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With 2024 now in the past, Prep Baseball Michigan is eagerly anticipating bringing the state the best high school coverage that can be found anywhere in 2025. Starting in February, we began releasing team previews for squads across the state. Ahead, we will have Preseason All-State Teams as well as the Preseason State Rankings coming your way.

To view the full list of 2025 Team Previews that we have already completed, please click here.

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2025 Spring Team Preview: Bay City Western

AUBURN - The top five pitchers return as well as the entire infield for Bay City Western, but veteran head coach Tim McDonald understands there is more to it when it comes to success.

“You’ve got to have some luck,” explained McDonald, now in his 33rd year at the helm. “Sometimes you’ve got to make your own luck.”

Now just 33 wins away from number 900 in his career, the Bay City Western mentor points to more than luck why the program has had so much success in his time in charge.

“We’re known for small ball, and there’s a lot of truth to that,” noted McDonald, who has taken the Warriors to the Final Four five times. “My philosophy is, eventually you’re going to play a lot of close games so we practice for that a lot. That’s a big part of our success. We do a lot of the little things right.

“We’ve built a good culture,” McDonald continued. “This is a good baseball community. For a lot of them, baseball is their first love. We also have a lot of multi-sport athletes and I feel fortunate to have that.”

The long-time mentor also feels blessed to have a player the caliber of Luke LaCourse, the staff ace who was 12-1 last year helping the Warriors reach the state semifinals where they lost to eventual state champion Northville.

“He’s been with me since day one freshman year,” McDonald said of the Michigan State commit, the 88th-rated senior right-handed pitcher in the nation. “To his credit, he’s gotten better every year. He’s a great guy to have at the front of the rotation.”

McDonald is also happy to have 2A and 2B pitchers in Jack Sequin and Brayden Simmon, a pair of seniors headed to Saginaw Valley State next school year. Sequin, the 21st-rated 2025 RHP in Michigan, threw in 19 games with a 1.49 ERA last season, highlighted by a 10-inning shutout performance in the regional finals. Simmon, the eighth-ranked senior southpaw in the state, was 7-2 with a 2.03 ERA.

Two junior pitchers are also back in Jaxon Jenkins and Andy Robbins. Jenkins, the 17th-rated 2026 right-handed pitcher in the state, is a 6-3 200-pounder while Robbins is a hard-throwing 6-4 200-pound righty. Depth on the mound will come from freshman Jimmy Sequin III, Jack’s brother who is the top-rated 2028 shortstop in Michigan.

“I love our pitching staff,” McDonald related. “We will be in any game with them.”

Simmon, LaCourse and Jenkins will all see time at first base when not on the mound. Simmon hit .272 last year and LaCourse .267, with a team-best 36 RBIs including the game-winners in two extra inning games during districts.

Mikey Deluca, a second team all-state performer last season, returns to play second base. The Kalamazoo commit who is ranked fourth among senior second basemen in Michigan, led Bay City with 50 runs scored last year while also batting at a .414 clip.

Jack Sequin, a .319 hitter with 32 runs a year ago, will be at short, with LaCourse, junior Preston Kolm or Jimmy Sequin expected to move to the position when Jack Sequin pitches.

Left-handed hitting Cal Plarske, the 15th-ranked sophomore third baseman in the country, is penciled in at third after batting .284 and scoring 32 runs as a ninth grader.

Three-hole hitter Bryce Neitzel, a first team all-state selection now at Mott College, must be replaced at catcher with senior Preston Giorgis ready to fill the void.

The outfield features “a lot of new faces” according to McDonald, with Owen Dominowski, the seventh-ranked sophomore outfielder in Michigan, looking to take over in center. Robbins, who played everywhere while batting a team-best .567 in 2024, will be in right with left-handed hitting senior Gavin Pilarski and speedy junior Owen Kolak others vying for time in the outfield.

“I like that we have great senior leaders,” explained McDonald, whose team a year ago finished 35-7-1. “Defensively, our infield will be strong and in the outfield we have some fast guys that are pretty athletic. Hopefully, we’ll have some momentum carry over from last year and making that run will keep us hungry.”

Defending league champ Flint Powers Catholic, last year’s Division 2 state champion, will be among the contenders in the Saginaw Valley League along with Grand Blanc, Midland High and Midland Dow, a team Bay City Western beat 9-8 in extra innings in the district semifinals after trailing 8-0 in the bottom of the sixth.

The season opens on March 22 with a three-way at Brother Rice, with Byron Center rounding out the field featuring head coaches that played at Central Michigan.

“We’ve had a lot of really good teams here,” McDonald said. “We were state champs in 2013 and 2014, the first and only D-1 team ever to do that. We’ve been to three Final Fours since 2013 and had 35 wins seven times.”

The 2025 edition is looking to add to that list of remarkable accomplishments.

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