POSTSEASON PRIME 31: 5-4

5. ARCHER HORN

Junior, shortstop-pitcher, St. Ignatius Prep

The Skinny: There's a short list of Peninsula players who might someday get paid to play baseball. Archer Horn, with a year of high school ball still remaining, is at the top of that list. He's big. He's athletic. And he has the five tools – hitting, hitting for power, running, throwing and fielding his position, which ever that might be – that send scouts salivating. Heck, it might be a sixth tool if you count his pitching prowess. "He's one of those guys you just know will play baseball for a very long time," said junior outfielder DJ Delaney, his St. Ignatius Prep teammate. He ended the season ranked as California's ninth-ranked player in the Class of 2026 by showing his skillset along with an innate ability to thrive in big situations. “Wherever we need him most, he’s willing and wanting to contribute,” said St. Ignatius Prep coach Brian Pollzzie. “He loves the high-leverage spots." Horn and Serra's Ian Josephson shared the Peninsula's home run crown this year with seven each. Like Josephson, he also batted leadoff, played predominantly at shortstop and made a handful of relief appearances. What separated Horn on the mound was his ability to bring the heat. His fastball was clocked as high as 95 mph this year. And while his future – be it getting picked in the 2026 draft or stepping onto the Stanford campus to join the likes of Valley Christian's Brock Ketelsen and Quinten Marsh – is probably at shortstop, the kid does have the versatility to move just about anywhere on the diamond.

Season Highlight: In a season filled with close calls – from Brock Ketelsen going over the wall to rob Horn of a game-tying homer with two outs in the seventh inning of the WCAL semifinals to a drive to the warning track in the CCS-Division I loss to Saint Francis – it was a season-opening victory over Granada, the defending Northern California champion, that might have been Horn's biggest highlight. Horn picked up the save in the 2-0 victory by striking out five of the six batters he faced. “Playing a good team definitely had the adrenalin pumping,” he said. “My stuff felt really good in the pen and that carried over into the game.”

“My approach is to stay smooth, catch the ball out in front and get the front foot down early.”

The Numbers Tell the Story: Horn collected 31 hits, walked 21 times and had an on-base percentage of .477. He scored 30 runs and had a .670 slugging percentage. His OPS was 1.147.

Eye-Popping Stat: The 34 strikeouts came in just over 17 innings of relief.

What Others Say: "He's one of the hardest workers out there and I don't think that should go overlooked." -- DJ Delaney, junior right fielder, St. Ignatius Prep.

4. EVAN BRADSHAW

Senior, second base, Serra

The Skinny: Evan Bradshaw made it a point to not look at his individual statistics this season, instead opting to journal before each game with five to 10 things he could focus on to help Serra win that day. It might have been something as comprehensive as handling the fastball and "driving it all over the field," said the University of Pacific signee. Most times, it dealt with the little things like winning an at-bat by hitting a grounder to the right side with runners on base, making all the plays on the defensive side, stealing a base or doing whatever it took to help the Padres. "Once you realize a grounder to the right is a win, it takes a lot of the pressure off," he said. "It's understanding what real success is. ... This game rewards you for doing those kinds of things." If you need an explanation for Serra's 28-7 season – a record that includes a CCS-Division I championship and a runner-up finish in the Northern California tournament – Bradshaw's team-first mentality quickly comes to mind. "He had the breakout season we knew he was capable of having," said Padres coach Mat Keplinger. "He went from a utility role player as a junior and developed into one of the best infielders in the area." The senior second baseman was the consummate grinder, the guy who would do whatever it took. He played nearly flawless defense, batted second in the WCAL's most efficient offense and stole 13 of Serra's team-record 110 bases, shattering the mark that had been set in 1992 by nearly 40 bases. "We had a bunch of hard-nosed blue-collar baseball players who would do anything, like swiping a bag when needed, to win a game."

Season Highlight: Fittingly, Bradshaw's personals highlight for the 2025 season came during a grind-it-out at-bat in Serra's pinnacle game. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning of the CCS-Division I title game against Valley Christin at San Jose's Energy Park, Bradshaw chopped a Rohan Kasanagottu fastball up the third-base line that Kelan Cunningham fielded cleanly. However, the ball got stuck in his glove for a beat, allowing Bradshaw to leg out an RBI infield hit that gave the Padres a 3-2 lead they would never relinquish. "The ball wasn't smoked. It wasn't barreled, but it put pressure on the defense," Bradshaw said. "I ran with my head down and beat the throw. That's the mentality I'm talking about."

"I've learned to do what the game calls for. I used to go up there and hack, hack, hack. I used to be more on the selfish side."

The Numbers Tell the Story: Bradshaw collected 46 hits, 17 walks and had an on-base percentage of .470. He also scored 23 runs. Defensively, he had a .959 fielding percentage.

Eye-Popping Stat: Besides his five doubles, Bradshaw also had a team-leading four triples. It added to a .530 slugging percentage and an OPS of 1.000.

What Others Say: "I loved playing up the middle with him every day, every practice. To see him have the season he had and to commit to Pacific, I'm so proud of him." – Ian Josephson, senior shortstop, Serra.