Jack Champlin (left) is one of three players from State Team of the Year St. John Bosco that have landed first team all-state spots. At right, Liberty of Bakersfield junior Brogan Witcher is shown playing the catcher position. His hitting and pitching are the main reasons he is first team all-state and regarded as Central Section player of the year. Photos: @USABaseEvents / X.com & Liberty HS Athletics / MaxPreps.com.
The 44th annual Cal-Hi Sports All-State Teams for baseball ends with a look at these special players. All first team 30 players are written up in this post. State Team of the Year St. John Bosco leads the way with three on first team. Due to the recent MLB Draft, we also put Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year Jared Grindlinger of Huntington Beach as an outfielder. We have a second team and third team (senior only/large schools only) in a separate post.
For the all-state second and third teams (Gold Club), CLICK HERE.
FOR RECAPS OF CALIFORNIA PLAYERS (COLLEGE INCLUDED) IN THIS YEAR’S MLB DRAFT, CLICK HERE.
RELATED: All-State Medium & Small Schools | All-State Underclass (Juniors & Sophomores) | Final 2026 All-State Nominations (SoCal) Gold Club | Final 2026 All-State Nominations (NorCal) Gold Club
For Gold Club post of our all-time all-state baseball archives, CLICK HERE.
Note: We hope you enjoy this free post. State baseball record lists plus two of our four all-state baseball posts are for Gold Club members only. Our upcoming all-state frosh watch list (done later this month) also will be Gold Club. To join our team today, CLICK HERE.
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.
Congratulations to these players who’ve been named first team overall for the 44th edition of the Cal-Hi Sports all-state baseball honors program:
Brady Murrietta had one game for Orange Lutheran in which he hit three homers. Photo: olu_baseball / Instagram.com.
FIRST TEAM OVERALL CATCHERS
Jacob Madrid (Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks) Sr.
Considered one of the top uncommitted players heading into the recent MLB Draft, Madrid was selected in the 13th round by the New York Mets. He worked with an outstanding pitching staff and helped Notre Dame reach the CIF Southern Section D1 semifinals. Jacob didn’t hit for an especially high average, but displayed exceptional power with 12 homers and 24 RBI.
Brady Murrietta (Lutheran, Orange) Sr,
A player with some Team USA experience, Murrietta is a defensive ace and had a stellar season at the plate. Shown with a commitment to Texas, Brady also was a rare four-year starter at Orange Lutheran. For the season, he came up at the plate with four homers and 24 RBI and had a career batting average of .304.
Carson Sheffer (Oaks Christian, Westlake Village) Sr.
Always known for his elite defensive skills, Sheffer ramped it up offensive in his senior year. He raised his batting average to .440 on 44 hits and he had five homers, 12 doubles and 24 RBI. Sheffer, who has a younger brother (Ryan) who was selected to our all-state sophomore team, has committed to Oklahoma State.
FIRST TEAM OVERALL PITCHERS
Dustin Dunwoody (Royal, Simi Valley) Sr.
When he was recently named as the Ventura County Player of the Year, Dustin was described as having one of the most dominant pitching seasons in Ventura County history. His numbers back that up, including a 10-0 record and 0.22 ERA. Dunwoody also had 115 strikeouts in 64 1/3 innings. He has signed with USC and also was recently picked in the 15th round of the MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers.
Julian Garcia (St. John Bosco, Bellflower) Sr.
It wasn’t for sure which of the Bosco players should be considered the state No. 1 team’s top player of the year candidate until his last game. That’s when Garcia spun his magical one-hitter to lead the Braves in their 2-0 win over Norco in the CIF Southern Section D1 championship. He didn’t pitch in the SoCal regionals that Huntington Beach won. For the season, Julian had a 10-1 record with a 0.80 ERA. He also had 107 strikeouts in 70 1/3 innings. Garcia, who already has been CIFSS D1 Player of the Year and Long Beach Press-Telegram Player of the Year, also has a great backstory. The Long Beach State recruit missed all of the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery.
Jensen Hirschkorn (Kingsburg) Sr.
A lot has happened since Jensen was named as State Small Schools Player of the Year. A few weeks ago, he was selected in the third round at No. 84 overall in the MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves and then about a week after that he signed with the Braves for $4 million. Hirschkorn was listed as a pitcher for the draft so we also put him at pitcher for first team all-state. The 6-foot-7 right-hander did as you might expect against primarly small school competition. He struck out 112 batters in 59 innings and ended the season with a 10-1 record. Jensen also had a robust .560 batting average with eight homers and 32 RBI.
Dustin Dunwoody from Royal of Simi Valley captured player of the year honors in Ventura County strictly as a result of his pitching. Photo: theroyalhs / Instagram.com.
Gary Morse (Lutheran, Orange) Sr.
A repeater from first team last season, Morse pitched less innings this season but did enough to be All-Orange County and therefore it was enough for all-state first team as well. Morse had 91 strikeouts in 54 2/3 innings as a senior with a 1.41 ERA. He is going to play next at Tennessee, a decision he made after he wasn’t picked in the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft. The 6-foot-8 standout also leaves OLu as its all-time career strikeout leader.
Graham Schlicht (De La Salle, Concord) Sr.
Pitchers don’t always get player of the year honors due the advantages of those players who can hit and pitch at equally high levels, but like Julian Garcia of St. John Bosco it was Schlicht who did that in the Bay Area. The Bay Area News Group Player of the Year also gets high marks from us for setting a state record in the category of pitching consecutive scoreless innings. Schlicht’s streak lasted 62 innings, which broke the previous record 59 1/3 innings set a few years ago by Dawson Netz from Maranatha of Pasadena. For the season, despite missing the final five games with an undisclosed injury, Graham posted an 8-0 record with a 0.39 ERA. He also had 83 strikeouts in 54 innings. His career numbers are even more impressive: 22-1 record with a 0.95 ERA plus 212 strikeouts in 154 2/3 innings. Schlicht will pitch next at Stanford.
Drew Slevcove (Cypress) Sr.
Veteran head coach John Weber had a CIFSS D1 quarterfinal team this season and had a bonafide first team all-state pick with Slevcove. Named as the Orange County Register Pitcher of the Year, Drew notched a 7-0 record in his starts with four shutouts, a 0.92 ERA plus 108 strikeouts in 76 innings. One of those shutouts came in a CIFSS D1 playoff game vs Sierra Canyon. He also only gave up one run on five hits in eight innings in a 2-1 loss to St. John Bosco in that D1 quarterfinal. Slevcove is set to pitch next for UC Santa Barbara.
Ethan Williams (Los Gatos) Sr.
There’s a CIF Central Coast Section Pitcher of the Year honor showing for Williams and now he can add first team all-state. The recent commit to St. Mary’s had a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts vs Santa Clara and really never let up. Ethan posted a season record of 12-0 with just eight earned runs allowed and a 0.82 ERA. He also wound up with 121 strikeouts.
FIRST TEAM OVERALL INFIELD
James Clark (St. John Bosco, Bellflower) Sr.
After Clark’s junior season, he was considered the No. 1 player of the year candidate from the No. 1 St. John Bosco team. This time, that unofficial designation whent to senior pitcher Aaron Garcia for the way he dominated in the CIF Southern Section playoffs. As a senior, James continued to collect big hits in big moments for the Braves. He didn’t have as a batting average as a junior, but hit for more power with five homers and 29 RBI. Clark took his name out of the MLB Draft a few days prior to it happening and will play next at Duke.
Trey Ebel (Corona) Sr.
One year after brother Brady was first team all-state for the Panthers, Trey is an obvious pick to be just as high. He will make the state record book for one game in which he drove in 10 runs on four hits and two homers in a Big VIII League win vs Roosevelt of Eastvale. For the season, Ebel improved his power production in all areas and finished with nine homer and 47 RBI to go with a .417 average. Before the MLB Draft, Ebel (he and Brady are the sons of L.A. Dodger third base coach Dino Ebel) had signed with Texas A&M. He’s now signed by the Milwaukee Brewers after they selected him 25th overall in the first round of MLB Draft. Brady was taken by the same Brewers at No. 32 overall in the first round last year.
Archer Horn is one of the top prospects coming from a San Francisco high school in the past 10 years. Photo: siwildcats.com.
Alex Harrington
(Cathedral Catholic, San Diego) Sr.
The smooth-fielding shortstop who signed with Stanford and who has plenty of USA Baseball experience was a major reason why the Dons were the front-running team in the CIF San Diego Section most of the season and for their run to the CIF SoCal D1 title game. Harrington posted a batting average of .384 on 43 hits and scored 44 runs. He also had four homers, nine doubles, five triples and 18 RBI.
Archer Horn (St. Ignatius, San Francisco) Sr.
A highly ranked national recruit, Archer wasn’t chosen in the MLB Draft despite being ranked as high as No. 54 overall (including college players). He has a scholarship with Stanford and for a Stanford commit to switch it usually takes a lot more money than usual. His best game this past season was a homer, double and four hits in a 10-6 win vs St. Francis. For the season, Horn blasted six homers and had a .406 batting average. He also had an OPS of 1.142 and 13 steals.
Dylan Seward (Norco) Jr.
Many of the boxes that scouts check for attributes of a special player began to be checked off for Dylan when he was a freshman. He was State Freshman of the Year. He didn’t get the same honor among sophomores last year as Jared Grindlinger of Huntington Beach earned it and it was teammate Jordan Ayala (both Grindlinger and Ayala pitch and hit) that was this year’s Junior of the Year. Seward led this year’s Norco team that went to the CIFSS D1 final with a .436 batting average. He also had 39 runs scored. Seward has committed to Tennessee, which probably isn’t going to get him if he’s picked as high in the 2027 MLB Draft, which does seedm to be expected.
FIRST TEAM OVERALL OUTFIELD
Blake Bowen (JSerra, SJ Capistrano) Sr.
It hasn’t been the team success the past two seasons for Bowen that he and teammates would have liked, but he has been one of the top national prospects. That was shown again in the MLB Draft recently as he was picked in the 18th round by the Colorado Rockies. It has been reported that Blake isn’t signing and is going to honor his college commitment to Oregon State. He was named to the All-Orange County and L.A. Times teams previously for hitting nine home runs in the 2026 season and compiling a .360 batting average against Trinity League competition.
Buchanan’s Austin Finegan was the Fresno Bee Large Schools Player of the Year twice. Photo: @Buchanan_Bears / X.com.
Austin Finegan (Buchanan, Clovis) Sr.
Finegan’s honors so far include Fresno Bee Offensive Player of the Year and Prep Baseball CA all-state. He can now add an all-state honor from us and will be in an archive of all-state players that goes back 44 years. Austin, who has signed with Cal, had a .413 batting average this season with 40 runs scored. He also connected for five homers, three triples and nine doubles. He ended his career in the top 10 of several all-time school categories with the highest being second with 95 runs scored.
Jared Grindlinger (Huntington Beach) Sr.
Playing that extra week to lead the Oilers to the CIF SoCal D1 title created the extra time needed for Jared to gain the Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year honor. And doing these teams after the recent MLB Draft also was helpful. Grindlinger was the first high school player chosen from the state in the draft with a No. 12 pick by the hometown L.A. Angels. He was officially listed as an outfielder, so we have gone ahead and placed him as an outfielder for all-state, which also freed up a spot for someone else to get chosen for multi-purpose. Grindlinger, who has signed with the Angels and will forgo a scholarship from Tennessee, had several big homers late in the season and ended with a .376 batting average and had 41 hits. He also went 6-0 as a pitcher with a 0.85 ERA plus 66 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings.
Anthony Murphy (Corona) Sr.
The four-year standout for the Panthers and the State Freshman Player of the Year with this group three years ago was a 16th round pick in the MLB Draft and like Blake Bowen isn’t signing and is going to college. For Anthony, that will be to LSU. He completed his career with 35 homers, which will be in the top 30 on the all-time state list, it’s a school record and will be in a tie for third among all-time Inland Empire players. Murphy hit 11 homers this season with a .394 batting average and 33 RBI. He also had 180 career hits and 143 career runs.
Joshua Priest (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego) Jr.
To be honest, we were a little surprised to see Priest’s name as the Player of the Year in the CIF San Diego Section. But looking at it deeper it’s hard to argue against it. Joshua led the Dons with a .528 batting average and he had five homers and 29 RBI. He only struck out 13 times during the season and displayed first-rate defense. Priest has committed to Arizona State.
James Tronstein (Harvard-Westlake, Studio City) Sr.
Considered a close second in our final Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year calculations to Jared Grindlinger of Huntington Beach, James was more of a consensus player of the year for Southern California (most of those were picked before the season was actually over). He was the L.A. Times Player of the Year and he was the Gatorade State Player of the Year. It’s hard to argue against what he did with his bat facing the tough competition of the Mission League. Tronstein almost reached .600 for his batting average and ended at .584. He also had 51 hits, 45 runs scored and 10 homers. He was a lower round pick in the MLB Draft, but is going to play next at Vanderbilt.
FIRST TEAM OVERALL MULTI-PURPOSE (Hit & Pitch)
Jordan Ayala (Norco) Jr.
The State Freshman of the Year from 2025 reclassed late in the season and was then selected as State Junior of the Year. Being a player who had two-way success as a hitter and pitcher was the main reason he got that honor over teammate Dylan Seward (possibly the top national Class of 2027 prospect as a shortstop). Ayala, also named Riverside Press-Enterprise All-Inland Player of the Year, had an 8-2 pitching record with a 0.74 ERA and struck out 91 batters in 66 innings. He had a 36 2/3 inning scoreless streak to start it off. Jordan added a .390 batting average with 26 RBI. He and Seward led Norco to the CIFSS D1 championship game (lost to St. John Bosco). The team likely is going to be ranked No. 1 in the state and nation to start next season.
Jack Champlin (St. John Bosco, Bellflower) Sr.
Before the CIFSS D1 playoffs when pitcher Julian Garcia had more than one dominant outing, Champlin was the one that we were thinking could be Bosco’s top player of the year candidate. That’s because he had been voted MVP of the Trinity League. He was mostly known in his career as a closing reliever. This season, Jack pitched 35 1/3 innings and had 0.99 ERA with 35 strikeouts. He also played third base and as a batter he had a team-leading .390 batting average. Champlin also had three homers, 11 doubles and 32 RBI. He has signed to play next at UC Irvine.
Dax Hardcastle of Stockton St. Mary’s also would be our choice as the NorCal Player of the Year. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Dax Hardcastle (St. Mary’s, Stockton) Sr.
Already named as the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Player of the Year by MaxPreps and NorCal Player of the Year by West Coast Preps, Dax isn’t the state player of the year but would check in as one of the top players for this year’s all-state first team. He led St. Mary’s to the SJS D1 title after a runner-up finish from last year and a section title from two years ago. Dax was known more as a position player and hitter last year when he also was first team all-state. This time, he became more of a pitcher. He had a dazzling outing in the section final vs Franklin of Elk Grove to wrap up an 8-1 season with a 0.56 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings. With bat in hand, Hardcastle had three homers, 39 hits and batted .394. He will play next at Mississippi State.
Matt Maxon (Carmel) Sr.
While it was a chore to determine whether Matt would be small schools or medium schools for those all-state teams the past three seasons, it wasn’t to just stick him this year as first team overall. The Monterey Herald Player of the Year and multi-sport athlete ranked among the state leaders this season in homers with 14. He also batted .473, scored 47 runs and had 35 RBI. For his career, Maxon (who has signed with Stanford) batted .409 on 147 hits with 31 homers and 113 RBI. He also had 130 runs scored.
Dylan Minnatee (Franklin, Elk Grove) Sr.
Our final of four repeaters on first team all-state, Minnatee had another top-notch season for a Wildcats team that went to the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 final after winning in that game a year ago. Dylan pitched in key spots, mostly late in games and finished 3-0 with a 0.68 ERA in 41 1/3 innings. He’s been more known as a batter and for that side of the equation he batted .391 with two homers and 28 RBI. Minnatee is heading next to LSU of the Southeastern Conference.
Striker Pence (Santiago, Corona) Jr.
The reports about Striker reaching 100 mph or higher on his fastball have been coming in over the last year and he had a very good high school season to back up much of the attention. He also became well-known for being the nephew of former MLB star and San Francisco Giants World Series champion Hunter Pence. Named to the All-Inland team by the Riverside Press-Enterprise as a sophomore, we are listing him as a junior since he reclassed shortly after the season. Pence posted a 6-3 record as a pitcher with a 1.92 ERA and 60 strikeouts. He also shined for the Sharks with his bat. He had a .414 average and drove in 28 runs.
Logan Schmidt (Ganesha, Pomona) Sr.
Our State Medium Schools Player of the Year and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune Player of the Year has not yet signed with the Cleveland Guardians (who picked him in the second round of the recent MLB Draft) but is expected to do that soon and then bypass a scholarship to LSU. Schmidt hadn’t been selected to any all-state teams before, but didn’t play for Ganesha until this season as he was being home schooled. He led the team to the CIFSS D2 title and a 26-3-1 record. Regarded mostly as a prospect for his pitching, Logan had an insane 0.12 ERA to go with a 10-0 record plus 103 strikeouts in 60 innings. As a batter, Schmidt connected for a .568 average. He also had 12 homers, 12 doubles, three triples and 34 RBI.
Caleb Trugman (Ayala, Chino Hills) Sr.
The Bulldogs had one of their best seasons ever with a 24-5 final record. They won one game in their pool in the CIFSS D1 playoffs, but didn’t make it past the pool play stage due to losses to Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks and Norco. Trugman was their top player. He’s mostly known for pitching as he posted a 10-4 record with 108 strikeouts and a 1.38 ERA. For his career, Caleb had a 1.48 ERA. At the plate, Trugman was a solid contributor as well with a .368 batting average on 35 hits. He has signed with UC Santa Barbara.
Brogan Witcher (Liberty, Bakersfield) Jr.
Here’s our final of four all-state first team players who reclassed at some point in the last several months. Brogan joins Jared Grindlinger of Huntington Beach (junior to senior), Norco’s Jordan Ayala (sophomore to junior) and Corona Santiago’s Striker Pence (sophomore to junior). There is no confusion, however, about whether Witcher should be considered the No. 1 player out of the CIF Central Section. He led Liberty to the CIF Central Section D1 title. On offense, Witcher batted .460 with 14 homers, 11 doubles and 41 RBI. As a pitcher, Brogan delivered with a 4-3 record, 2.91 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 33 2/3 innings.
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
