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Preseason Power 25 Countdown: No. 18 Germantown

March 14, 2024
By: Isaiah Glidden
Area Scout, Content

The 2024 Wisconsin 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 the Badger State.

Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in their respective WIAA Division State Championship, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams with this initial Preseason Power 25 release which will take us right up to first pitch.

Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across Wisconsin. Each week we will be releasing our Power 25, Players of the Week, Diamond Notes, Scout Blog and much more.

Our 2024 preseason coverage continues today.

High School: Germantown Warhawks
Preseason Rank: 18
Head Coach: Jay Wojcinski
WIAA Division: 1
Conference: Greater Metro
2023 Record (Finish): 15-12 (Lost 1st game)

ROSTER PREVIEW

Team Strengths: Pitching Depth, Catching, Overall Defense, Base Running, Hitting for Contact
No. of Returning Starters: 7
No. of Returning Pitchers: 5

NAME STATE CLASS POS COMMITMENT
Nicholas Heisl WI 2024 RHP/INF Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Ryan Ferguson WI 2024 INF -
Colyn Lessila WI 2024 INF Concordia Univeristy (WI)
Fletcher Filla WI 2024 RHP -
Carsen Dulak WI 2024 OF/RHP Bryant and Stratton
Sean Gregorius WI 2024 OF -
Ian DeMichiel WI 2025 1B/OF -
Logan Zaverl WI 2025 INF/RHP -
Evan Lauer WI 2025 RHP -
Douglas Wagner WI 2025 RHP/INF -
Lucas Frank WI 2025 RHP -
Tyson Baker WI 2025 LHP -
Liam Hagland WI 2026 RHP/OF -
Christian Griffin WI 2026 OF/1B -
Carter Gordon WI 2027 RHP/INF -
Grady Cheever WI 2027 UTIL/RHP -

X-FACTOR

+ INF/RHP Logan Zaverl (2025) has been one of the biggest winners on our winter circuit thus far, and he is set to be a large piece of the Warhawks’ success this season on both sides of the ball. Back in February, Zaverl made it out to the annual West Milwaukee Preseason ID where he showed off some big gains he made to his game. There Zaverl took one of the cleanest and loudest rounds of the day, working short to the ball with strong hands to produce exit velocities over 97 mph all while averaging just under 94 mph. He also showed off some innate arm strength when he unleashed a 92 mph bullet during his round of infield defense, too and he is expected to use that arm strength on the left-side of the infield for Germantown this spring. Not only will be making some big contributions with the bat and defensively, he will also see some time on the mound according to head coach Jay Wojcinski. While our staff hasn’t seen him pitch since the winter of last year, if his arm is anything like it was across the infield this winter, he will add even more to this already strong pitching staff.

Logan Zaverl (2/17/24)

NEWCOMER TO WATCH

+ Unlike some other teams on our initial Power 25 release, the Warhawks have a number of talented underclassmen and newcomers that will be stepping up this year. Amongst them, RHP/1B Carter Gordon (2027) and C/INF/RHP Grady Cheever (2027) are a pair of talented freshmen to know. Gordon, who is built at a mature 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, has already has shown some big time potential on the bump. Last year, as an eighth grader, Gordon ran his fastball up to 88 mph at our Milwaukee Rising Stars event from a simple delivery and he has proved that it was no fluke as he reached that same high later on into 2023 in-game. He is not just a power arm either, he possesses feel for two different breaking balls, the first being a traditional 11/5 curveball in the low-70s and the second a tighter slider in the mid-70s. He can pull a low-80s changeup out of his back pocket when needed, too. He is also a threat with the bat, as he has already shown impressive power potential with max exit velocities up to 98.7 mph and has shown it off in-game, too, as we have seen him smack long homeruns while also collecting a multitude of hard line drives.

Carter Gordon (4/4/23)

As for Cheever, he is a legitimate switch-hitting prospect, something you don’t often see from someone his age. From both sides he features a smooth swing that shows the ability to shoot line drives to all parts of the field and his left-handed barrel has also shown a knack for more run production, too. While it is unclear exactly where Cheever will be stationed defensively, he offers coach Wojcinski a dynamic skill set that has the ability to play pretty much anywhere. This summer he marked pop-time lows of 2.04 at the Prep Baseball Junior Future Games and also locked down multiple infield spots. Also, Cheever is expected to see some time on the mound this season, where he features an athletic delivery and he has plenty more upside to tap into.

Grady Cheever (7/25/23)

Germantown’s duo of freshmen are amongst the state’s best and they certainly have the talents to contribute in big ways during their first seasons at the varsity level.

TEAM OUTLOOK

Last season, the Warhawks flashed some potential but couldn’t put it all together consistently throughout the season. This season, with plenty of experience on both sides of the ball and some talented newcomers, they have high hopes heading into the spring.

Highlighting the Warhawks’ pitching staff is RHP/INF Nicholas Heisl (2024; Wisconsin-Milwaukee commit). Heisl, built at a lean 6-foot, 150 pounds, features one of the state’s best breaking balls which plays nicely off of his mid-80s fastball. His curveball features big 12/6 action and spins at a high-rate of nearly 3,000 RPM on average. His aptitude to spin transfers over to his slider, as it plays with more lateral break and also features a near 3,000 RPM spin rate. RHP Fletcher Filla (2024) is another mid-80s arm that will see a quality amount of time on the mound this season, most likely in a starters role. He too features a curveball and slider combination, while also throwing an effective changeup. RHP Evan Lauer (2025) is one other experienced arm on this staff as he pitched to a ERA of 3.21 last season.

Besides the aforementioned freshmen duo, there are a number of other unproven arms that are expected to see some time on the mound this season. Amongst them, RHP/INF Douglas Wagner (2025) recently came away a winner from our annual South Milwaukee Preseason ID, where he ran his fastball up to 86 mph while also possessing feel for a slider and changeup, too. Two other arms that will see some innings this season are OF/RHP Carsen Dulak (2024; Bryant and Stratton commit) and RHP/OF Liam Hagland (2026). A lot of the names listed above will also be main pieces in the offensive attack for the Warhawks also.

Douglas Wagner (2/17/24)

While Dulak will be a piece on the mound for the Warhawks, he will make his biggest contributions at the plate as he returns a .343 batting average and look for him to go out with a bang during his final prep season. Fellow senior leader, INF Ryan Ferguson (2024) is another bat that will lead Germantown and he hit to an average of .337 last year. Two other experienced bats that will be leaned on are INF Colyn Lessila (2024; Concordia University (WI) commit) and OF Sean Gregorius (2024), who both surpassed the .300 mark last season. Two newcomers to the offense that could see time in the starting lineup are OF/1B Christian Griffin (2026) and 1B/OF Ian DeMichiel (2025).

Ryan Ferguson (3/18/23)

BOTTOM LINE

+ The Warhawks really have a lot going for them this season. They have experienced names up-and-down the lineup, newcomers set to contribute right away, and a new head coach in Jay Wojcinski - who has 25 years of head coaching experience and is also a year removed from leading Whitefish Bay to a State Championship. It seems to all be coming together at the perfect time for Germantown, a team who hasn’t won the conference title since joining back in the 2018 season, but 2024 could be their year to do so.

Find more information on the 2024 Germantown program below:

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