Medium schools all-state first team honoree Jake Escalante of Soquel (left) went 10-1 on the mound with a 1.35 ERA and 91 strikeouts. At right, Jayden Badesha of Woodland Christian has repeated as a small schools all-state first team player. He hit 11 homers with 57 RBI and had a .529 average, a 5-0 pitching record and a 0.72 ERA. Photos: FiveTool.org & wchs_baseball / Instagram.com.
The 44th annual Cal-Hi Sports All-State Baseball Teams rolls on with this second group of honorees, which is for those players from schools deemed medium or small schools for the 2026 season. It remains a chore to determine which schools are medium and small with competitive equity based playoffs, but our long experience in doing these teams means we know a medium and a small when we see them. We still have the final, overall all-state teams to present.
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CLICK HERE.
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Our all-state patch for the 2026 baseball season is similar to the ones we’ve offered in previous years through our partners at BillyTees.com.
Not every team in the CIF Southern Section D2 playoffs was considered medium schools for this year’s all-state baseball teams. If it’s a team that played in one of the section very top leagues, like Santa Margarita or Servite from the Trinity League or Newport Harbor of Newport Beach from the Sunset League, then those teams remain large. Ganesha of Pomona isn’t one of those schools and therefore stayed D2 for our final state rankings and its players were deemed medium for the all-state teams.
After going through that, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Ganesha (the CIFSS D2 champion) leads the way with two first team and one second team honoree on the 2026 Cal-Hi Sports Medium Schools All-State teams. Those teams have now been completed along with our annual small schools teams as part of the 44th year of doing these honors.
Medium Schools State Player of the Year Logan Schmidt of Ganesha is joined on the first team by teammate Ford Stoen. He is similar to Schmidt in that he also pitched for the Giants in addition to hitting. Stoen is on the all-state team as an infielder. Ganesha’s senior catcher, Dyson Grant, is on the second team.
A team we view similar to Ganesha as a longtime medium school being placed in a very high section playoff division that we left medium instead of moving up its players to large is Soquel of the CIF Central Coast Section. The Knights went all the way to the CCS Open Division final before they lost to Valley Christian of San Jose. Soquel has one player on first team all-state medium — pitcher/hitter Jake Escalante — with two players on second team all-state medium — junior pitcher Luke Shoemaker and senior infield Hudson Summerill. Note that Los Gatos has stayed in large since its been in the CCS top division for many more years.
Two others besides Ganesha that have two all-state medium first team picks are D3 final No. 1 team Roseville and D2 final No. 7 Bakersfield Christian. Roseville’s duo are pitcher Tyler Ritter and sophomore Ben Jordan. Bakersfield Christian, which lost to Newport Harbor in the CIF SoCal D2 title game but has remained medium schools, has infielder Deakin Brinkley and pitcher-hitter McCoy Silicz.
For small schools, the one team that has two first team all-state selections is Menlo School of Atherton. We still have the Knights as small schools. They lost to Roseville in the CIF NorCal D3 final. They have catcher Chuck Wynn, who hit 10 home runs this season, and shortstop Jack Freehill. Last year, Freehill was on second team so he’s been moved up to first team for 2026.
Final Note: Other than a few exceptions, schools that were eligible to be in the Cal-Hi Sports Division IV or Division V state rankings are considered small. Some teams that were D2 for the rankings were considered large and some considered medium. Those that were in Division III state rankings were all medium. In our system, some schools with large enrollments in lower playoff divisions are just too big to be small schools. There is no all-state large schools team, but there is a third team added to the overall teams in which only players from large schools and seniors are eligible.
Chris Cardenas of Pasadena La Salle is headed to UC Riverside. The catcher batted .511 with five homers and 25 RBI. Photo: David M. Giannamore / Outlook Newspapers.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS FIRST TEAM CATCHERS
Chris Cardenas (La Salle, Pasadena) Sr.
Wyatt Denton (Las Plumas, Oroville) Sr.
Akanni Owodunni (Berkeley) Sr.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS FIRST TEAM PITCHERS
Dustin Dunwoody (Royal, Simi Valley) Sr.
J.P. Harmon (Novato) Sr.
Jeremiah Jennings (Madison, San Diego) Sr.
Tyler Ritter (Roseville) Sr.
Kai Van Scoyoc (Palos Verdes, PV Estates) Sr.
Bronson Wade (Laguna Beach) Sr.
Dmitri Williams (Bishop O’Dowd, Oakland) Sr.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS FIRST TEAM INFIELD
Deakin Brinkley (Bakersfield Christian) Sr.
Logan Brooks (El Segundo) Sr.
Tate Hammond (Long Beach Poly, Long Beach) Sr.
Trey Howell-Chase (Rio Americano, Sacramento) Jr.
Ben Jordan (Roseville) Soph.
Jayden McNeal (West Park, Roseville) Sr.
Ford Stoen (Ganesha, Pomona) Sr.
Jacob Webster (Oak Hills, Hesperia) Sr.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS FIRST TEAM OUTFIELD
Mattias Di Maggio (Dos Pueblos, Goleta) Fr.
Kie Smith (Helix, La Mesa) Jr.
Ace Tarango (Mira Costa, Manhattan Beach) Sr.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS FIRST TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE
(Hitting/Pitching)
Carlos Acuna (Birmingham, Lake Balboa) Soph.
Daunte Bell (Millikan, Long Beach) sr.
Jake Escalante (Soquel) Sr.
Sebastian Lawrence (Glendora) Soph.
Matt Maxon (Carmel) Sr.
Logan Schmidt (Ganesha, Pomona) Sr.
Landon Schutte (Oakdale) Sr.
McCoy Silicz (Bakersfield Christian) Sr.
Ari Silva (McClatchy, Sacramento) Sr.
Theo Trono piled up the hits since he was a sophomore at Redwood of Larkspur. He batted .418 on 38 hits as a senior. Photo: thearknewspaper.com.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS SECOND TEAM CATCHERS
Kellan Finn (Mira Costa, Manhattan Beach) Sr.
Dyson Grant (Ganesha, Pomona) Sr.
Jack Rudd (Willow Glen, San Jose) Sr.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS SECOND TEAM PITCHERS
Robbie Blaine (Sonora, La Habra) Sr.
Vincent DeMarco (Woodbridge, Irvine) Sr.
Jacob Farias (Elsinore, Lake Elsinore) Sr.
Gavin Garcia (Cajon, San Bernardino) Sr.
Kalvin Okamura (Petaluma) Jr.
Jackson Sellz (El Camino Real, Woodland Hills) Jr.
Luke Shoemaker (Soquel) Jr.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS SECOND TEAM INFIELD
Drew Beasley (Rodriguez, Fairfield) Jr.
Connor Clayton (West Ranch, Valencia) Sr.
Ayden Deome (West Park, Roseville) Sr.
Troy Grise (Monrovia) Sr.
Chase Mattoon (El Segundo) Jr.
Lennex Minor (St. Bernard, Playa del Rey) Soph.
Frankie Robles (Charter Oak, Covina) Jr.
Ruben Servin (Arroyo Grande) Jr.
Hudson Summerill (Soquel) Sr.
Theo Trono (Redwood, Larkspur) Sr.
Dylan Yencho (Laguna Beach) Sr.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS SECOND TEAM OUTFIELD
Tanner Grable (Glendora) Sr.
Chase Perino (Central Catholic, Modesto) Sr.
Aidan Sullivan (Mayfair, Lakewood) Sr.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS SECOND TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE
(Hitting/Pitching)
Joe Bell (La Canada) Jr.
Bryson Boyd (Elsinore, Lake Elsinore) Sr.
Damian Catano (Arcadia) Sr.
Cooper George (Wilson, Long Beach) Jr.
Carter Johnson (Arlington, Riverside) Sr.
Aidan Martinez (Birmingham, Lake Balboa) Sr.
Adam Mercado (Casa Grande, Petaluma) Jr.
MEDIUM SCHOOLS STATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Logan Schmidt (Ganesha, Pomona)
Sophomore Trenton Cloward was a standout for 28-4 Ripon Christian as he went 8-0 with a 1.59 ERA plus 90 strikeouts and a .318 batting average. Photo: Ripon Christian Athletics / MaxPreps.com.
SMALL SCHOOLS FIRST TEAM CATCHERS
Xaidyn Camacho (Riverdale) Sr.
Samuel Lopez (Rolling Hills Prep, San Pedro) Jr.
Kale Nakamura (Wheatland) Sr.
Nate Plata (King’s Academy, Sunnyvale) Sr.
Chuck Wynn (Menlo School, Atherton) Sr.
SMALL SCHOOLS FIRST TEAM PITCHERS
Tanner Abbott (Gridley) Sr.
Sean Downs (Rancho Christian, Temecula) Sr.
Kai Kung (Half Moon Bay) Sr.
Jack Morgan (Foothills Christian, El Cajon) Sr.
Jacob Trosper (Santa Clarita Christian, Canyon Country) Sr.
SMALL SCHOOLS FIRST TEAM INFIELD
David Bernstine (Vallejo) Sr.
Brad Blankenheim (Amador, Sutter Creek) Sr.
Jayce Costephens (Coastal Academy, Oceanside) Jr.
Jack Freehill (Menlo School, Atherton) Sr.
Tyce Johnson (Linfield Christian, Temecula) Soph.
Landon Lynch (Durham) Sr.
Julian Trejo (Paraclete, Lancaster) Soph.
SMALL SCHOOLS FIRST TEAM OUTFIELD
Reggie Bell (Stevenson, Pebble Beach) Sr.
Hudson Chase (Brentwood, Los Angeles) Jr.
Jett Messenger (University, San Francisco) Sr.
Shane Piester (Maranatha Christian, San Diego) Sr.
Drew Taylor (Linfield Christian, Temecula) Sr.
SMALL SCHOOLS FIRST TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE
(Hitting/Pitching)
Jayden Badhesha (Woodland Christian) Sr.
Brennan Botill (Corcoran) Soph.
Andrew Carlson (Trinity Classical, Valencia) Jr.
Trenton Cloward (Ripon Christian) Soph.
Jensen Hirschkorn (Kingsburg) Sr.
Tyler Hoff (Calvin Christian, Escondido) Sr.
Malachi Rucker (Boron) Soph.
Jamie Spurgeon (Minarets, O’Neals) Jr.
Shaurya Jain still has one more season to go as a pitching standout at Harker Academy of San Jose. He is going to play this summer for the U18 India national team in a exhibition series against the U18 Pakistan national team. Photo: harkeraquila.com.
SMALL SCHOOLS SECOND TEAM CATCHERS
Armaan Badesha (Woodland Christian) Sr.
Scout Escobar (Pacifica Christian, Newport Beach) Sr.
Evan Fujii-Sisler (Bradshaw Christian, Sacramento) Sr.
James Mack (Western Christian, Upland) Jr.
Tanner Pidgeon (Ferndale) Sr.
Nico Pollioni (Sacred Heart Prep, Atherton) Sr.
SMALL SCHOOLS SECOND TEAM PITCHERS
Chase Barton (Wheatland) Sr.
Saurya Jain (Harker Academy, San Jose) Jr.
Ayden Katuszonek (Rosamond) Jr.
Michael Manzi (St. Bernard’s, Eureka) Sr.
Kaden Nicholls (Bear River, Lake of the Pines) Sr.
Nathan Rodarte (Cathedral, Los Angeles) Sr.
Sammy Senigaglia (Coastal Academy, Oceanside) Sr.
Ethan Vander Plaats (Ripon Christian) Soph.
SMALL SCHOOLS SECOND TEAM INFIELD
Cooper Casey (Foothill Tech, Ventura) Sr.
Clayton Harris (Etna) Sr.
Chris Hernandez (Fort Bragg) Jr.
Tyler Hinrichs (St. Bernard’s, Eureka) Sr.
Alec Kaushal (Webb, Claremont) Sr.
Kainoa York (Crossroads Christian, Corona) Jr.
SMALL SCHOOLS SECOND TEAM OUTFIELD
Brody Edmonds (Pacific Grove) Sr.
Davis Lynch (Head-Royce, Oakland) Jr.
Josh Turner (Western Christian, Upland) Sr.
SMALL SCHOOLS SECOND TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE
(Hitting/Pitching)
Chris Alcaraz (Borrego Springs) Sr.
Dylan Eddings (Vacaville Christian) Sr.
Tate Saso (McKinleyville) Soph.
Aiden Zwissig (Sutter) Sr.
SMALL SCHOOLS STATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Jensen Hirschkorn (Kingsburg)
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
