The baseball and softball seasons are upon us and some of our coaches told us what they’re expecting from their squads this year.
BASEBALL
School Name: Disney
Last Year’s Record: 2-20
Key players:
Senior Xavier Medina – 1B, SP, C
Senior Jay Diaz – 2B, RF, 3B
Junior Gio Aponte – OF, P
Junior Avery Coughlin – C, 3B
Sophomore Ethan Elliott – IF, SP, OF
Sophomore Marcus Grier – CF, P
Freshman Maxi Sanchez – #1 SP, starting SS
Freshman Victor Rivera – 3B, 1B, P
Coach’s season outlook: Moved down to 3rd Level Conference on the North Side this season from the 2nd Level. We will be trying to win the Conference right away and move back up to the 2nd Level next year due to the best freshman class of baseball players that we have ever had. I have 3 super star freshmen to watch that will start on Varsity as freshmen and lead our team immediately – Maximus Sanchez, Victor Rivera and David Herrera. All three could play college baseball if they continue working hard at school and in baseball for the next four years. I have several other freshmen that will start when we need them to, and will play mostly JV this year. We graduated our last 2 CPS All-Stars that I have had this past year, but all of the other returning Varsity players made tremendous improvements in the offseason through hard work. They are throwing harder, hitting harder and fielding more cleanly than they did last year. The Disney II Baseball rebuild is going very well and we look forward to another class of incoming freshmen next year that play travel ball.
School name: Farragut
Key Players:
Ben DeMateo – AVG .462, 49 R, 29 RBI, 3 HR, 68 SB, 2.10 ERA, 3 W, 72 K
Yoel Guerra – AVG .603, 35 R, 36 RBI, 43 SB, 2.80 ERA, 15 IP, 32 K
Freddy Garcia – AVG .450, 32 R, 25 RBI, 38 SB, 2.57 ERA, 30 IP, 46 K
Nico Roman – AVG .394, 15 R, 29 RBI, 1 HR
Robert Trejo – AVG .344, 21 R, 20 RBI
Gio Bahena Perez – AVG .317, 13 R, 13 RBI, 1 HR
Alex Barrera – 3B / P
Julian Andrade – OF
Robert DeMateo – OF
Coach’s season outlook: It’s a new era at Farragut. The Admirals are coming off a 20 win conference championship season and have moved up to the CPS National North. We will be challenged early on, playing strong teams in the city and state: Stevenson, Lindblom, Holy Trinity, Hope Academy, Solorio, Washington, and Kennedy.
Our team is led by seniors Julian Andrade, Alex Barrera, and Gio Bahena-Perez. We will continue to be a fast and aggressive team with speedsters Ben DeMateo and Yoel Guerra finishing in the top 10 in stolen bases last season. Robert DeMateo is an impact freshman starting on varsity this year. Nico Roman, Freddy Garcia, and Robert Trejo round out the starting lineup and look to build on strong seasons last year.
School name: Hancock
Key Players:
Senior Anthony Tagler – C, P
Junior Ryan Ostrowski – P, IF
Junior Eddie Hernandez – OF
Sophomore Laith Ahmad – P
Freshman Aaron Perez – C, IF
Freshman Emiliano Leon – P, IF
Coach’s season outlook: We are going to be competitive as we are a young team. We will be able to handle ourselves in our conference.
School name: Jones
Top returners:
Ellis Alexander, senior, catcher, .412 average, 37 runs, 25 RBI’s 18 stolen bases, 1st team All-City
Christophe de Wijkerslooth, sophomore, IF/RHP, .376 average 25 RBI’s
Renzo Sansonetti, junior, RHP/IF, .277/.439 OBP, 39 runs scored, 4-5 3.47 E.R.A, 57 K’s, 3rd team All-City
Top newcomer:
Madden Asbaty, freshman, IF/RHP
School name: Lane
Returning Seniors:
Teo Greco, SS – Committed to Milwaukee School of Engineering
Bennett Levinson, RHP – Committed to Tufts University
Ben Magder, C – Committed to Carthage College
Tyler Trapp, 2B – Committed to Triton
Max Hinojosa, 3B – Committed to Grinnell
Henry Murray, OF – Committed to Dartmouth
Alex Lagges, OF – Uncommitted
Gabe Weyer, RHP – Uncommitted
Top Juniors:
Ronan Owens, RHP
Zolan Wyatt, C/1B
Alex Ziegler, UTL/P
Hunter Smith, RHP
Matt Young, OF/LHP
Connor Sullivan, 3B/RHP
Top Sophomores:
Isaiah Martin, OF
Miles Mazanowski, 3B/RHP
Top Freshman:
Dodger Friedrich, RHP
School name: Mather
Last Season’s Record: 15-7
Key Players:
Senior David Goytia – SS and P, All-Conference 2023 and 2024
Senior Jeriel Mejias – INF, C and P, All-Conference 2023 and 2024
Junior Lucas Lambert – 3B, OF, P and C
Junior Roy Beard – OF, 1B and P, All-Conference 2024
Sophomore Jadier Castillo – INF, P and C
Coach’s Season Outlook: The Rangers had a successful 2024 after coming up from the North conference to the more-competitive National North conference, where they finished with a winning record of 7-5 and a fourth-place finish. Three very close competitive games against Lake View and Clemente (twice) were the difference between making the City Playoffs and the Consolation Playoffs. The Rangers then went undefeated in the consolation playoffs to win the City Championship Consolation. The Rangers only lose one Varsity starter to graduation and look to continue to build on their momentum. Several underclassmen have been working on their game the last nine months and look to fill the gap left by our graduating senior and team MVP J’Anthony Skerrett.
School name: Morgan Park
Top Returners:
Senior Jayvion Price – IF, BA: .315
Junior Jacque Lewis – OF, OBP: .429
Senior Jairen Horton – OF/RHP, 16K’s in 18 innings pitched
Sophomore Gabriel Toussaint – IF/RHP, BA: .333
School name: Ogden International
Key returning Players:
- Luis Antigua, Senior, OF/P
- Juthaniel Lebron, Senior, 3B/P
- Osiah Vega, Senior, SS/P
- Jacob Cordero, Sophomore, C/P
Top Newcomers:
- Julian Castillo, Sophomore, C/P
- Julio Pagan, Sophomore, 2B/P
- Aj Ramirez, Junior, OF/C
Coach’s season outlook: Ogden is returning 4 starters from the sectional finals team of 2024. We have a lot of young talent surrounded by a solid group of seniors. Ogden will play a lot of younger players that have proven to be up to the challenge in the past. The Owls look forward to defending our regional title and look to continue to contend at a state and city level.
School name: Simeon
Last Year’s Record: 14-14-2
Key Players:
Senior Antwan Jackson – C, First Team All-City Utility
Senior Bryce Jones – INF/P
Junior Christian Lott – P/CIF
Junior Cavion Danley – OF/Utility
Coach’s Season Outlook: City Champions/Reach Super Sectionals
School name: Von Steuben
Top returners:
George Allen (12) – OF All-City Honorable Mention, JRN All Conference
Christian Kobayashi – (12) P/utility
Axel Rivera (12) – P/utility
Kayin Timble (12) -1B
Top Newcomers:
Matteo Banuelos (9) – C/INF
Rogelio Dominguez (9) – DH
Romeo Ruiz (9) – P/1B
Coach’s Season Outlook:
Mix of talented youth and veteran players. More depth up and down roster than in previous years. Expect to be very competitive within the tough JRN conference.
SOFTBALL
School name: Ag Science
Last Year’s Record: 7-6
Key Players:
Abby Schied – SS
Ariana Alcantar – 3B
Shealanay Williams
Lola Hendrickson
Coach’s Season Outlook: We’re a very young team looking to develop younger athletes to hopefully make an impact in their next few years. Over half of our roster is made up of freshmen and sophomore student athletes. We have a few upper class men returning (Schied, Alcantar, Williams) who we’re looking to lead the younger group of girls. We think we can have a competitive season, but the main thing we’re hoping for is the development of our younger girls.
School Name: Senn
Last Year’s Record: 14-4
Key Players:
Daja Boatman, SS, Senior
Kennedy Nash, 1B/Outfeild, Senior
Gabrielle Smith, Catcher/Pitcher, Junior
Sofia Parodi, 2B, Junior
Audrey Lebovitz, Sophomore, P/Outfielder; All-City 24
Pippa Gerhaza, Sophomore, C/Outfielder
Coach’s Season Outlook: Should be competitive, moved up to higher conference.
School Name: Simeon
Last Year’s Record: 7-7-1
Key Players:
Senior Mia Holcombe, UTL
Senior Jaliyah Morgan, 1B
Junior Amirah Manson, SP
Sophomore Ariyah Black, UTL, Captain
Sophomore Elissa Roberts, P & SS
Freshman Amina Smith, BC & OF
Freshman Kween-Eazay Moore, OF & BC
Coach’s Season Outlook: We are a veteran team who took some time off and is ready to get back to work. This season we are looking to escape the consolation league and make it to state playoffs.
School Name: Whitney Young
Top Returners:
2025 Chiqui Vazquez, Shortstop, 2024 2nd Team All-State, 2024 All City, 53 Hits, 52 Runs, 39 RBI; Creighton Commit
2027 Itzel Jaime, Utility, 2024 CPL Rookie of the Year, 35 Hits, 32 Runs, 24 RBI
2026 Natalie Nieves, Utility, 2023 & 2024 All City, 37 Hits, 28 Runs, 27 RBI
2026 Emily Rodriguez, Pitcher and Corner Infield, 2024 All City, 34 Hits (BA .436, 92 PA), 23 Runs, 23 RBI
2027 Liani Delgado, Pitcher and First Base, 52.1 IP, 14 BB, 58 K
Newcomers:
2028 Mara Finnigan IF
2028 Claire Swanborn UTL
2028 Claudia Lazzeri UTL
2028 Maguire Leahy UTL
Coach’s Season Outlook:
Team hit the weight room hard and returners are bigger stronger and faster than last year. One of the best groups of freshman we ever had, they’re all super competitive and talented.
Looking to repeat as City, Regional, and Sectional Champs. This could be the year we take the next step, our season has ended in the Super-Sectional 3 of the last 6 seasons. Playing in the extremely competitive Gulf Shores Classic during spring break, Rumble at Rosemont, and Mustang Stampede at Rolling Meadows. It’s a great group of kids and we are excited to start playing.
