By John Leonard

Yesterday, we posted four current Valley League players with major league dads… and, of course, we have a few more players to discuss today, on Father’s Day!

Braden Halladay (Charlottesville)

Braden Halladay is a 6-foot-3 righthander from Tallahassee Community College, and is currently pitching out of Charlottesville’s bullpen (although he is slated to start a game today). Halladay, a junior, spent two years at Penn State, but transferred to TCC to be closer to his hometown of Odessa, Florida. He started ten games this spring, and went 3-3, 5.27, with 30 strikeouts in 41 innings. He was drafted in the 32nd round of the 2019 MLB draft, but did not sign.

Braden’s father is Roy Halladay, who pitched in the major leagues from 1998 to 2013 for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies. Roy went 203-105 in over 2,700 major league innings, with a 3.38 ERA, won two Cy Young Awards, and was an All-Star eight times. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019. He famously threw a no-hitter in the playoffs for the Phillies in 2010- only the second no-hitter in postseason play in Major League history. Roy passed away tragically in a plane crash in November 2017.

Kolbe Aven (Purcellville)

Another son of a former Major Leaguer played in Purcellville for three games this summer: Kolbe Aven, from Nova Southeastern. Aven returned home after three games with the Cannons, but the sophomore catcher/first baseman played for 20 games in the Perfect Game League last for the Jamestown Tarp Skunks. He appeared in six games this spring for Nova Southeastern.

Kolbe’s father, Bruce, played in the major leagues from 1997 to 2002 for four different teams. A 30th round draft pick out of Lamar University in 1994, Aven’s best season was in 1999 for the then-Florida Marlins, when he hit .289/.370/.444 in 440 plate appearances, with 19 doubles and 12 home runs.

Eli Burwash (New Market)

Eli Burwash, a center fielder/second baseman from Frontier Community College, also grew up with a major leaguer. Burwash, a regular for New Market, is 8-31 with a double in 11 games so far this summer. He hit .272 this spring at Frontier, with 41 runs scored, 15 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases.

Burwash’s stepfather is Paul Kilgus, a lefthanded pitcher in the major leagues from 1987 to 1993. Drafted in 1984 from the University of Kentucky, Kilgus went 21-34, 4.19 in over 540 major league innings. He started 32 games for the 1988 Texas Rangers, going 12-15, 4.16 in over 200 innings.

Joseph Sullivan (Waynesboro)

A sophomore outfielder/first baseman from South Alabama, Joseph Sullivan doesn’t have a major league baseball connection, but he still has greatness in his family- his grandfather, Pat Sullivan, won the Heisman Trophy at Auburn University in 1971, and went on to play six seasons in the NFL and coach in college football for over a decade. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991. Joseph’s father, also named Patrick, played college football at Auburn and TCU as well.

Joseph, who slammed a home run for the Generals just last night, had 12 extra base hits, including four doubles, and 11 stolen bases in 110 at-bats this spring. The home run he hit against Staunton took no time to leave the yard, and just sounded different off the bat.