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A 2025 NSCD Baseball Preview: Raiders Look to Build on Past Success
By Nikash Bawa
The Raider Baseball team has big shoes to fill, following the 2024 baseball season’s strong game record and regional title win. The Raiders will surely face challenges this year and will have to find a way to succeed despite losing their best hitters, pitchers, and fielders from last year.
The team is relatively young, with only two seniors in contrast to eight freshmen and sophomores There are big questions and uncertainties for the team, especially on offense, in the outfield and pitching.
The Raiders will also need to rebuild their offensive lineup, after their three best hitters graduated, as well as their outfield spots, with freshmen and sophomores who are playing at the high school level for the first time. The Raiders will also have to find a way to provide good pitching without their two most frequently used pitchers last year.
On the eve of the team’s spring break trip to Arizona, the team started to address these uncertainties. “Arizona will decide everything,” Captain Reed Metzler, ‘25, explained. “From lineups, roster spots, and overall strategy.”
Despite the upcoming challenges, expectations are still high. Reed still expects a regional championship and says that the key to success will be the underclassmen. “If they can stand up, they can fill the gaps of the leaving seniors,” he explained.
Max Flemma ’26, the returning starting catcher, echoed the same sentiments. “I expect this season to have a lot of ups and downs, as it is a very young team,” he said. “We will need a lot of our underclassmen to fill in as best they can, especially as pitchers.”
For him, the key to success is having energy throughout the season. “We need to bring intensity and high expectations into every single game because we can win or lose every single game we play,” Max said.
The Raiders look to defend their regional title. With an excellent coaching staff who was named ISL Coaching Staff of the Year last year, the Raiders are always a contender in games.
Despite a difficult loss in their first home game against Walter Payton, the Raiders are eager to show their skills on the field!
