By Thomas Grant Jr.
Lexington High School is sending another baseball player to the professional ranks.
South Carolina outfielder Nathan Hall was picked in the fifth round by the Arizona Diamondbacks on the second day of the 2025 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Monday afternoon.
A Clemson transfer after two seasons and 2021 South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association Class 5A Player of the Year in 2021, Hall started in 54 games for the Gamecocks in his lone year at archrival South Carolina. He led the Gamecocks with a .322 batting average, 38 RBI, and 14 stolen bases this past season.
Hall also led the Gamecocks with 19 multi-hit games, nine multi-RBI games, had 13 doubles, seven home runs, and a .397 on-base percentage. In addition, he had a 17-game hitting streak from March 1-28 and reached base in 20 straight games.
Hall was one of three South Carolina players selected in the draft. Teammate and former Lexington County Blowfish infielder Ethan Perry was selected second by the Washington Nationals, and Chapin graduate and pitcher Matthew Becker was picked in the 19th round by the Minnesota Twins.
Hall does have a year of eligibility and could return to the Gamecocks next season.
Hall and Becker joined outfielder Skylar King of West Virginia, a graduate of Brookland-Cayce, as Lexington County high school graduates who earned a big league opportunity this season.
(Photo courtesy of University of South Carolina athletics)
