Baseball: Cary-Grove graduate Ethan Dorchies selected by Milwaukee Brewers in 2024 MLB Draft

Ethan Dorchies was in the middle of a workout Monday afternoon at TNT Athletics in McHenry when he got the news.

Dorchies, a 2024 Cary-Grove grad, was being selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 10th round of the 2024 MLB First-Year Player Draft.

“It was amazing,” Dorchies said. “Probably the happiest day of my life. I pretty much got that call and celebrated with my dad. I called my mom and she was in the car with my sister and grandma. Everybody was happy, so it was a good day.”

Dorchies, who was chosen with the 305th overall pick, said he plans on signing with the Brewers this week. He previously was committed to play at NCAA Division I UIC, but his ultimate dream was to play in the big leagues.

That dream is now closer to becoming a reality.

“I’d say about a week ago is when it all started to get real for me,” Dorchies said. “Before that, I was getting ready to go to college. This has always been my dream. Being able to fulfill it and getting to work with the Brewers will be amazing. Especially with how good their development is. It is going to be great to get out there and get to work.”

Dorchies, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound right-hander, earned Northwest Herald All-Area first-team honors in the spring. He was 5-4 with a 1.67 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 94 strikeouts and 31 walks in 63 innings while holding opposing hitters to a .170 batting average.

As a junior, he was almost an automatic win when he stepped on the mound for the Trojans, going 9-0 and allowing only seven earned runs in 62 2/3 innings.

Dorchies saw his stock go up significantly as a senior.

“College ball was always a stepping stone to the pros,” Dorchies said. “I’m very grateful for the opportunity [UIC] gave me. In the high school season I had a couple of area scouts reach out to me and ask me about my games. That’s kind of the first time I thought, ‘Oh, this might be a possibility. I could get drafted right out of high school.’ ”

Dorchies’ current arsenal includes a fastball, slider and changeup. His fastball has been clocked as high as 93 mph.

“As far as the rest of this year, it’s probably not going to be a lot of pitching,” he said. “With all the innings I pitched over the summer and high school ball, it’s really more about physically maturing, mentally maturing and realizing that it is a job, and it’s something that has to be taken more seriously now. Really just getting stronger and physically more mature.

“This past year has been about putting on weight and getting physically more mature. That helps with velocity and all of that. Aside from that, working on my pitch shapes, my pitch grips and refining what I can do to get more outs. Just getting my arsenal to a point I’m more happy with it.”

Dorchies is the third player from C-G to be selected in the MLB Draft in the past two years.

In last year’s draft, Jack Wenninger and Ryan Ignoffo were selected in the sixth and 20th rounds, respectively. Quinn Priester, a 2019 C-G grad, was taken in the first round of the 2019 draft with the 18th pick and currently plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“It’s amazing to follow in the footsteps of guys like [Priester], Wenninger and Ignoffo,” Dorchies said. “It’s cool to be able to rep Cary-Grove like that.”