ROCKFORD – It is uncommon for a baseball player from the Rockford area to be selected in the MLB’s annual draft, and it is even more unusual for a player from Rock Valley College to be chosen, but that is what happened on Monday.
The Tampa Bay Rays selected Sycamore native Ethan Storm in the thirteenth round. He was the 387th pick overall. Storm excelled in high school at Sycamore High School. He then pitched for Rock Valley College (NJCC D2) in Rockford as a freshman in 2023, striking out 71 batters, the fourth most in RVC history in a single season.
Storm sat out the 2024 season to redshirt, but returned in 2025. This spring, he made seven starts for RVC. He held opposing batters to a.182 batting average and struck out more than 1.5 per inning pitched.
Storm had recently pitched for the State College Spikes college summer league team in Pennsylvania.
Storm will also pitch for the Rockford Rivets in the Northwoods League (college summer league) in 2023. He made five starts for them, going 0–4 with an 8.44 ERA.
Storm announced earlier this spring that he had committed to the University of Oklahoma to play at the major college level next season. Now he must decide whether to follow through on his commitment to Oklahoma or start his professional career in the Rays minor league system.
