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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: Portland St. Patrick's

PORTLAND - The ability to be one of the best Division 4 teams in the state with just 78 kids in the school is important to head coach Bryan Scheurer and the Portland St. Patrick team.

“It means a lot to them,” the 21st-year head coach said. “They take a lot of pride in that. It’s a close community. We have little kids on the fence that can’t wait to be a part of it.

“And we do it against the big boys. They like knowing the way we do things makes us competitive. There’s a chip on their shoulders to prove themselves.”

The mentor since 2005, Scheurer has a record of 443-149 during that time with state final appearances in 2016 and 2017, winning the crown the second year.

“Maybe our best team was during the Covid year but they didn’t get to play,” Scheurer noted. “We’ve been ranked in the top 10 since.”

Last year the Shamrocks finished 17-1 in Central Michigan Athletic Conference play for the first league title since 2019.

“That was a big deal,” Scheurer admitted. “We’re competing in a D-3 league with ranked teams like Pewamo-Westphalia and Laingsburg.”

Strong pitching in 2025 makes the possibilities of another outstanding season realistic, with Brady Leonard, last year’s ace, hopefully joined by Brayden Simon, who had arm issues a year ago, at the top of the rotation in 2024.

“If he’s healthy it’s the best 1A and 1B we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Scheurer related.

Simon, the 61st-ranked senior right-handed pitcher in Michigan, is a Kellogg CC commit. Leonard, a second-team all-state performer as a junior, was 8-2 as a sophomore with a 1.70 ERA, fanning 72 and walking 14 while allowing 33 hits in 53 innings.

Junior Charlie Thelen, who was also second-team all-state in 2024, returns behind the plate and will also see time on the mound after the 6-2 205-pounder hit .417 with 48 RBIs and 14 extra-base hits a year ago.

Sophomore Jerryd Scheurer is back to play shortstop and will also pitch. A first-team all-state honoree last season, the 12th-rated 2027 shortstop in Michigan hit .529 with 53 runs, 10 extra base hits and 40 stolen bases. On the mound, the son of the head coach was 6-0 with a 1.80 ERA, striking out 28 in 35 innings with two saves.

Two more 10th graders, left-hander Tyler Thelen and right-hander Sean Felon, add pitching depth.

“If our 1A and 1B are healthy, and we can throw the other guys when we want to throw them, we can compete,” the head coach said. “We’ll be a handful for other teams.”

Tyler Thelen will play first with senior Nathan Fears at second base. Sophomore Logan Howe is the backup catcher and utility player who moves around depending on what pitcher is throwing.

Fears or Simon, who batted .272 with an on-base percentage of .492 last season, will be at third base.

Leonard, a .290 hitter in 2024 with 33 RBIs and a .460 OBP, will man center field with Fears taking over when Leonard pitches. Senior Simon White, junior TJ Chamberlain and Simon will be corner outfielders.

Senior Grant Kline is penciled in to DH with sophomore Ben White seeing time at second base or outfield.

“This is a very gritty group,” Scheurer noted. “There’s a great vibe in the dugout. It’s a fun, fun group to be around.”

Lucas Simon must be replaced, however, leaving a void the head coach must replace.

“He was our senior leader last year,” Scheurer said of his leadoff hitter in 2024. “He brought positive enthusiasm and we need that again this year.”

Base running is again expected to be a strength after the Shamrocks, which stole 223 bases with a 94.5 percent success rate in 2024 while opponents were just 20-40.

Additionally, St. Patrick reached base 92 times on hit-by-pitches, second all-time in Michigan history.

“Offensively we play small ball, have a good walk-to-strikeout ratio, get hit by pitches and steal bases,” Scheurer said in describing the program. “Defensively, we throw strikes and our catching shoots down the run game. That keeps us competitive.”

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