Silver Lake graduate selected by Washington Nationals in MLB Draft

Another pitching prospect from the South Shore has a potential future in professional baseball.

In the 16th round of the MLB Draft, the Washington Nationals selected 2020 Silver Lake graduate Nolan Hughes with the 470th overall pick.

Hughes, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound left-hander from Halifax, finished up his junior season at Xavier in which he made 24 appearances for the Musketeers, primarily out of the bullpen. He pitched 35 innings (5-3 record) and had a 4.33 ERA with 65 strikeouts. Opposing batters hit for a .132 average against him.

Hughes, 22, transferred to Xavier after three seasons at Fordham. He missed his freshman season due to injury in 2021, and made two starts as a sophomore in 2022.

At Silver Lake, he was a multi-sport Patriot Ledger All-Scholastic selection. As a junior, Hughes boasted a 1.02 ERA with a pair of complete-game no-hitters. He had a 7-1 pitching record with 64 strikeouts in 48 innings of work as the Lakers (14-5) won the Patriot League Keenan Division title and appeared in the Div. 1 South playoffs.

Hughes was also an All-Scholastic caliber player on the basketball. He put up 15 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks per night for the Lakers his senior year and earned Patriot League All-Star honors.

Hughes joins Hanover's Shea Sprague (Red Sox) and Duxbury's Tanner Smith (Padres) as local pitchers to be drafted in the later stages of the draft.