The 2025 Texas 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 Texas.

Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in Austin at the UIL State Tournament in June, 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 individual teams across Texas. We will take you right up to first pitch this season with these team previews, eventually releasing our Preseason Power 30 rankings that’ll carry us into the opening week of action.

Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across the state. Each week we will be releasing our Players of the Week and updating the Power 30 rankings.

Our 2025 preseason coverage continues today.

High School: St. Pius X
Head Coach: Michael Evans
UIL Classification: TAPPS Division 1, District 4
Team Strengths: Pitching & Defense
2024 Record (Playoff Finish): 25-6 (State Final Four)
Key Players Lost: Casan Evans (LSU), Easton Dean (Sam Houston State), Alex Yearwood

 

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TOP RETURNING PLAYERS

+ OF Jackson Cotton (2025; Texas State)
+ C/RHP Michael Peavy (2025; Texas State) - 2024 Prep Baseball Senior Future Games Participant

+ C/INF Jorge Arcia (2025; uncommitted) - 2024 TAPPS All-State Honorable Mention, 2024 Second Team All-District
+ INF Cooper Brown (2025; uncommitted)
+ UTL Drew Davis (2025; uncommitted)
+ RHP/INF Tristan Smaistrla (2026; uncommitted) - 2024 TAPPS First Team All-State, 2024 First Team All-District
+ INF/RHP Devin Mayahi (2026; uncommitted)
+ OF/RHP Andrew Kirklin (2027)
+ INF Sean Marquez (2027)

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TOP NEWCOMERS

+ UTL/RHP Jaiden Lee (2026; uncommitted)
+ CIF/RHP Adrian Magallanes (2027)

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FRESHMEN TO FOLLOW

+ UTL/RHP Joe Delgadillo (2028)
+ UTL Riley Sifuentes (2028)
+ UTL/RHP Paul Ramirez (2028)
+ 1B/LHP Caleb Manrique (2028)

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SEMLER'S PROSPECTS TO FOLLOW

"Jackson Cotton, LHH/OF: Athletic with strength. Shows ability to impact baseball. Solid defender. Showed tools at Texas Scouts Association Game. Michael Peavy, RHH/C: Athletic, 6.9 60. Solid receiver with quality pop times, carry to throws. Solid hitter with power potential. Sean Marquez, RHH/SS, 2027: solid approach to hit with ability find barrel."

- Max Semler, North Texas Scouting Director

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TEAM OUTLOOK

The St. Pius X Panthers are the reigning TAPPS District 4 Champions and State Finalists, and look to rely on their pitching and defense in 2025 to repeat as District Champs. Head Coach Michael Evans will return nine key players from that 2024 squad, including two players who earned both All-State and All-District honors a season ago.

RHP/INF Tristan Smaistrla (2026; uncommitted) will look to help lead the pitching staff in 2025 after earning First Team All-State and First Team All-District last season. Joining him on the pitching staff will be C/RHP Michael Peavy (2025; Texas State), who is a familiar name for our staff as he was a Prep Baseball Senior Future Games participant this past summer. Peavy, currently ranked No. 72 in the state, will likely do the majority of the catching for the Panthers this spring. However, he will also star on the mound where he can run his fastball up to 93 mph, paired with two high-spin breaking balls. Another key returner of note for the 2025 Panthers is C/INF Jorge Arcia (2025; uncommitted). Arcia was an Honorable Mention All-State in 2024, along with earning Second Team All-District honors as a junior.

Rounding out the returning players in the lineup and on defense will be OF Jackson Cotton (2025; Texas State), INF Cooper Brown (2025; uncommitted), UTL Drew Davis (2025; uncommitted), INF/RHP Devin Mayahi (2026; uncommitted), and sophomores OF/RHP Andrew Kirklin and INF Sean Marquez.

The Panthers will look to junior UTL/RHP Jaiden Lee (uncommitted) and sophomore CIF/RHP Adrian Magallanes to contribute this spring as varsity newcomers. With both being two-way players, it should only help add to the team strength of pitching and defense in 2025.

Coach Evans’ program will also feature a few versatile freshmen who will be worth keeping tabs on in the future in two-way players Joe Delgadillo, Paul Ramirez, and Caleb Manrique, as well as UTL Riley Sifuentes.

With both the quality and quantity of their returning pieces, the Panthers look to have all the makings for a repeat as District Champions in 2025. Their pitching and defense will lead them while the offense should develop as the season progresses, while having stable bats in the lineup in Cotton, Arcia, Peavy, and Smaistrla to name a few. Look for the Panthers to be a district contender again in 2025, as well as a real postseason threat.

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Find more information on the 2025 St. Pius X program below:

+ Follow the Panthers on X: @SPXHTXBASEBALL

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