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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 LHP/1B Ari Silva

+ '26 SS Antonio Barber

+ '26 2B Elias Ortega

+ '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 RHP Camden Salisbury

+ '26 RHP Xavier Vuitonnet

+ '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