Peninsula Prep Baseball
Mike Sangimino, Peninsula Prep Baseball
The CCS tournament and the Northern California championships were barely in the rear-view mirror – the lockers were cleaned out and the high school uniforms collected – when the summer season began.
These days, baseball memories are created by two vastly different seasons.
The high school season is an emotional ride. Representing your school creates those kinds of feelings and a camaraderie that creates lifetime impressions. Most times, the summer can't touch that. That's a time for self-improvement and getting noticed. It's a season where there is a "me" in team.
And that's not said to disparage the summer travel, which can cover thousands of miles from coast to coast. Dozens of the Peninsula's best ballplayers are currently traveling the country as they work on their games.
Here is an update on the progress they are making in the weeks before the new school year begins.
Jack Leeper, junior, Saint Francis
Erik Wagle went young in 2025. That was epitomized by sophomore Jack Leeper, who made his high school debut at the varsity level after missing his freshman season with a knee injury suffered during football season.
Wagle inserted the young centerfielder in the leadoff spot. He proceeded to set a school record and lead the WCAL with 27 stolen bases and was a first-team all-league selection after hitting .321 with 35 hits.
Playing with Alpha Baseball, he's sharing the outfield with Serra junior Aaron Minton and has already played tournaments in North Carolina, Atlanta, Arizona and Southern California.
He's been invited – along with Saint Francis teammates Landon King and Tommy Leeper, an incoming freshman – to the USA Baseball national training center in North Carolina for private workouts.
The summer season ended this weekend when he ventured to Long Beach to play in the prestigious Area Code tourney. After that, the glove gets put away for a while, he said.
"That's the plan," said Leeper, who this week verbally committed to play at Stanford in 2027. "Getting ready for school along with training and conditioning work."
Riley Jackson, junior, Half Moon Bay
Riley Jackson flies under the radar at Half Moon Bay, but he has the local colleges' attention because he's a straight-A student and a ballplayer who draws attention with one look – or sound.
Listen to the ball come off his bat during batting practice. The ball coming off his bat has a different sound than most of his contemporaries. He can drive the ball but also has a discerning eye. He drew 25 walks this year and had an on-base percentage of .525.
This summer, he's playing for Sean McMillan's All-In Baseball Elite Team, which will venture to Arizona in September. He was also chosen to represent Northern California in a Futures Game in Georgia.
He was joined on the Northern California team by Colton Hadfield and Logan Mull of Valley Christian, Menlo-Atherton junior Merrick Lee and Serra's William Walbridge.
"It was a dream come true doing what I love the most on such a big stage," Jackson said. "It was truly a blessing, one I will never forget."
Rallin Covey, senior, Sacred Heart Prep
With an oral commitment to Southern California in tow, Rallin Covey has spent the summer righting what was an uneven high school season.
The hard-throwing senior struck out 55 batters in 40 innings but went just 1-6 with a 4.45 earned-run average.
Covey has played with NorCal U 2026 this summer, pitching in tournaments in Atlanta, Arizona, and Southern California. He's also taken part in showcases in Texas (Future stars National Combine) and at Chase field, the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks which held the perfect game National showcase.
"It's been a lot of fun," he said. "Most of my teammates are committed to schools already. ... I've been working on my mechanics and working on my pitches and have been up to 94 (mph) on the gun, it's been fun."
Following the Area Code tourney in Long Beach, he plans on hitting the gym to get bigger and stronger before his last event in October: a Perfect Game tournament in Jupiter, Florida.
Colton Hadfield, junior, Valley Christian
The sophomore, surrounded by perhaps the best pitching staff in the state and a group of four position players – Quinten Marsh, Brock Ketelsen, Hunter Fujimoto and Jordan Ortiz – who will be playing Division I baseball in the fall, showed incredible maturity while starting the year at second base and gradually getting moved to shortstop.
He will be better by being surrounded – and mentored – by that group of Warriors. And there will be the chance for him to do some pitching at Valley next year.
"Whatever I can do to help my team," he said.
Hadfield's summer program was built around the Valley Christian mantra of getting better. That's what makes a team better.
"I want to do all I need to do to help my team in any way possible," he said.
Hadfield just wrapped up the Futures Games in Georgia and said it was a great experience playing for the Northern California team. This weekend, he will make the trip to Long Beach and play in the Area Code tourney.
He has played tournaments in Arizona, Southern California, Georgia and Florida, but will shut down in the fall to train at Rossy's Training in Scotts Valley and at C2S.
Cruz Torres, senior, Woodside
Cruz Torres had a great sophomore season at Woodside and followed it up by winning a PAL-Ocean Division batting crown at a junior and co-player of the year.
Entering his senior season, he's playing for both Woodside and has baseball future. but his baseball future
"My goal has always been to play at the college level," he said. "I will most likely be leaning toward the junior college route."
Torres is playing this summer with Top Tier NorCal and has competed in tournaments in California, Arizona and Georgia. After a slow start to the summer, he'd regained his swing, he said.
"I finally started to figure it out two tournaments ago " Torres said, adding that the adjustment from the PAL to Division I arms takes a while.
When school starts Torres plans on shutting it down to focus on training. His goal is to bring home player of the year honors again as a senior.
"With all the work I put in I am fully capable," he said.
Jack Freehill, senior, Menlo School
Jack Freehill is getting his summer baseball fix before taking the helm at quarterback for Menlo School's football team.
After winning the PAL-Ocean Division's co-player of the year award by leading the Knights to a CCS-Division V crown and a Northern California-Division IV championship, the Columbia University commit has enjoyed a busy summer.
Playing with Norcal U this summer, Freehill has competed in tournaments in Georgia, Arizona and Irvine. He also made the Area Code Upper-Class Northern California team, is competing in Long Beach this week. The Peninsula will be well-represented there.
"We play against the other seven Area Code team from different regions of the United States," said Freehill, who has been rotating between second base and shortstop this summer.
Aaron Minton, junior, Serra
Aaron Minton has already proven he can fill his older brother's shoes and Davis Minton said he loved watching his brother step up in big games for Serra in the spring, when each made big contributions to the Padres' CCS-Division I championship and Northern California runner-up finish.
Now entering his junior year, Aaron Minton will take on a leadership role for the Padres in 2026.
This summer Minton is playing for Alpha Prime.
"We have played in Irvine, North Carolina, and Georgia," Aaron Says. said.
Minton will also be playing in the Area Code tourney in Long Beach before the start of the new school year.
"The last couple weeks of August I can get some rest and gear up for a busy fall ball schedule," he said.
Archer Horn, senior, St. Ignatius Prep
Arizona in July isn't pleasant, but Archer Horn just returned from a week in the desert heat with his Alpha Baseball squad better for the experience.
"This summer is about continuing to get better and getting more exposure," said Horn, who is considered one of the top seniors in the state entering his final year at St. Ignatius Prep.
Horn will be in Long Beach this week for the Area Code tournament before going to San Diego for the 23rd annual All-American Classic at Petco Park.
The game brings together the top seniors from all over the country. Proceeds from the game have benefitted Rady Children’s Hospital and support pediatric cancer treatment and research. To date, more than $1.3 million has been raised for local causes.
"I love that it's a charity game that helps kid," Horn said.
The All-American Classic has been a launching pad for future MLB stars. Since 2003, 10 participants have been selected as the first overall pick in the MLB Draft, five have won the MLB MVP award, 11 have earned Rookie of the Year honors, and 293 have been first-round draft pick. That means one out of every three All-Americans has been selected in the first round of the draft.
Horn would be lying if he said he hasn't thought about next year's MLB Draft, but his heart, he says, is on playing college baseball in the fall of 2026.
"I'm open to the draft, but I am really excited about playing at Stanford," he said. That's what I'm thinking about more than anything."
Nate Plata, senior, The King's Academy
Nate Plata is a throwback to an old-school athlete. He's a kid who enjoys locking himself in the garage and lifting weights when everyone else is sleeping, He has a plan for now and the future.
This summer, Plata has played in Peoria, Arizona at the spring training complex for the Padres and Mariners as part of USA Baseball. Another tournament was in Irvine and still another was in San Diego in the Dave Roberts World Series.
Plata's first priority, he said, was to focus on how he can get The King's Academy back to a CCS tittle.
"Last year, we started off hot, but thing got a little bumpy," he said.
Ironing out the rough spots will be the goal.
"It starts in the fall and winter," he said. "I have to get guys in the weight room, cages and on the field to prepare for the season."
Plata has already committed to UC-Davis. Now comes the chore of honing his skills and getting physically stronger to transition into college baseball in the fall of 2026. He's lifting weights five days a week and wants to be at 205 pounds – an increase of nine pounds – before next spring.
"I'm trying to enjoy the process because I won't get this time back," he said.
Nate Hui, senior, Serra
In Serra's CCS Championship game against valley Christian at Excite Ballpark in San Jose, Nate Hui showed up big. The lights were on the crowd was big and the game was as good as expected.
Hui took over on the mound in his closer role for Riley Lim in the top of the sixth with a 3-2 lead, In the seventh, his backhand flip putout to Jack Armstrong and his strikeout of Quinten Marsh looking ended the game.
Hui, a super-utility player. enters his senior year as a key piece to Serra juggernaut. Hui's approach this summer is so simple but it's both intelligent and convenient.
Hui played in a couple local tournaments, one in Arizona with CCB and is also playing in Los Angeles with Top Tier this week. The bulk of his summer training has been spent at Advanced sports.
"Everyday I'm home I'm there," he said. "It's an athletic gym that focuses on core strength and mobility."
A few of his teammates are also there so the competitive atmosphere remains positive. "My main focus is to get stronger and faster," he said. Hui has also been taking many reps at shortstop and third base. He'll likely fill one of those spots with Davis Minton and Ian Josephson graduated.
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