Serra graduate Ben Cleary drafted by Cleveland Guardians out of Santa Clara University

But as the Half Moon Bay native listened to the MLB Draft show Sunday with his parents at their Coastside home, a call from his agent just minutes before the start of the 12th round alerted him, for the first time, Cleveland’s Northwest Scouting Supervisor Conor Glassey and the Guardians were keen to get into the Ben Cleary business.

“Honestly, the Guardians were not heavily interested,” Cleary said. “It was a bit of a shock when they ended up picking me. ... I was glad they were willing to take a chance on me, and I can’t thank them enough for the opportunity.”

Cleary was in a bit of a holding pattern heading into the July draft. As a junior in 2026, he was less than a year removed from undergoing Tommy John surgery, June 18, 2025, though it didn’t prevent him from cracking the opening-day lineup Feb. 13, in Santa Clara’s 13-2 win at Cal, and going on to play in 49 of the Broncos’ 54 games this season.

After pacing Santa Clara with a career-high .358 batting average, landing him in the top 10 among West Coast Conference hitters, Cleary entered the transfer portal. On June 17, he committed to University of Arkansas, but never set foot on campus in an official capacity.

Now, it seems he never will.

“There was definitely some things to go over with my parents, and Arkansas, and pro ball and weighing out those options,” Cleary said. “But yeah, I’m going to sign.”

A whirlwind of big decisions came after an emotional season for Cleary, and everyone in the Santa Clara baseball family.

Two weeks prior to the start of the season, legendary Stanford baseball coach Mark Marquess died Jan. 30, due to complications following a sudden stroke, at age 78. After retiring from Stanford following the 2017 season, Marquess was named special assistant to the athletic director at Santa Clara, and served on head baseball coach Rusty Filter’s staff through 2025.

“I played every single game of my junior year for him,” Cleary said. “I had an insanely close relationship with him. ... I’m beyond grateful for getting to spend three years around him.”

Cleary drew on the inspiration to get back onto the diamond after Tommy John surgery to a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament of his throwing elbow.

Entering his sophomore season of 2025, Cleary was right where he wanted to be. After graduating Serra as an All-West Catholic Athletic League honorable mention shortstop, Cleary spent his freshman season as Santa Clara patrolling second base. It was a move he credited then-Broncos assistant coach Jon Karcich, a 2006 Serra graduate, in helping him adapt. But, with the 2024 graduation of senior shortstop Malcolm Williams, Cleary moved back to the other side of keystone sack.

“It was definitely fun to get back to shortstop,” Cleary said. “It was definitely a little bit more difficult, so, really, perfecting the craft and nailing down some tools was the big thing. The main thing really was getting my arm back into shape.”

Just a month into his sophomore year, however, Cleary hit a wall. Tingling fingertips were the first symptom of what would be diagnosed as a Grade 2 UCL sprain. Already having passed the redshirt deadline — meaning he would lose the year of eligibility whether or not he finished the season — Cleary gutted out the rest of the season, playing in 49 games while hitting .302 and earning an All-WCC honorable mention.

“I didn’t want to come off the field,” Cleary said. “I wanted to finish out my season, knowing I couldn’t get the year of eligibility back. ... I knew I didn’t want to sit on the bench a whole year and watch my team compete on the field without me.”

Cleary felt the same way come opening day 2026.

“I’m not going to lie and say it wasn’t hard,” Cleary said. “There were definitely days when I didn’t think I could get on the field and throw a ball across the diamond. ... But I completed the goal of not missing any time because of my arm, and I couldn’t be more excited because of it.”

Cleary was the only player out of San Mateo County to be selected in the MLB Draft this season. St. Ignatius senior Archer Horn, a San Mateo native, was ranked the No. 54 prospect in the draft, but, as a Stanford commit, the 2026 WCAL Player of the Year went undrafted.

Cleary was the second player out of Santa Clara to have his name called Sunday. In the seventh round, right-handed pitcher Max Bayles was selected by the Minnesota Twins. Bayles was the third consecutive California pitcher to be drafted by the Twins, who selected right-hander Steele Murdock out of UC San Diego in the fifth round, and right-hander Ethan Lay out of Sacramento State in the sixth.

“Definitely happy to see [Bayles] get picked by the Twins,” Cleary said. “He’s going to kill it out there. It was definitely fun to get to play with him and compete with him every single day.”