Los Angeles Angels draft brothers Caden and Casey Dana, both Don Bosco Prep grads

North Jersey Baseball Player of the Year Caden Dana was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday.

A couple hours later, so was his older brother, Casey.

The Dana brothers, who both played high school ball at Don Bosco Prep, now have the opportunity to go pro in the same organization after being selected in the 11th and 16th rounds of the 2022 MLB Draft. They were two of three Ironmen alumni chosen, along with lefty pitcher Jake Miller, who went to the Tigers in the eighth round.

Caden Dana (pick No. 328 overall) led the Ironmen to their first state championship in 14 years this past spring, pitching in all four of their postseason games. The 6-foot-5 right-hander went 6-1 with a 1.33 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 47⅓ innings, hit four home runs at the plate and was named Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year.

Casey (pick No. 478), an outfielder and first baseman, graduated from Don Bosco in 2017 and played four seasons at Seton Hall University before finishing his college career this past spring at the University of Connecticut. The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder was a first-team All-Big East selection for the Huskies after batting .313 with 12 home runs and 61 RBIs.

After being ranked No. 119 in the MLB.com Top 250, Caden admitted he was "frustrated" to have to wait until Day 3 to hear his name called. He had committed to the University of Kentucky and was mentally preparing to go that route until the Angels called.

"They made a pretty good offer, and I thought it would be the wrong decision to decline that," the younger Dana said Wednesday via phone. "In the beginning, I always kind of told myself, it doesn't matter what round you go in, as long as you get a shot."

The brothers followed the draft at their home in Montgomery, N.Y. Casey said, "It was awesome seeing Caden get drafted," but as the next few rounds went by, he began to grow "antsy."

"I turned my phone off, and then my little sister runs out with a Twitter notification showing my name, [that I] got drafted, and it said by the Angels," Casey said. "I was kind of caught off-guard, so I called my advisor and said, 'Is this real?' And he said, 'Yeah, it's real, they just took you, too.' I was kind of blown away by it."

"It couldn't have worked out any better [than] two brothers going together," said their father, Fred.

The Danas' minor-league destinations are yet to be determined. According to Casey, "We've got to figure out contracts first, and once they do that, they're going to tell us where we're going."

Their eldest brother, lefty pitcher Cullen Dana, was taken by the Padres in the 30th round of the 2018 MLB Draft but was released by their farm team, the Lake Elsinore Storm, in March.

"He got released because of an injury, which kind of hurt him pretty much his whole professional career," Caden said. "And he didn't look back, went right to work for my dad, and he's making more money than he did as a minor-leaguer, so he's happy."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Angels draft brothers Caden and Casey Dana, both Don Bosco Prep grads