2025 High School Previews: Royal Highlanders
January 14, 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 Royal Highlanders.
2025 TEAM OUTLOOK
High School: Royal Highlanders
Head Coach: Dan Maye
CIF Section: Southern Section
Division: 2 (2024)
2024 Record (Playoff Finish): 16-13 (D2 Playoffs First Round Loss)
Key Players Lost: Landon Parada, Jayden Williams, Nate O'Brien
+ No. Returning Positional Players: 16
+ No. Returning Pitchers: 9
+ Team Strengths: Our pitching staff will be the primary strength of the squad from starting pitching to high end bullpen arms, athleticism, top end of the offensive lineup, solid defense
ROSTER PREVIEW
+ Key Players:
Seniors:
+ '25 RHP/OF Caden Sramek Oklahoma State Commit
+ '25 SS/RHP Brady Hewitt Oregon Commit
+ '25 INF Zach Nagy University of San Francisco Commit
Juniors:
+ '26 LHP/OF Dean Barkman UCSB Commit
+ '26 RHP Dustin Dunwoody University of Arizona Commit
+ Projected Starters: Caden Sramek, Dustin Dunwoody, Dean Barkman
+ Projected Relievers: Isaiah Tillman, Brady Hewitt, Cody Burrow, Michael Tuttle, Dayne Peters, Colten Rainer & more
IMPACT UNDERCLASSMEN
+ '27 OF Tristen Hogan
BOTTOM LINE
With a deep pitching staff that is loaded with power stuff, high spin breaking balls, D1 commits and versatility to their roles it will be difficult to put large numbers up on the Highlanders staff. An interesting INF group that has top end talent on the left side with versatility to the right side of the INF group. The OF defense is athletic and can cover ground to take away hits. All of this will be dependant on the growth of the offense which has talent in the top and middle portion, but the back end pieces will need to produce to their potential.
PREP BASEBALL CA STAFF’S TAKE
The Highlanders have long been a strong program in the Ventura County area under the direction of long time Head Coach Dan Maye. They have had some very talented teams over the years and boast a current big leaguer from their alumni base, but this years team might go down as the most talented and deepest group to take the field as Royal Highlanders. What might be the best pitching staff in Ventura County with 4 key pieces who hold D1 commits and several other arms who will pitch in college getting runs against the Highlanders will be a difficult task. With an ace like Sramek to open the week and the versatility of Dunwoody/Barkman/Tillman to either start or relieve and Hewitt to light up the gun and miss bats closing out games, plus a depth of quality arms behind them it's one of my favorite pitching staffs in 2025. Their offense will be keyed by Nagy and Hewitt at the top with Tillman also another key piece of how the offense will produce runs. It will be the performance of additional pieces behind them that is really going to tell how far this Highlanders team can go. I get a lot of 2024 Camarillo Scorpions vibes with this squad who had a legit ace, an impact SS who was ready to make his mark on the program, another key D1 bat in the lineup and a very talented supporting cast that if all goes right I would see them claiming a Coastal Canyon League title and making a deep run in the CIF-SS playoffs come May that might culminate in a dogpile. - Steven Hardesty Assistant Scouting Director
Learn more about California’s 2025 spring season below:
+ Follow Royal on X: @baseball_royal
+ Find more team previews on the Prep Baseball California Season Previews homepage
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MORE 2025 TEAM PREVIEWS
Upcoming Events
Showcase | State | Date | Location |
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 Central California Preseason ID: Infielder Analysis 2/07/25
- CA Central California Preseason ID: Catcher Analysis 2/07/25
- CA 2025 High School Previews: Villa Park Spartans 2/07/25
- CA 2025 High School Previews: Franklin Wildcats 2/07/25
- CA Sacramento Preseason ID: Preview Story 2/07/25
- CA Sacramento Rising Stars ID: Preview Story 2/07/25
- 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