The VHSL State Championship was a much anticipated one for the 2023 baseball season. It was yet another matchup between Concorde District competitors Westfield and James Madison High School. This would mark the fifth game between them in the 2023 season, the third in the playoffs. Always a competitive matchup, the rivals’ previous game went into the tenth inning before the Bulldogs came out victorious. In the State Championship final, the nailbiter game had a score of 4-5. It came down to the seventh and final inning. Westfield was down just one run, needed two to take the trophy home, extremely close to being named state champions.
Westfield outfielder Jonny Farmelo was at bat in the bottom of the seventh inning, facing Madison’s star two-way player, Bryce Eldridge. Just a few weeks later, both Farmelo and Eldridge would find themselves entering the Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft. Unfortunately, Farmelo flew out to right field for the first out, and the Bulldogs could not pick up an extra run to tie the game, giving them the still-impressive title of state runner-ups for the 2023 season.
The amazing playoff run for Westfield marked the conclusion of Farmelo’s high school baseball career. Farmelo ended his senior season with a .478 batting average, second in Class 6 of the Virginia High Sports League, according to InsideNoVa. This, the standout statistic in Farmelo’s season, would help him to earn the title of First Team All State Centerfield.
With a continuation of his athletic career already in mind, Farmelo announced on Twitter his commitment to play baseball at the University of Virginia over the summer of 2020, prior to the beginning of his sophomore year.
After the anticipation of multiple huge names in the 2023 MLB Draft, including LSU stars Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews, Farmelo was chosen by the Seattle Mariners in the first round, being the 29th pick overall. He then signed with the organization, meaning Farmelo will further continue his career with the Mariners rather than with UVA, on August 10.
Farmelo joins the list of professional athletes from Westfield, and could become the third Westfield alumni to play in the MLB, the second drafted out of high school. Previous baseball alumni include Brandon Snyder, drafted in the first round of 2005, and Justin Bour, drafted out of college in 2009. Both would go on to have lengthy careers in the Majors, and now are both coaching, with Snyder taking a job with the Washington Nationals.
As of September 2023, Farmelo holds a strong spot on the Mariners’ top prospect list at number nine. Towards the end of the minor league season, September 12, 2023, Farmelo received a call to play in the minors for the Modesto Nuts, the Mariners’ Single-A affiliate in Modesto, California. In his first week with the team, he has already seen success, hitting a three run home run for the Nuts. These are all indicators that Farmelo will continue to build success and will likely see the Major League field within the next couple of years.
