Prep Baseball Report

2025 Power25 Countdown: No. 8 Pensacola Catholic


Prep Baseball Florida
Prep Baseball Florida Staff

Leading up to the start of the high school season, we will count down the Top 25 preseason teams every day as part of our comprehensive season coverage:

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Team: Pensacola Catholic
Preseason Rank: 8
2024 Record:
27-2
Playoff Run: Regional Semifinals
FHSAA Class:
2A
Head Coach:
Richard LaBounty

TOP PLAYERS
Name, Position, Class (College Commitment)
Parker Granse - P/OF - Jr. (Auburn)
Gavin Howard - SS - Sr. (Gulf Coast)
Colton Guillot - SS/P/Util - Jr. (Duke)
Vaughn Howard - IF/OF - So.
Jalen Moton - IF/OF - Jr. (FSU)
Carter McCammon - P/IF - Sr. (Pensacola State)

X-FACTOR

Jalen Moton - suffered a sophomore slump but if the FSU commit can shake that and have a bounce-back season, we can go a long way.

OUTLOOK

The Crusaders return a lot of firepower in 2025, despite losing 3 huge pieces of last year's 27-2 team. On the mound they are led by junior Parker Granse, an Auburn commit. The left-hander was undefeated in 2024 with ten wins and a ERA of 2.03. They also will get innings from junior Colton Guillot, a Duke commit, and transfer Carter McCammon, a Pensacola State commit. Seniors Gabe Mercado and Caige Bratcher and juniors Nick Shashaty, Reed Rhodes, Blaine Davis and Ezekiel Rycroft will compete for innings as well.

They feature a well-balanced offense that is strong from top to bottom. Granse was also the team's leading hitter in 2024 with an average of .417. Vaughn Howard, a sophomore, returns after debuting with a .357 freshman effort. He was one double away from breaking the school's single season record last year. His brother, Gavin, is a senior and he batted .353 in 2024. A wiz with the glove and a force at the plate, Gavin led all returning players with an on base percentage of .554. Colton Guillot, a junior Duke commit, has been a very consistent hitter, batting .319 as a freshman and .325 as a sophomore. He's also belted 12 home runs in that time. His 34 runs batted in in 2024 tops all returners. McCammon was named to the All-South Mississippi Team after driving in 27 runs off 13 extra base hits. He also pitched 64 innings, striking out 54 batters and working a 1.53 ERA. He was a part of two state championship teams and a state runner-up during his time in Mississippi. Although they didn't hit for average in 2024, the Crusaders are expecting big things at the plate from juniors Boogie Moton, Rhyland Richards and Ben Bates.

For the 36th season, the Crusaders are led by head coach Richard LaBounty. He has a career record of 763 wins and 238 losses, and 1 tie. He was the USA Today and the MaxPreps Coach of the Year after leading his team to a national championship and an undefeated season in 2013. On three occasions his teams have won state championships and he's also logged three state runner-up finishes. Coach LaBounty feels very strongly about the strengths of this year's team.

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