HILLSDALE COUNTY — The Hillsdale County prep baseball season is just getting underway.
Despite potential weather conditions in early April, teams are anxiously awaiting a return to the diamond this spring to battle it out for conference bragging rights, as well as carve a path to a district championship and beyond.
Before things get into full swing, let's take a look at some of the key returning and key losses for teams in Hillsdale County from the 2024 spring baseball season.
2024 Awards
Players of the Year
- Drew Bradley - Jonesville - (Class of 2025)
- Junior Alvarez - Litchfield (2024 Graduate)
- Runner-up: Dawson Shaw - Camden-Frontier (2024 Graduate)
First Team All-Area
Class year according to last spring
- Byron Hukill – Camden-Frontier – Senior – Catcher
- Dawson Shaw – Camden-Frontier – Senior – Pitcher/Fielder
- Rodney Weir – Camden-Frontier – Senior – Fielder/Pitcher
- Ben Kunkel – Hillsdale – Senior – Fielder
- Drew Bradley – Jonesville – Junior – Pitcher/Fielder
- A.J. Bowers – Jonesville – Senior – Fielder
- Wade Sommers – Jonesville – Senior - Fielder/Reliever
- Junior Alvarez – Litchfield – Senior – Pitcher/Fielder
- Tyler Bills – Litchfield – Senior – Fielder/Pitcher
- Miguel Pedroza – Litchfield – Senior – Fielder
- Connor McKay – North Adams-Jerome – Junior
- Brady Hartman – Pittsford – Senior – Fielder
- Stephen Anderson – Reading – Junior – Fielder
- Alec Shamplo – Waldron – Junior – Fielder/Reliever
2025 Key Losses
Last year was a stacked class of senior impact players, and only four players from last year's returning dream team list will be playing this spring, and all four are also seniors. That's a lot of talent turnover for pretty much every team in the Hillsdale County area. However, the losses for the Litchfield Terrier baseball team will prove to be a big task ahead this spring.
Junior Alvarez was the most prolific pitcher in Hillsdale County last year, allowing just nine earned runs all year (six from just one game). Losing a pitcher with 345 career strikeouts will certainly be a tall task for any team regardless of their division of play.
District champion teams Camden-Frontier and Jonesville also lose several first team all-area honorees, with Jonesville losing honorees that combined for nearly 80 runs last season. Runner-up POTY Dawson Shaw wasn't just an 8-1 overall record pitcher, he also broke the school record for stolen bases last spring. Jonesville also lost coach of the year honoree Corery Rogers, who led the team to a division 3 regional title game appearance. The good news for Jonesville is that they will be returning one of the two players of the year honorees.
