By Andy Walter

LEWES — Mason Fluharty had a pretty good idea he would get drafted.

According to his high school coach, Ben Evick, the former Cape Henlopen High pitcher had talked to about 14 Major League teams in the last few weeks.

The concensus seemed to be that Fluharty would go anywhere bewteen the fourth and seventh rounds of the MLB Draft.

And sure enough, the Toronto Blue Jays took Fluharty in the fifth round of this year’s draft on Monday. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound left-hander was the No. 158th pick overall.

Fluharty gives Cape Henlopen two draft picks in two years. He joins former Vikings’ standout Zack Gelof, who was a second-round pick by the A’s a year ago.

Only 15 players from Delaware have been drafted higher than in the fifth round. A junior reliever at Liberty University, Fluharty is also the school’s highest draft choice since 2004.

“He had a great year,” said Evick. “There were high expectations. A bunch of teams were interested. ... He fell right where he was expecting to be.”

Evick said that Fluharty will be heading down to the Blue Jays’ facility in Florida this week and expects to be pitching in their minor-league system before the end of the summer.

“It’s great,” said Evick. “It’s always good to see these guys have success at the next level. To be able to move on to the professional ranks is even better.”

At Liberty, Fluharty established himself as a top-notch reliever. He was selected to the ASUN All-Conference second team this sparing after posting a 6-3 record with a 2.84 ERA and two saves over 50 2/3 innings, all in relief.

Fluharty led the Flames and finished third in the ASUN with 26 appearances.
Fluharty struck out 83 batters and walked 10 in 2022, holding opponents to a .230 batting average. He finished second on the Flames in strikeouts and posted an outstanding 14.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

He allowed only three of the 24 runners he inherited during the year to score (12.5 percent).

In his three seasons at Liberty (2020-22), Fluharty went 6-4 with a 3.47 ERA and three saves over 51 career appearances. He struck out 108 and walked 23 over 80 1/3 innings.

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at 302-741-8227 or walter@iniusa.org.
Follow on Twitter at @DSNSports.