2025 High School Previews: McClatchy Lions
January 6, 2025
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The 2025 California high school baseball season is quickly approaching and, as usual, excitement is abound throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across California.
Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in their respective CIF Section Championship Game, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams across the state as we preview these individual programs across California. We will take you right up to first pitch this season with these team previews, eventually releasing our Preseason Power 25 rankings.
Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across California. Each week we will be releasing our Power 25, Players of the Week, Diamond Notes, podcasts, and much more.
Our 2025 preseason coverage continues today with a preview of the McClatchy Lions.
2025 TEAM OUTLOOK
High School: McClatchy Lions
Head Coach: Mike de Necochea
CIF Section: Sac Joaquin Section
Division: 1
2024 Record (Playoff Finish): 18-10 CIF-SJS D1 playoffs
Key Players Lost: Jackson Halverson, Rylan Pope
+ No. Returning Positional Starters: 9
+ No. Returning Pitchers: 5
+ Team Strengths: Pitching, Defense, Speed, Balanced Offense
ROSTER PREVIEW
+ Key Players:
Seniors:
+ '25 RHP/OF Finn Ferris
+ '25 RHP/UTL Nico Chandler
Juniors:
+ '26 SS Antonio Barber
+ '26 C Zeve Pruger
+ '26 OF Jace Martinez
+ '26 RHP/OF Matt Cuevas
+ '26 RHP/1B Everett Yeske
+ '26 OF Ryan Sandmeir
+ '26 OF Charlie Rios, Jr.
+ Projected Starters: Ari Silva, Finn Ferris, Camden Salisbury, Xavier Vuitonnet, Everett Yeske
+ Projected Relievers: Matt Cuevas, Diego DiFiero, Nico Chandler, Noah Reid
IMPACT UNDERCLASSMEN
+ '27 C Carson Tozzi
+ '27 OF Sebastion Cruz-Rolison
+ '27 LHP Noah Reid
BOTTOM LINE
Our roster is very deep on the mound with 5 different arms that have the potential to be able to start and throw the ball at a high level and that only strengthens our bullpen with quality depth all the way through as the arms who don't start shift into bullpen roles. We are backed up by a strong defensive team that has plenty of speed to make plays all around the field. When you add that speed to a balanced offense that can go deep with our lineup we present a well rounded squad that has plenty of potential for 2025 - Coach de Necochea
PREP BASEBALL CA STAFF’S TAKE
McClatchy brings an interesting pitching staff heading into 2025 especially with some of their younger arms like Salisbury and Vuitonnet who have displayed intriguing arsenals as '27s and with the quality ability/experience Silva, Ferris and Yeske bring to the staff the Lions look to be very difficult to score runs on in 2025. Their lineup has depth and athleticism with the ability to hit and create chaos on the bases while flashing sneaky impact as a group to push the envelope on the offensive side of the game. After a strong showing in 2024 the depth of this team and the ability they show on the mound puts the Lions in a good spot to make another run to the CIF-SJS playoffs in 2025 - Steven Hardesty Assistant Scouting Director
Learn more about California’s 2025 spring season below:
+ Follow McClatchy on X: @mcclatchybaseb
+ Find more team previews on the Prep Baseball California Power 25 homepage
FOLLOW US THROUGHOUT THE SPRING
+ Prep Baseball California on X
+ Prep Baseball California on Instagram
+ Prep Baseball California on Facebook
+ Prep Baseball California on YouTube
MORE 2025 TEAM PREVIEWS
Upcoming Events
Showcase | State | Date | Location |
Central California Preseason ID | CA | 01/12/25 | Ventura College |
North Bay Preseason ID | CA | 01/25/25 | Novato High School |
Inland Empire Preseason ID | CA | 01/26/25 | Ganesha High School |
East Bay Preseason ID | CA | 02/01/25 | Pittsburg High School |
Sacramento Preseason ID | CA | 02/09/25 | McBean Park |
Orange County Rising Stars ID | CA | 03/02/25 | Mater Dei High School |
Inland Empire Rising Stars ID | CA | 03/30/25 | Corona High School |
Los Angeles Rising Stars ID | CA | 04/27/25 | O'Malley Field |
MORE PREP BASEBALL NEWS
- CA Uncommitted Spotlight: '26 C Brady Abner 2/06/25
- CA Uncommitted Spotlight: '25 RHP Luke Kaiser 2/05/25
- CA Inland Empire Preseason ID: Positional Data Dive 2/05/25
- CA Inland Empire Preseason ID: Pitcher Data Dive 2/05/25
- CA Hardy's Hits: AC Select West 2025 2/04/25
- CA Uncommitted Spotlight: '26 3B/RHP Wyatt Mohler 2/04/25
- CA Inland Empire Preseason ID: Statistical Analysis 2/04/25
- CA 2025 High School Previews: Ayala Bulldogs 2/03/25
- CA Uncommitted Spotlight: '25 RHP Nicky Rodriguez 2/03/25
- CA 2025 High School Previews: Buena Bulldogs 2/03/25