“I was just trying to do my best. I want to embarrass them, really… Age doesn’t matter, I want to show I’m the best player on the field.” Those are the words of 14-year-old Eli Willits, who had his first hit against a 24-year-old pitcher. This unwavering attitude is what has allowed the young man from Fort Cobb, Oklahoma, to reach the pinnacle of baseball, as he is now expected to be a top-five pick in the 2025 MLB Draft.

Eli is a special talent, a switch-hitting shortstop with a rare skill set that has scouts drawing comparisons to young Anthony Volpe. He has been a part of six state championships and also made the 18U Team USA, proving himself in the big games. And his name carries an echo of the past, especially for fans in Southern California. That’s because the team with the second overall pick, the Los Angeles Angels, knows the Willits name very well.

The tale of Eli’s ascent cannot be fully told without appreciating the man who led the way. It’s a ride that began more than 20 years ago, rooted in family, faith, and a passion for the game that runs deeper than the Oklahoma soil they call home. That journey belongs to his father, a former big-league speedster and a beloved coach.

Who is the father of Eli Willits? Meet Reggie Willits, former Los Angeles Angels outfielder

Eli’s father is Reggie Willits, a former switch-hitting outfielder who spent his entire six-season major league career with the Los Angeles Angels from 2006 to 2011. Reggie was known for his incredible speed and plate discipline. He retired as a no-homer man after 414 games, but also had 40 stolen bases and a very decent .356 on-base percentage. His best season was in 2007, when he batted .293, swiped 27 bases, and was placed fifth in American League Rookie of the Year voting.

But in a move that truly defined him, he walked away from one of the most prestigious jobs in baseball to come home. And now he’s the associate head coach for the Oklahoma Sooners, a career move he made to become a more available father and husband. “That’s not the life I wanted for myself as a father and husband,” Reggie said of the demanding MLB life.

What ethnicity is Eli Willits’s father?

Reggie Willits is an American who grew up in the small town of Chickasha, Oklahoma. He is of Caucasian ethnicity, having no publicly known ancestry besides that. To add, Willits follows the Christian faith.

Religion has shaped both his life choices and his career moves. He has described religion as a guiding compass in terms of how he approaches coaching and mentorship. “It was the pleasure of my life to teach these young men about life and share my faith with them,” he remarked about his coaching journey, showing his commitment to helping players grow fully off the field as well.

Inside Eli Willits’s relationship with his father, Reggie: Know the impact

The remarkable relationship that exists between father and son was created in the exact areas where Reggie attained stardom. His description of Eli’s workout with the Angels at their stadium as “surreal” tells a lot. Reggie mentioned, “Eli was working out last week for the Angels… He was hitting and taking ground balls, and my boys have been doing that with me since they were little… Me, Jaxon and Eli would go out to left field and we’d take BP out there; they were so small. That way, they could hit homers into the bullpen.”

This lifelong mentorship gave Reggie the chance to support his son in his biggest decisions. When Eli wanted to reclassify to go into the 2025 draft a year early, his father was at first against it. “At first, I said ‘no chance,’” Reggie admitted. “I wasn’t really into that. It took some convincing.” But after seeing Eli hold his own against college players, it was done. “I came home and told my wife, ‘I feel like he could play for us as a 15-year-old, so I’m pretty sure as a 17-year-old, he’d be all right if he reclassified.’”

Eli, too, is grateful to his father for helping him become the player and the person that he is now. “I always wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps,” he noted the efforts involved. However, their bond does not revolve solely around the game. There are also tranquil periods spent together away from baseball. “We don’t talk about the draft,” Eli stated. “We leave baseball out of it, and just talk about our lives. We both like to fish, so we talk about fishing a lot.”

This whole adventure began with an amazing act of devotion. After all, when Reggie was an aspiring minor leaguer, the first building he and his wife, Amber Riles, built on their property wasn’t a home — it was a batting cage. Until 2007, the young family lived in that metal building, with beds near the pitching machine. It’s a fierce symbol of their dedication.

Eli Willits wasn’t simply raised around baseball; he was raised inside of it. His older brother, Jaxon, had the perfect take on how Eli can find himself capable of withstanding the pressures of such a lineage: “Seeing him with his head held high and leaning on the things that mean the most to him… is pretty impressive.”

Now, with less than a week away for the 2025 MLB Draft, we cannot wait to see Eli Willits carry on the legacy…