Saint Francis Lancers

Few teams enter the new season with seemingly so few question marks. Erik Wagle's squad, now in year three of his tenure in Mountain View, returns eight starters, including Santa Clara signee Gino Cappallazzo and Stanford commit Jack Leeper.

The Lancers return 631 at bats from a year ago. By far the most in the ultra-competitive WCAL.

"We return a (D1) level position player at each defensive position with depth behind those guys from talented newcomers," Wagle says. "That will increase competition in practice and the fight for playing time."

Now, if Saint Francis can find a way to replace the pitching duo of Nick Chow and Landon Kim, both of whom are pitching collegiately this spring, it might be considered a WCAL favorite.

"We are not returning that many pitchers, but we have an incredible pitching development system, and we are very confident in our ability to find the right mix of guys to lead us to a championship," Wagle says.

It looks like Ian McMahon and Brody Larocque will be early favorites to lock down spots in the rotation. McMahon pitched a complete game in the Northern California Division II final last year, a 3-2 loss to Yuba City. That kind of experience will help him in the WCAL. Larocque, meanwhile, saw limited action, but didn't give up a run last year. He recently committed to Chapman.

Junior lefty Antonio Madrigal, who found his way into some high-leverage situations in the second half of the 2025 season, figures into Wagle's pitching plans, too.

"The pitchers are looking great so far," Cappellazzo said. "We've got what we need, and we're just going to keep working on it."

Cappallazzo, perhaps the best catcher on the Peninsula – he's definitely on the short list – hit .318 with 28 hits and 19 RBI. Leeper burst onto the scene as a sophomore centerfielder. He batted leadoff in the first half of the season, but the Lancers took off offensively when freshman Landon King stepped into the top spot and Leeper dropped to the No. 2 spot. Leeper hit .328, had 35 hits, scored 30 runs and stole a school-record 27 bases, while King hit .280 in 62 at bats.

King is poised to move to shortstop this year, leaving second base open for Kyle McMillan, a Santa Clara University commit, to claim.

Tanner Wall returns to the outfield for the Lancers. The senior had triples in Saint Francis' two CCS games last year, while first baseman Henry Dommer was an All-WCAL first-team performer. Sophomore third baseman Sione Tulua brings another power bat into the lineup.

2026 Schedule

Feb. 24 Leigh, 4 p.m.

Feb. 26 Soquel, 6:30 p.m.

Feb. 28 Palma, noon

March 5 Mountain View, 6:30 p.m.

March 6 Sequoia, 6:30 p.m.

March 10 Menlo-Atherton, 4 p.m.

March 13 at Capuchino, 6:30 p.m.

March 17 at Riordan, 4 p.m.

March 20 Riordan, 6:30 p.m.

March 24 Mitty, 4 p.m.

March 27 at Mitty, 4 p.m.

March 30 Boras Family Classic, Sacramento, TBA

March 31 Boras Family Classic, Sacramento, TBA

April 1 Boras Family Classic, Sacramento, TBA

April 2 Boras Family Classic, Sacramento, TBA

April 8 Central Catholic of Modesto, 6:30 p.m.

April 11 Carmel, 4 p.m.

April 14 St. Ignatius Prep, 4 p.m.

April 17 at St. Ignatius Prep, 4 p.m.

April 21 at Valley Christian, 4 p.m.

April 24 Valley Christian, 6:30 p.m.

April 28 Sacred Heart-Cathedral, 4 p.m.

May 1 at Sacred Heart-Cathedral, 6:30 p.m.

May 5 Bellarmine Prep, 4 p.m.

May 8 at Bellarmine Prep, 4 p.m.

May 12 Serra, 4 p.m.

May 15 at Serra, 4 p.m.