Quinn McDaniel of Eliot and the University of Maine is projected to be taken in the upcoming Major League Baseball draft, which starts Sunday night.  Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

In early 2020, Quinn McDaniel of Eliot and Hunter Owen of South Portland were SMAA baseball all-stars looking forward to a senior high school season that never happened because of the coronavirus pandemic.

By Monday evening, if things go as predicted, McDaniel and Owen will share another trait. Both will have been drafted by a Major League Baseball team.

Owen could be selected early in the MLB draft. The 6-foot-6, 261-pound left-hander was 4-0 with a 3.52 ERA with a 76 to 17 strikeout-to-walk ratio this spring as a junior starter for Vanderbilt in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference. He is ranked 56th among all draft prospects by mlb.com and 61st by Baseball America.

Seventy players will be selected Sunday night, starting at 7 p.m., during the first two rounds plus compensation picks. Owen, viewed as a potential first-round pick earlier this year, saw his stock dip slightly at the end of the college season when he missed four of his final six scheduled starts with shoulder soreness.

“I’m honestly not really sure where I’ll be drafted,” Owen said. “We had a bunch of meetings at the combine and talking to teams and stuff like that. I’m just hearing a few teams are interested.”

Owen likely helped his cause with an impressive bullpen session at the MLB draft combine in Phoenix in late June. He showcased high spin rates on his above-average slider and curveball and an easy repeatable motion while spotting his low-90s fastballs, according to Baseball America

Owen said the baseball executives wanted to know how his arm is feeling, “which makes sense.”

“I was throwing as hard as I usually would in a bullpen and my breaking ball stuff was good and I think they understood I wouldn’t be able to do that unless my arm was good,” Owen said.

Former South Portland High standout Hunter Owen was 4-0 with a 3.52 ERA this spring as a junior starter for Vanderbilt University. Karlee Sell/Vanderbilt Athletics

If Owen is selected in the first or second round, it will be the highest a former Maine high school player has been taken since Deering High outfielder Tre Fletcher was picked in the second round, 58th overall, by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2019. The last pitcher from Maine to be drafted that high was Mt. Ararat High star Mark Rogers, the first-round (fifth overall) choice of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2004. South Portland’s Charlie Furbush was a fourth-round pick in 2007 after playing at Louisiana State University.

Rounds 3-10 will take place Monday, starting at 2 p.m. The final 10 rounds are on Tuesday, also starting at 2 p.m.

McDaniel, a 5-11, 180-pound three-year starting second baseman at the University of Maine, is not on mlb.com’s list of 250 prospects but is No. 241 on Baseball America’s 500-player list, which would be in the middle of the eighth round. This season he hit .354 with an on-base percentage of .513, hitting 16 homers and stealing 32 bases. McDaniel’s strike zone awareness is a key attribute. He drew 60 walks, striking out 44 times in 261 plate appearances this season.

Like Owen, McDaniel was one of 323 draft-eligible players who accepted invitations to the MLB combine at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“I think I have a very good shot of (being drafted) Day 2,” McDaniel said. “I’ve heard anywhere from rounds four to seven. It’s tough to say. You never really know until the day it happens but I expect to go on Day 2.”

If they are drafted near their projected rankings, Owen and McDaniel will be in position to earn significant signing bonuses and then begin their professional careers. They both have one year of college eligibility remaining, which adds to their negotiating leverage.

In 2022, the average signing bonus for college starting pitchers taken between the 53rd and 80th pick was $1,318,820.

“I’m not a big spender so I think if I get the opportunity to come into some wealth like that, I think I would do the right stuff and be wise with it,” Owen said.

But Owen was coy when asked if he expected to be playing professionally in a couple of weeks, saying there will need to be conversations “about what’s going to be best for me and my development.”

For McDaniel, the signing bonus is likely to be in the low six-figure range. The six college infielders with eligibility remaining drafted between 220 and 280 in 2022 signed for an average of $157,383.

“I’m excited to get in that environment and prove that I can play with all those guys. I do plan on playing in a few weeks,” McDaniel said.

Owen has been widely regarded as a future pro since he was dominating hitters at South Portland High because of his size, being left-handed, and that he could already crank his fastball up to the high 80s.

University of Maine second baseman Quinn McDaniel, a Marshwood High grad, hit .354 this spring with an on-base percentage of .513. He also had 16 homers and stole 32 bases. Photo courtesy of University of Maine athletics

For McDaniel the path to the pros has been a slower progression. McDaniel was on his way to hitting .558 for Marshwood High in 2019 when then-Hawks coach Eric Fernandes called Maine Coach Nick Derba.

“Coach Fernandes called me up and said, ‘Look Derba, you have to come see this kid,'” Derba said. “Here’s this string-bean of a kid. We thought he would be a very good college baseball player. If I told you I thought then that he’d rip out double-digit homers and be a .320 career hitter, I’d be lying. But we knew he would be a talented player and he was a winner.”

Another factor that aids McDaniel’s draft profile is that he won’t turn 21 until Sept. 27. Owen turned 21 on Jan. 30. Both played as true freshmen in college.

“I’ve always been the youngest in my grade and especially because I was undersized, it didn’t help me growing up but it was definitely kind of forming who I am. I had that chip on my shoulder,” said McDaniel, the youngest of Sara and Hampton McDaniel’s three athletic sons. Noah McDaniel played baseball at St. Joseph’s College in Standish and Cole McDaniel played football at Maine Maritime in Castine.

Quinn McDaniel said it wasn’t until a pro scout called him following his sophomore season at Maine that the idea of playing professionally switched from desire to achievable goal.

“That’s when honestly it became a reality and then I had a good summer last year with Sanford (Mainers) and that helped open some more eyes,” McDaniel said.

McDaniel hit .308 with the Mainers in 2022 and led the team in home runs (eight), RBI (30), and runs (33) with a .417 on-base percentage and 15 steals, earning all-New England Collegiate Baseball League honors.

“His strike zone awareness is something he’s done a terrific job honing,” Derba said.

McDaniel would be the first University of Maine position player taken in the MLB draft since 2018 when current Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena (third round) and catcher Christopher Bec (fifth round, Toronto) were drafted.