Four AppleSox Players Selected In 2022 MLB Draft

Three former AppleSox players and one active player were selected in this year’s MLB Draft.

Brett Gillis, Torin Montgomery and Blake Klassen, all from the 2019 AppleSox team that came three outs away from advancing to the West Coast League Championship Series, were selected in addition to current Sox shortstop Aiva Arquette.

Gillis was picked in the ninth round by the Houston Astros. He recorded a 2.78 ERA in 14 appearances for the AppleSox in 2019 and saved two games in 32.1 innings, all in relief. He also recorded 92 at-bats as a position player, splitting time between designated hitting and third base. Gillis hit .239 with three extra-base hits and 10 RBI

He went on to join the Corvallis Knights in 2021 and won the West Coast League Championship with them. Gillis graduated from the University of Portland this past spring after a dominant senior year in which he recorded a 2.24 ERA and struck out 115 hitters over 84.1 innings in 14 games, all starts. He was a second team All-American for both Collegiate Baseball News and ABCA/Rawlings, while also being named the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year, a first time honor for a Portland arm. Gillis was also an ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division I All-Region West First Team selection.

Montgomery was selected in the 14th round by the same team that originally drafted him straight out of high school in 2019, the Miami Marlins. He was a key late-season addition to the 2019 AppleSox, joining them on Aug. 2 and playing in each of the final eight-regular season games. Montgomery hit .344 with two home runs in his cameo then played in all three postseason games while picking up a hit in all but one of the 11 games that he played.

He originally committed to play at Boise State out of high school but the program’s 2020 season was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and then shut down. He transferred to Missouri, where he played each of the last two years. Montgomery hit .278 with five home runs in 47 games in 2021 before exploding with a .362 mark and seven home runs in 48 games this spring

Klassen was picked by the Miami Marlins in the 17th round. He played in 44 games with the AppleSox in 2019, primarily at first base, and hit .338 with 14 multi-hit games and earned All-WCL Honorable Mention honors.

Klassen played for the AppleSox prior to his freshman year at Arizona, in which he appeared in three games before transferring to play at Eastern Oklahoma State College for the 2021 season. He hit .388 in 40 games to earn a chance to transfer to UC Santa Barbara and went on to hit .352 in 37 games this spring. Klassen continued to play summer ball in 2020 and 2021 in the Northwoods League and Cape Cod League, respectively.

Arquette got the call that he was the Arizona Diamondbacks’ selection in the 18th round on Tuesday. He is in the midst of an impressive summer with the AppleSox prior to his freshman year at the University of Washington. Arquette is tied for the team lead with 24 RBI and has started 22 consecutive games at shortstop, entering Wednesday night, and 28 games there in total. He has a .325 batting average and has recorded 12 multi-hit games, including a four-hit debut with the AppleSox on June 6.

In addition to baseball Arquette is a phenomenal basketball player. He graduated from Saint Louis High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, this past spring and was the Gatorade State Player of the Year in Hawaii and a state champion in 2022. Arquette ended his high school career a nationally-ranked baseball recruit by Perfect Game.

All four of these players remain amateurs until they official sign contracts with the big-league clubs that drafted them. For more information on the results of the 2022 MLB Draft please visit mlb.com.

Watch a pregame interview with Arquette below later in the day on Tuesday after he learned that he had been selected by Arizona.