All-Orange County baseball team, players of the year 2025
ALL-COUNTY BASEBALL TEAM 2025
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Cooper Flemming, Aliso Niguel, Senior
It took one season for Cooper Flemming to establish himself as an elite high school baseball player.
He played only one season of high school baseball, his senior season at Aliso Niguel.
Flemming’s excellent play as a shortstop, hitter and pitcher make him the Orange County baseball player of the year for the 2025 season.
He was a South Coast League most valuable player for the Wolverines, leading them to a share of the league championship. They finished 22-7 overall and 9-3 in league.
Flemming (6-foot-3, 190 pounds) batted .407 with six home runs, 27 RBIs, seven doubles and three triples. He scored 31 runs and stole 10 bases.
As a pitcher, Flemming finished 7-1 with a 0.69 earned-run average. He struck out 66 batters in 51 innings.
One of his top pitching outings came in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. Flemming held Arcadia to one run and struck out nine over eight innings in what would be a 2-1 loss in 11 innings.
Flemming spent his freshman, sophomore and junior years playing in the Baseball Performance Academy. He is grateful for the BPA experience, but wishes he would have played high school baseball for all of his high season years.
He attended a couple of schools, including Laguna Beach High, and wound up at Aliso Niguel for his season year.
“I knew playing high school baseball was a big need for me to be seen by scouts,” Flemming said. “Playing at Aliso was the best. I 100 percent wish I would have done it earlier.”
Of his many highlights, Flemming said the best of them was hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to help the Wolverines beat Capistrano Valley 6-3 in a South Coast League game. Aliso Niguel would go on to sweep the three-game league series against Capo Valley.
He said another senior-season memory will always be hitting a two-run home run in the sixth inning to break up a scoreless tie in what would be a 3-0 win over Trabuco Hills.
Flemming committed to Vanderbilt University and is projected to be an early-round selection in the MLB Draft on July 13-14. The Perfect Game website gives Flemming a ranking of “10” that, according to the website, marks him as “Potential very high draft pick and/or Elite level college prospect.”
Aliso Niguel coach Craig Hanson has coached many standout players, including current MLB players like Blake Sabol of the Boston Red Sox and Eric Wagaman of the Miami Marlins.
Of Flemming, Hanson said: “I’ve never had a player like him.”
“He’s such a great athlete and more so a great kid,” Hanson said. “His work ethic and leadership have been great. He didn’t come in here with attitude or a chip on his shoulder, he just came in and did the work right away.”
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Gary Morse, Orange Lutheran, Senior
There comes a time when the pitcher becomes less of a thrower and more of a pitcher.
This past baseball season was that kind of season for Orange Lutheran junior right-hander Gary Morse.
He tapped into his potential to post a 0.94 earned run average. Opposing batters hit only .134 against him.
For his standout season, Morse is the Orange County pitcher of the year for the 2025 season.
Morse went 8-2 with 65 strikeouts in 52⅓ innings. He was named Trinity League pitcher of the year.
That’s quite an honor to get that award in a league in which five of its six team qualified for the CIF Southern Section playoffs, three of them played in CIF-SS championship games and one of them (St. John Bosco) won the CIF-SS Division 1 and CIF Southern California Regional Division I championships.
Morse (6-7, 200) added a changeup to his arsenal, a pitch that became as effective as his fastball and breaking ball.
“His fastball sits at 92 to 94 miles an hour,” said Orange Lutheran coach RJ Farrell, “and he gets it up to 96. He has a ‘plus’ breaking ball and his changeup was a game-changer for him this year.”
Morse, who committed to Tennessee, was happy with his improvement but is not satisfied.
“There’s a lot of progress still to be made,” Morse said. “But I took a step forward from last year to this year. I took a long time off from throwing, so I struggled a little bit at the start of this season but I was able to home in on my control by the end of the year.”
Morse said his best outing this season might have been his two-hit shutout of Los Angeles Granada Hills Charter early in the season when he had 16 strikeouts and no walks in a 1-0 win.
Then there was the 5-0 victory over Rancho Cucamonga in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs. Morse pitched a one-hitter with six strikeouts and one walk.
“When I’m totally on like that,” Morse said, “I’m throwing strikes early and for the hitters it’s a guessing game from there.”
Morse had hitters guessing a lot, and a lot wrong, during his outstanding junior season.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Josh Lee, Newport Harbor
Josh Lee of Newport Harbor is the Orange County baseball coach of the year for the 2025 season.
Lee guided the Sailors to a 22-7 season in his fourth year as the team’s head coach. The 22 wins is a school baseball record. Newport Harbor finished second in the always-good Sunset League with a 14-4 record.
The Sailors beat Sunset League champion Huntington Beach twice in their three league games.
“We played really good defense, for the most part,” said Lee, summarizing the season. “We pitched really well. The team became a family.”
ALL-COUNTY FIRST TEAM
Pitcher: Brennan Bauer, Santa Margarita, Sr.
He was 11-3 with a 2.19 ERA and was especially sharp in the CIF Southern Section playoffs, going 4-0 while allowing only one earned run in 22⅓ innings and was named All-Trinity League first team.
Pitcher: Mike Erspamer, San Clemente, Sr.
He was named MVP of the Sea View League, went 7-3 with a 1.50 ERA and had 90 strikeouts in 56 innings and was a solid hitter, too, with a .341 batting average and 20 RBIs.
Pitcher: Gary Morse, Orange Lutheran, Jr.
The Orange County pitcher of the year.
Pitcher: Jared Grindlinger, Huntington Beach, So.
The younger of the Oilers’ Grindlinger brothers, Jared Grindlinger was 5-0 with a 0.87 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 32⅓ innings and was named to the All-Sunset League first team.
Catcher: Trent Grindlinger, Huntington Beach, Sr.
Named All-Sunset League first team, Grindlinger, who signed with Mississippi State, batted .333 with 24 hits, 22 RBIs, six home runs and five doubles.
First base: Brandon Thomas, Mater Dei, Sr.
Thomas, a Fresno State signee, was named All-Trinity League first team after finishing second on the Monarchs in hits with 27, driving in 12 runs and going 6-5 on the mound with a 0.79 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 79⅓ innings.
Infield: Cooper Flemming, Aliso Niguel, Sr.
Orange County player of the year
Infield: Brody Schumaker, Santa Margarita, Jr.
A repeat All-OC first-team selection, Schumaker batted .356 with team highs of 20 runs scored and 12 stolen bases and has committed to Texas Christian University.
Infield: Becker Syberski, Laguna Beach, Sr.
The Pacific Coast League most valuable player, Syberski, a 4.3 grade-point-average student going to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, hit. 424 with nine doubles and 15 RBIs, including going 3 for 5 with three RBIs in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs, and as a pitcher was 8-1 with a 0.51 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 55⅓ innings.
Outfield: Trevor Goldenetz, Huntington Beach, Sr.
Goldenetz, a Long Beach State signee, was selected to the All-Sunset League first team after collecting a team-high 36 hits, batting .409 and driving in 20 runs with three triples.
Outfield: Ethan Porter, Huntington Beach Sr.
Porter batted .385 with 30 hits, 19 RBIs, three home runs and a team-high eight doubles, was named All-Sunset League first team and signed with Oregon State.
Outfield: Josiah Hartshorn, Orange Lutheran, Sr.
Hartshorn, who signed with Texas A&M and was All-Trinity League first team, finished with team-highs of 32 hits, 27 runs scored, five home runs and nine doubles and batted .364.
Designated hitter: Lucas Perez, Newport Harbor, Sr.
The Sailors catcher, Perez was the Sunset League MVP, batted .333, made no errors, threw out 72 percent of stolen-base attempts against him and as a pitcher was 5-1 with a 1.36 ERA.
Utility: Gavin Lauridsen, Foothill, Sr.
Lauridsen, a USC signee, was a Crestview League pitcher of the year after going 8-2 with a 1.59 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 79 innings and was the Knights shortstop, batting .358 with a team-leading 23 RBIs.
ALL-COUNTY SECOND TEAM
Pitcher: Jack McGuire, Villa Park, Jr.
Pitcher: Tristin Dalzell, Los Alamitos, Sr.
Pitcher: Otto Espinoza, Huntington Beach, Sr.
Pitcher: Tate Belfanti, Cypress, So.
Catcher: Noah Johnson, Cypress, Jr.
First base: Ben Finnegan, Santa Margarita, Sr.
Infield: Mikey Gray, Trabuco Hills, Sr.
Infield: Gavin Spiridonoff, Santa Margarita, Sr.
Infield: Tyler Peshke, Fountain Valley, Sr.
Outfield: Devin Porch, Los Alamitos, Sr.
Outfield: Miles Scott, Servite, Sr.
Outfield: Aidan Young, Villa Park, Jr.
Designated hitter: Sean Green, Foothill, Sr.
Utility: Gavin Guy, Newport Harbor, Jr.
ALL-COUNTY THIRD TEAM
Pitcher: Stevie Jones, Corona del Mar, Jr.
Pitcher: Toby Kwon, Servite, Sr.
Pitcher: Kemuel Zhang, Canyon, So.
Pitcher: Logan Steenburgen, El Dorado, Jr.
Catcher: Warren Gravely IV, Santa Margarita, Jr.
First base: Jayton Greer, Huntington Beach, Sr.
Infield: Bobby Brooks, La Habra, Sr.
Infield: Diego Gonzalez, El Dorado, Sr.
Infield: Wyatt Hanoian, Orange Lutheran, Sr.
Outfield: Blake Bowen, JSerra, Jr.
Outfield: Carson Etnire, Aliso Niguel, Sr.
Outfield: Hamilton Friedberg, Orange Lutheran, Jr.
Designated hitter: Brady Murrieta, Orange Lutheran, Jr.
Utility: Rohan Ramos, Garden Grove, Sr.
