High school baseball preview: Top teams, players in South Sound in 2024
The high school baseball season is underway, and as usual, there’s plenty of talent in the South Sound this spring. Here’s what to watch for this season, some teams to keep an eye on before the postseason approaches and some of the area’s top players.
4A NPSL
Tahoma, which advanced to the 4A state tournament semifinals last spring in Everett, is the favorite to win the league this spring. The Bears lost catcher Carson Ohland — considered by many the No. 1 prospect in the 2023 class — to graduation last spring, but return a talented group again, led by junior LHP and outfielder Adam Jay, who posted a 2.10 earned run average last season. Sophomore RHP Sean Evans and junior RHP/3B Bryson Leach, a Gonzaga commit, give the Bears one of the area’s best pitching staffs. It feels wide open after Tahoma at the top. Kennedy Catholic, Kentridge, Federal Way and Kentwood could all factor in. Federal Way boasts one of the league’s top arms in junior RHP Orlando Young, a UW commit. Kentridge returns a handful of starters, including first-team all-league selection 1B/3B Ethan Sugimoto. Kentwood returns first-team all-league outfielder Jackson Dulay, a senior.
4A SPSL
Puyallup coach Marc Wiese has been at this for a while, and he thinks this year’s group is the most talented he’s had in 29 years. The Vikings are the early favorite to win the 4A state title this year, returning electric P/2B Mason Pike, C Kai Halstead, 1B Jackson Copeland, 3B/LF Tristan Ringose and SS Gage Thompson. Pike is 2-0 with a 0.00 earned run average through two starts with a fastball already sitting at the low to mid 90s early in the season. He’s an Oregon State commit and could be an early MLB Draft pick out of high school. The Vikings added senior LHP/OF Keenan Masters, a UW commit, as well as nationally-ranked freshmen infielders Maxwell Hemenway and Brayden Landry. Olympia boasts one of the league’s top rotations, returning pitchers Trace Pruitt and Lincoln Berg. Pruitt, a UW commit, had a 0.63 earned run average last year and drove in 32 runs at the plate. Rogers made strides last season and will be a factor again with infielders Ian Draper and Martyn Hernandez. Sumner, which was last year’s 4A state tournament runner-up after beating valley rival Puyallup in the semifinals, lost coach Casey Adcox and ace pitcher Jacob Bresnahan, last year’s TNT All-Area player of the year. The Spartans return OF Bradley Carl, who hit .382 last year and was an integral part of Sumner’s postseason run. Curtis and Emerald Ridge could be playoff contenders, as well. Curtis junior SS Parker Mady, a 2023 TNT All-Area football first-team selection last fall, is off to a hot start at the plate for the Vikings. OF/1B Micah Yanos is another player to watch. Emerald Ridge has one of the league’s top arms in RHP Nick Fazio.
3A PCL
Stadium, which advanced to the 3A state tournament for the first time since 2007 last spring, looks like the favorite again. SS/P Jesse Winkler is off to a quick start, hitting .368 with a double, two RBI and five walks, also posting a 2-0 record on the mound early on. INF Logan Judish is hitting .333 with two doubles, six RBI and seven walks early in the season. OF Jackson Noonan and P Finn Wood (one earned run through 10 innings) are players to watch for the Tigers. Bonney Lake and Silas should duke it out with Stadium for the league title. Bonney Lake senior C Trevor Younce, SS Carson Hughes and P Gavin Thundstrom are the three remaining starters on a young Bonney Lake team that graduated 13 seniors from last year’s group. P/OF Carter Lystra is an impact player for Silas.
3A SSC
The battle for the league title might happen in Thurston County this spring, where Capital and Timberline look like contenders. Timberline returns reigning league MVP and TNT All-Area selection Gage Reeser, a senior shortstop who hit .490 with 13 extra-base hits and 10 RBI for Timberline’s 3A state tournament quarterfinal squad last spring. Senior P/1B Marcus Olson (6-0, 45 strikeouts in 2023) was the league’s top arm last season. Capital returns first-team all-league selections OF/P Karsten Hansen and INF/P Jacob Muench. North Thurston and Gig Harbor could factor into the race, too. North Thurston C Jaylen Kennedy is a player to watch. Gig Harbor returns first-team OF/P Joshua Dunham. Peninsula faces some questions after losing first-team infielder Payton Knowles to graduation.
3A NPSL
Kentlake is the favorite this season behind No. 1 RHP Christopher Moore, a sophomore UW commit and power pitcher who throws his offspeed pitches for strikes. Moore also plays middle infield. Kentlake also returns first-team all-league pitcher Devin Tep, a junior. Auburn Riverside should contend for the league title, also. The Ravens return six starters, highlighted by all-league first-team SS Andrew Shrader. Auburn looked like a preseason contender but will face an uphill climb after losing catcher Jaxen Mentink — a Sumner transfer — to a season-ending dislocated shoulder injury in the first inning of the team’s first game of the season. Senior SS/P Freddy Frias, a three-year starter at Auburn, is the top player for the Trojans with Mentink sidelined.
2A SPSL
It should be a three-way race between Enumclaw, White River and Steilacoom this spring. Enumclaw is the favorite behind reigning league MVP and Oregon commit Cooper Markham, a junior who throws an 87-90 mph fastball with a plus slider. He’s complemented by returning first-team all-league P Garrett Chavis, who give the Hornets a 1-2 punch that could carry them deep into the postseason. Steilacoom features one of the area’s best pitchers in Micah Bujacich, a TNT All-Area first-team selection last spring. He posted a 2.79 earned run average with 97 strikeouts last spring and hit .474 with six doubles, three triples and two home runs at the plate. White River returns eight starters for seventh-year coach Nate Barnett, including second-team all-league P Aadan Rathbun.
2A EVCO
It’s Tumwater’s league to lose. The T-Birds are one of the top teams statewide in the 2A classification again this spring after winning the 2A state championship against Lynden last spring. It was Tumwater’s second straight state title. Tumwater returns seven starters from last year’s unit, highlighted by senior P Liam Karlson, junior P Derek Thompson and senior P/INF Eddie Marson. Marson is hitting .450 early in the season with three doubles and seven RBI and has four strikeouts in two innings of work on the hill. W.F. West is always a contender, too. The Bearcats return leadoff hitter and catcher Deacon Meller, a first-team all-league selection last spring.
SMALL SCHOOLS
Keep an eye on Tenino in the 1A Evergreen. The Beavers are off to a 5-0 start and are plating runs at a dizzying pace early in the season. RHP Kellan Knox, an Oregon commit, is one of the state’s top prospects in the 2024 class.
TOP 35 PLAYERS TO WATCH
P Lincoln Berg, Olympia, jr.
P Micah Bujacich, Steilacoom, sr.
OF Bradley Carl, Sumner, sr.
SS Ian Draper, Rogers, jr.
OF/P Jackson Dulay, Kentwood, sr.
OF/P Joshua Dunham, Gig Harbor, sr.
P Sean Evans, Tahoma, soph.
P Nick Fazio, Emerald Ridge, sr.
C Kai Halstead, Puyallup, sr.
OF Karsten Hansen, Capital, sr.
SS Martyn Hernandez, Rogers, jr.
P Adam Jay, Tahoma, jr.
P Liam Karlson, Tumwater sr.
C Jaylen Kennedy, North Thurston, jr.
P Kellan Knox, Tenino, sr.
P Bryson Leach, Tahoma, jr.
P/OF/INF Carter Lystra, Silas
SS Parker Mady, Curtis, jr.
P Cooper Markham, Enumclaw, jr.
INF Eddie Marson, Tumwater, sr.
P Christopher Moore, Kentlake, soph.
OF/INF/P Jackson Noonan, Stadium
P Marcus Olson, Timberline, sr.
2B/P Mason Pike, Puyallup, jr.
P Trace Pruitt, Olympia, jr.
SS Gage Reeser, Timberline, sr.
3B/LF Tristan Ringrose, Puyallup, sr.
SS Andrew Shrader, Auburn Riverside
P Devin Tep, Kentlake, jr.
INF Derek Thompson, Tumwater jr.
SS Gage Thompson, Puyallup, jr.
INF Jesse Winkler, Stadium
OF/1B Micah Yanos, Curtis, jr.
C Trevor Younce, Bonney Lake
P Orlando Young, Federal Way, jr.
This story was originally published March 28, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
