The boys celebrate a base clearing double from David Villareal against Summit. photo by Amaris Medina
A recap and reflection on TJ Baseball’s 2025 spring season.
With a 4–16 overall record and 3–5 in league play heading into Senior Night, it isn’t hard to imagine why this wasn’t the season anyone hoped for. But the Spartans’ record didn’t reflect the grit this group showed on the field. Most of the team hit below .300, and runs were hard to come by. Early deficits became routine. And yet, even in a season defined by frustration, players gave everything they had.
The absence of the power bats of 2024 seniors Sloan Steimel, Curtis Redfearn, and Colin Walsh left a clear void in the team. All were reliable offensive pieces in recent years. Without them, the lineup lost momentum. Too many innings passed without pressure on opposing pitchers. Too many rallies ended before they began. But that didn’t mean the effort disappeared.
In some games, the bats showed real signs of life. A 15–12 loss to Denver East might’ve been one of the best-hitting performances from one through nine in the lineup. Unfortunately, it came on a day that the pitching staff struggled, with walks and errors leading to key East runs. Still, it proved this offense could wake up. When everything clicked, TJ baseball showed what it was capable of. A win over Denver North, the first since 2021, was a turning point. The Spartans moved runners and played clean defense, and senior pitcher Max Feierstein pitched a gem to secure the win. There were also close calls that didn’t show up properly in box scores. Against Discovery Canyon, a top team in Colorado, TJ stayed within striking distance until the seventh inning, thanks again to Feierstein, who held them to two runs deep into the game. And against Summit, whose starting pitcher, Sam Eldredge, is a Division I commit, the Spartans came out swinging. The offense jumped on him early and took a narrow lead into the fifth inning. Feierstein kept them in control, mixing pitches and working out of jams. The momentum eventually flipped, and Summit pulled away late, but for most of that game, TJ had the upper hand. The final scores didn’t reflect the fight. But it was there. This team didn’t fold. Even late in the season, with very slim playoff chances, they kept working. They kept showing up. That says something.
Senior leadership held the group together. Feierstein gave the team a real chance to win every time he took the mound. Noah Roetto, one of the year’s biggest surprises, stepped up and held strong against tough lineups, shutting down Lutheran for several innings to keep the game within reach. Jackson Schneider anchored the defense behind the plate and stayed vocal when the dugout needed energy. Noah Klein brought power to the lineup, consistently hitting balls hard and driving in runs. Gunner Walden, the reliable lefty out of the bullpen, did what he’s done for years and got outs in big spots.The Schneider brothers, Jackson and Shepard, shared the field one final time. It’s rare to experience that kind of connection in competitive sports, and while it may not show up in stat sheets, it mattered in that dugout.
Wins didn’t come easy. Most of them didn’t come at all. But the effort never dipped. The group stayed together. That’s a credit to the seniors and to head coach Graham Baughn, who kept the focus on battling adversity and growing through the losses. Because in baseball, a game where you fail more than you succeed, how you respond matters more than how often you win.For the underclassmen, this season has become a reference point. They’ve seen how quickly games can slip away and how small moments become big ones. Players like sophomore Ryder Perry are proof of what can happen when you’re ready. He started the year on JV and, when called up, didn’t waste his shot.
Next year’s team won’t start from zero. They’ll step into the shadow of a tough year, but also the footprint of one that kept grinding until the final pitch. That’s the takeaway, not just a record, but the culture. One that doesn’t crack when things get hard. There’s nothing pretty about 4–16. But the potential is real. As for the seniors, it’s a tough way to end their high school careers. Feierstein is committed to Pacific University in Oregon. For most of the rest, this is the end. But one thing’s for sure, they played hard through the very last inning.