 appearances and earned four saves.
Redshirted as a freshman at JMU and only pitched 1 and 2/3 innings the next year.
As a senior at Myers Park he struck out 71 batters and had a 2.10 ERA.