Much has been made of the shift of dominance in high school baseball to the neighbor islands, which have won four of the past six state championships in Division I.

The same trend continued in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Monday.

Hilo became the first high school with multiple alums selected in the top five rounds of the same draft when recent graduate Devin Saltiban was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies and 2020 alum Maui Ahuna was picked up by the San Francisco Giants.

The Phillies took Saltiban, ranked as the No. 182 overall draft prospect by MLB.com, with the 98th overall pick in the third round.

San Francisco then selected Ahuna, who played two seasons at Kansas before transferring to Tennessee for his junior year, with the No. 117 overall pick in the fourth round.

Ahuna was ranked as the 48th-best prospect by MLB.com.

Saltiban, who signed with the University of Hawaii, is expecting to sign with the Phillies. The slot value for the 98th overall pick is $685,110.

Ahuna, who is expected to sign with the Giants, has a slot-pick value of $569,100.

“Just to see everybody’s reaction who’s been through this process with me and hearing my name called is a blessing,” Saltiban said. “(My family) started busting out crying. Just all of the hard work paying off and now it’s a new beginning and it doesn’t stop here. We just keep going.”

Saltiban said he has already spoken with former Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino, a St. Anthony alum who won a World Series in Philadelphia in 2008.

“Just trying to following in the footsteps of him too,” Saltiban said.

Saltiban impressed scouts during a limited number of games in the MLB Draft League in June to help make him the 11th player drafted out of high school from Hawaii in the top 100 picks.

The Big Island has had four players taken in the top five rounds since 2018. Micah Bello, another Hilo product, went in the second round to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018, earning a signing bonus of $550,000.

Kala’i Rosario was picked in the fifth round in 2020 by the Minnesota Twins out of Waiakea.

“Hilo High means a lot to me,” Saltiban said. “I always like to rep the blue and gold, and I feel very honored to graduate from Hilo. It’s not as rich as some of the other schools, but it still has its share of fun. Definitely has its own character.”

Hilo has had two other high schoolers taken in the draft in the past decade — Jodd Carter in 2014 and Joey Jarneski in ’17.

Ahuna, who was ranked by Perfect Game as the fifth-best prospect out of Hawaii in 2020, first made a name for himself at Kansas. As a sophomore, Ahuna made the All-Big 12 first team after hitting .396 with 16 doubles, four triples and eight homers.

He then transferred to Tennessee, where he hit .312 in 53 games this past season with eight homers, 20 doubles, 43 runs scored and 45 RBIs.

Saltiban said the two met up in Hilo last week to take ground balls and do some light hitting.

“It was good to see him in the combine and good to see him back home,” Saltiban said. “He did his thing and it was good to catch up with him.”