Elijah Dale Selected by Seattle Mariners in 13th Round of MLB Draft

SEATTLE, Wash. – Illinois State baseball's third-year junior Elijah Dale was selected by the ​Seattle Mariners in the ​13^th round and ​397^th overall in the 2023 MLB Draft on Tuesday afternoon.

🚨 𝗗𝗥𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗗 🚨

Elijah Dale has been drafted by the Seattle Mariners! 👏 pic.twitter.com/dQrHzJASkH

— Illinois State Baseball (@RedbirdBaseball) July 11, 2023

Dale, a native of St. Louis, Mo., established himself as one of the MVC's premier arms in his first season as a Redbird. He tallied 65 strikeouts (the second-most by a Redbird in relief since 2000) over 43 innings pitched and a team-high 19 appearances in 2023.

Dale, who threw just 7.1 innings in two seasons at Kansas State, walked just 13 batters while holding a 5.02 ERA.

Dale is eligible to return to Illinois State for the 2024 season if he chooses.

Fourth-year head coach Steve Holm has now produced 10 pro players in his time at ISU including 2019 draftees OF John Rave (Kansas City Royals, 5th round, 139), LHP Brent Headrick (Minnesota Twins, 9th round, 269), LHP Matt Walker (Detroit Tigers, 13th round, 382), OF Joe Aeilts (Colorado Rockies, 14th round, 429), and RHP Jeff Lindgren (Miami Marlins, 24th round, 711). LHP Colton Johnson (Oakland Athletics, 16^th round, 488) and Hayden Jones (Cincinnati Reds, non-drafted free agent) joined the pro ranks in 2021 before OF Ryan Cermak became the third-highest pick in school history in 2022 (Tampa Bay Rays, 2nd Round, 71) and was later joined in the pros by INF Nick Gile (Colorado Rockies, non-drafted free agent).

Dale is the first Redbird in program history to be drafted by Seattle as now all 30 organizations have drafted or signed a Redbird out of college.

Illinois State also had incoming freshman signee Bryan González drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers (6^th Round, 190^th overall) at a slot value of $290,100.

For the latest updates on Illinois State Baseball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdBaseball) and Instagram (isuredbirdbaseball), and like the team on Facebook (Illinois State Baseball). 

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