High school baseball preview: Top teams, players in South Sound in 2025
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 looks the part of a 4A state tournament contender this spring, is the team to beat, led by a stable of elite arms. Senior Bryson Leach (Gonzaga), juniors Sean Evans (LMU) and Neal Burtis (Oregon State) are Division I commits, while senior Lower Columbia commit Adam Jay has shown up time and time again in big games for the Bears. Shortstop Beckett Turnbow is another player to watch. If Tahoma’s offense consistently puts runs on the board, we could see the Bears in Yakima later this spring. Kentridge, Kennedy Catholic and Kentwood should all factor into the playoff race. Kentridge has experience with senior 1B Ethan Sugimoto and senior C Teegan O’Brien, while sophomore Akoni Nazarino pitches and plays third base for the Chargers. Newcomer Stadium, which competed in the 3A Pierce County League last season, could factor in as well. Kennedy Catholic returns all-league pitcher Harvey Lieberman and some good bats, including UW commit and OF Will Cahill and C Ka’ipo Matsushima.
4A SPSL
The league has grown to 12 schools, which means divisions this year. The North division is loaded with reigning 4A state runner-up Puyallup, Rogers, Sumner, Emerald Ridge, Curtis and South Kitsap. The south division is top-heavy with perennial postseason contender Olympia leading the way. Puyallup is as stacked as ever, led by ace pitcher and 2024 TNT All-Area player of the year Mason Pike, an Oregon State commit who has been nearly unhittable with a mid-90s fastball and devastating slider. He’s joined by Oregon State commit and 3B Gage Thompson, sophomore SS and rising national recruit Brayden Landry and junior RHP Max Schweyen, a UW commit. Puyallup’s best competition probably comes from a talented and experienced Rogers team, led by infielders Martyn Hernandez and Ian Draper, who have been two of the league’s top players for a couple years now. RHP Talan Robertson is the No. 1 pitcher for the Rams. Emerald Ridge has turned things around under sixth-year head coach Justin O’Keefe and returns three first-team all-league selections: senior 3B Carson Cody, sophomore OF Preston Bolam and senior C Hudson Brown. Sumner can put runs on the board, especially in its home park, and might be the wild card, led by junior SS Drew Wicklander and RHP Wyatt Plyler. Curtis returns Montana State football commit Parker Mady, who was one of the league’s top middle infielders last season despite his future being in football at the next level. In the South Division, Olympia is the team to beat, led by 2024 TNT All-Area selection and last year’s 4A SPSL pitcher of the year Trace Pruitt, a UW commit, and all-league OF selection Lincoln Berg, a Lower Columbia commit. Bonney Lake, which moved up from 3A for the 2024-25 school year, is the wild card in the south, led by LHP/1B Austin Gailushas.
3A NPSL
Enumclaw, Federal Way, Decatur and Kentlake are contenders. Kentlake returns No. 1 pitcher Christopher Moore, last year’s 3A NPSL MVP and a TNT All-Area selection; he posted a 0.73 earned run average last season with 87 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings of work. Federal Way has the arm to match in UW commit Orlando Young, who also plays third base for the Eagles. SS/P Thoma Holden and C/UTIL Ethan Lankford are players to watch for Federal Way. Enumclaw, which moved up from the 2A SPSL, returns ace Cooper Markham, as well as SS Eli Murphy (Whitworth commit), 1B Landon Wall (Ottawa) and P Carter Grant (Wenatchee). Newcomer White River could factor in, as well. The Hornets are off to a 3-1 start and return a handful of starters, led by P/1B Kolton Jensen, INF Landon Hill and C Caleb Dale, who’s coming off a state wrestling championship in the winter. Decatur has the pieces to make a postseason run, highlighted by INF Spencer Holloway, who was the quarterback for the state tournament-appearing Gators in the fall.
3A PSL
Capital, Gig Harbor and Peninsula are the teams to beat. Capital returns first-team all-league P/SS Lucas Redman and gets a boost this spring with the return of P/1B Jacob Muench, a San Diego Mesa commit who missed most of last season with an injury. Under first-year coach Ben Sleeter, Gig Harbor returns most of its starters from last year’s young group. Keep an eye on senior OF/P Danny Porras, P Quentin Bockhorn and SS Jayce Corley. Peninsula returns three all-league players: P John Browand, INF Pete Browand and OF Matthew Saunders. Silas might be the best of the Tacoma schools in the league this year. The Rams return last year’s 3A PCL MVP, P/INF Carter Lystra, a TNT All-Area selection in 2024. North Thurston could also factor in — the Rams have some experience with senior C Jaylen Kennedy.
2A SPSL
With Enumclaw’s departure, we like Fife’s chances this year. Steilacoom figures to take a step back with the graduation of TNT All-Area pitcher selection Micah Bujacich, who struck out 122 batters last season with a 0.42 earned run average. Fife has experience on its side, highlighted by a trio of senior Wenatchee Valley College commits in SS/P Miles Ducharme, OF/P Evan Reece and C Carter Christiansen. Steilacoom returns all-league OF Josiah Morley. Orting and Franklin Pierce could factor into the playoff race.
2A EVCO
Former big-leaguer Lyle Overbay has things rolling at Tumwater and the T-Birds should be a 2A contender once again this season. Tumwater returns all-league first-team INF Derek Thompson and sophomore OF Luke Overbay. Like usual, W.F. West should factor into the race as well.
TOP 40 PLAYERS TO WATCH
OF/P Lincoln Berg, Olympia, sr.
C Pete Browand, Peninsula, soph.
C Hudson Brown, Emerald Ridge, sr.
P Neal Burtis, Tahoma, jr.
OF Will Cahill, Kennedy Catholic, sr.
C Carter Christiansen, Fife, sr.
INF Carson Cody, Emerald Ridge, sr.
INF Xander Cypher, Sumner, jr.
P Bradley Dinelt, Curtis, jr.
INF Ian Draper, Rogers, sr.
P Sean Evans, Tahoma, jr.
P/1B Austin Galisushas, Bonney Lake, soph.
INF Martyn Hernandez, Rogers, sr.
INF Spencer Holloway, Decatur, sr.
UTIL Rylan Holmberg, Olympia, jr.
P Adam Jay, Tahoma, sr.
C Jaylen Kennedy, North Thurston, sr.
INF Brayden Landry, Puyallup, soph.
P Bryson Leach, Tahoma, sr.
INF Carter Lystra, Silas, jr.
INF Parker Mady, Curtis, sr.
P Cooper Markham, Enumclaw, sr.
C Tanner McVey, Graham-Kapowsin, sr.
P Christopher Moore, Kentlake, jr.
1B/LHP Jacob Muench, Capital, sr.
SS Eli Murphy, Enumclaw, sr.
P Mason Pike, Puyallup, sr.
OF Wyatt Plyler, Sumner, soph.
OF/P Danny Porras, Gig Harbor, sr.
P Trace Pruitt, Olympia, sr.
C Chase Rankin, Auburn, jr.
P/SS Lucas Redman, Capital, sr.
P Talan Robertson, Rogers, jr.
P Maxwell Schweyen, Puyallup, jr.
INF Derek Thompson, Tumwater, sr.
INF Gage Thompson, Puyallup, sr.
INF Beckett Turnbow, Tahoma, jr.
SS Drew Wicklander, Sumner, jr.
P Finn Wood, Stadium, jr.
P/3B Orlando Young, Federal Way, sr.
This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
