One of these guys is a Hall of Famer with local streets and facilities named after him.
Another is still dominating in his late 30s after a pair of Cy Young awards.
A few others are dependable big leaguers or young guns awaiting another MLB call from Triple-A.
And that doesn’t cover everybody.
The Volusia-Flagler area has produced elite baseball talent through the decades. Who is the best of the bunch? It’s time to vote.
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, USA TODAY Sports will celebrate the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time. Alongside that national recognition, the USA TODAY Network will spotlight the roots of the country’s sports culture: the high school athletes and sports figures who shaped communities and defined their states.
First, we are going to take a look at athletes in their individual sports.
Here are the stars of the diamond. The 12 players (listed in alphabetical order) were all standouts at the high school level before advancing to college and/or the pros.
Don’t see your preferred selection? There’s also a write-in option.
Logan Allen
Not once, not twice but three times, Allen captured the News-Journal Player of the Year award. As a University senior in 2017, he became Florida’s Mr. Baseball, striking out 150 batters with a 0.35 ERA in 81 innings on the mound and hitting .450 with 22 RBIs at the plate. He remains one of only two Volusia-Flagler players to earn that title in the last 30 years.
Allen attended Florida International, where he developed into an All-Conference USA first-teamer and a 2020 second-round pick of the Cleveland Guardians. In three big-league seasons through 2025, the left-hander has made 74 appearances (73 starts) with a 4.48 ERA. He currently suits up for the Guardians’ Triple-A club.
Jacob deGrom
Jacob deGrom once led the Volusia-Flagler area in scoring (25 points per game) on the basketball court. True story. But the Calvary Christian alum’s future developed on the baseball diamond. As a junior, he posted a .514 batting average and 0.58 ERA. He backed it up as a senior, with a .467 average and a 1.10 ERA. deGrom committed to Stetson and spent most of his time as an infielder before adding pitching as a junior. That worked out OK for him.
The New York Mets selected him in the ninth round of the 2010 MLB Draft. When healthy, he’s ranked among the most dominant flamethrowers in the game, with the 2014 National League Rookie of the Year award and the 2018 and 2019 Cy Young awards in his trophy case. Now nine starts into his 13th big-league campaign, the five-time All-Star holds a 3.02 ERA with the Texas Rangers.
Nick Fortes
Fortes claimed the local Player of the Year award as a DeLand junior in 2014. His absurd stat line: .512 batting average, six home runs, 40 RBIs. After another stellar season as a senior, he headed to Ole Miss. Fortes parlayed a monstrous junior campaign — 11 homers, 49 RBIs and the SEC Tournament MVP honor — into a contract with the Miami Marlins, who chose him in the fourth round of the 2018 draft.
He’s remained close to home during his MLB career. Fortes debuted with the Marlins in 2021 and played for Miami until it dealt him to the Tampa Bay Rays at last summer’s trade deadline. He hit .282 through his first 37 games this spring.
Gary Glover
Glover drew the attention of professional scouts with his 6-foot-5 frame at DeLand High School. As a senior, he grabbed an All-Area first-team spot with a 2.64 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 61 innings. He landed with the Toronto Blue Jays in the 15th round of the 1994 draft and rose to the majors for the first time in 1999.
The right-hander wore six different uniforms in eight seasons, spending his longest tenure with the Chicago White Sox from 2001 to 2003. In 263 appearances, Glover put up a 5.03 ERA.
Austin Hays
Hays served as a crucial piece for Spruce Creek’s 2012 state championship roster. He hit .402 and drove in 26 runs. He was team MVP as a senior before signing with Seminole State and later transferring to Jacksonville University. During his junior season, he exploded for 16 home runs, 42 RBIs and a .350 batting average, which influenced the Baltimore Orioles to pick him in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft.
He advanced to the bigs quickly, breaking in at the end of the 2017 campaign before finding some staying power in 2019. He cracked the American League All-Star squad in 2023. In 2024, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies and has since joined the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox. In nine MLB seasons, Hays has 84 home runs and a .262 batting average.
Chipper Jones
Jones’ bona fides are well established. He sprouted into one of the best switch hitters the sport has ever seen across 19 seasons with the Atlanta Braves (1993-2012). After being the first pick in the 1990 draft, he helped the franchise to a World Series victory in 1995, won National League MVP in 1999, earned eight All-Star Game nods and collected two Silver Sluggers. He slammed 468 home runs with a career .303 batting average on his way to a 2018 induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Atlanta retired his No. 10 jersey.
And while Jones might’ve finished high school career with three years at Jacksonville’s Bolles School, he’s a Volusia County boy. He burst onto the scene as a freshman at Taylor in 1987. There’s a Chipper Jones Family Little League Complex in DeLand and a Chipper Jones Family Sports Complex on Chipper Jones Lane in Pierson, where he was raised. The “Welcome to Pierson” sign says two things: “Fern Capital of the World” and “Hometown of Chipper Jones.”
Jack Lopez
Lopez became a Deltona legend as a senior, charging the Wolves to the 2011 state finals with a two-run bomb in a 2-1 semifinal victory over Hialeah. He locked down News-Journal Player of the Year honors with a .462 average, 10 home runs and 34 RBIs that spring.
Lopez passed on a scholarship offer from Miami after the Kansas City Royals drafted him in the 16th round. He achieved his big-league dream with seven games with the Boston Red Sox in 2021 and returned to MLB for 27 games with the Los Angeles Angels in 2024. He is currently signed to El Águila de Veracruz in the Mexican League. Deltona retired Lopez’s jersey last year.
Ed Lucas
Lucas was a part of the first Spruce Creek club to win a state playoff game. As a senior in 2000, he broke school records for batting average (.474), RBIs (38) and hits (45) before packing his bags for Dartmouth. The 2004 Ivy League Player of the Year went to the Royals in that summer’s draft.
He waited 10 minor-league seasons before finally receiving The Call in 2013. Lucas got into 163 contests across two seasons with the Marlins, batting .255 with five dingers. He now works as the assistant director of player development for the San Francisco Giants.
Michael Main
Main is the only player on this list who never debuted in the majors, but make no mistake: He was a phenom. The DeLand High School product won Volusia-Flagler Player of the Year in 2006, and along with repeating in 2007, he also snatched the Florida Mr. Baseball moniker. He went 12-1 with a 1.02 ERA and 121 strikeouts in 82 innings as a senior. When he wasn’t starring on the mound, he was batting .457 as an outfielder.
The Texas Rangers selected Main with the 24th pick in the 2007 MLB Draft. He played seven minor-league seasons with the Rangers, Giants and Marlins, topping out at Double-A.
Luke Scott
Scott batted .458 and .397 during his final two years at DeLand. After a stint at Indian River State College, where he established a new home run record, he pivoted to Oklahoma State for two seasons. He was drafted by Cleveland in the ninth round in 2001.
Following his MLB debut in 2005, Scott spent three years with the Houston Astros, four with the Orioles and two with the Rays. The lefty slugger swatted 135 home runs, averaging 25 per 162 games, with a career batting average of .258. Scott hit for the cycle with Houston in 2006.
Zac Veen
Veen is the youngest player on this list. In 2020, the Colorado Rockies chose him ninth overall following his COVID-shortened senior season with a .500 average, three home runs, 10 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. The Spruce Creek grad earned the Gatorade Florida Player of the Year award. He was Volusia-Flagler Player of the Year as a junior in 2019.
At 23 years old in 2025, Veen received a 12-game MLB call-up with the Rockies. He ranks as the organization’s 13th-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, and he’s off to a hot start to 2026 in Triple-A (.273 batting average).
Luke Weaver
Weaver dominated to ERA figures of 1.42 and 1.36 during his sophomore and junior campaigns at DeLand. He was plucked by the Blue Jays in the 19th round after his senior season in 2011 but instead fulfilled his commitment to Florida State. By his sophomore year, he had grown into an ace. The St. Louis Cardinals selected him with the 27th pick in the first round in 2014.
He came up as a starter with the Cardinals in 2016 and stayed in the rotation after a 2018 trade to the Arizona Diamondbacks. After bouncing between the Royals, Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners, the New York Yankees moved Weaver to the back of their bullpen in 2024. The 32-year-old has responded with arguably the three best seasons of his career (3.27 ERA in 144 appearances with the Yankees and New York Mets). He delivered four postseason saves as the Yankees reached the World Series in 2024.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia-Flagler’s all-time best baseball player poll. VOTE now
Reporting by Chris Vinel, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
