Holliday fireworks roll on with another 5-hit game

The Orioles saw the fruits of their development labor again Wednesday with Top 100 prospects Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg helping deliver a win over the Yankees in the big league lineup. And the best may still be yet to come.

Namely, baseball's No. 1 prospect per MLB Pipeline, Jackson Holliday, who posted his second five-hit game of the season en route to High-A Aberdeen's 16-14 win over host Greensboro on Wednesday night. The top pick in the 2022 Draft was a perfect 5-for-5 with five runs scored and an RBI.

Holliday, who has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, sports a team-high .310 average -- the third-highest mark in the South Atlantic League among qualified batters -- and he leads the circuit in OPS (.449). The 19-year-old posted his first career five-hit game against Winston-Salem on May 17.

Hitting second in the IronBirds lineup, Holliday started off his night by beating out a grounder to second base. In the third, he led off by grounding a single into left. An inning later, the son of seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday recorded his only extra-base hit of the night by roping his 10th High-A double (and 16th of the season) to right.

Holliday showed his eye for the strike zone by working a full count and drawing a walk in the fifth. The next inning, he singled just beyond the reach of Grasshoppers second baseman Francisco Acuna. And in his final at-bat in the ninth, the 6-foot shortstop lined a single to center to cap his perfect night at the plate.

But before Holliday gets his chance at cracking the lineup in The Show, another Orioles wunderkind may get to make his debut. Heston Kjerstad, the No. 38 overall prospect, also had a career night Wednesday for Triple-A Norfolk. The fourth-ranked Orioles prospect collected a pro-best four hits in the Tides' 8-3 win over Durham. The No. 2 pick in the 2020 Draft lofted his fifth homer since reaching the top level of the Minors a month ago while scoring three runs and driving in two out of the leadoff spot for Norfolk.