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2026 High School Team Preview: Notre Dame Prep Fighting Irish

PONTIAC - Hopes are high at Notre Dame Prep thanks to a roster with nine seniors, five that are going on to play baseball in college.

“We have a good group that’s very accomplished,” noted head coach Jason Gendreau. “They won state in soccer and have been to two state championships in football. We have three players that are all-state in multi-sports.”

That type of athlete is obviously beneficial come game time.

“When you know how to win and have an understanding of how it feels to lose in big games, that helps,” Gendreau explained. “They’re battle tested. They don’t shy away from hard work and that makes our job as coaches easy.

“Notre Dame Prep will never have depth like Dakota and Orchard Lake type of schools,” Gendreau added. “We typically don’t have that level of athlete, but we have that right now.”

Two players stand out in that regard according to the ninth-year head coach at Notre Dame Prep - Drake Roa and Henry Ewles.

“Drake is the best high school player I’ve ever coached,” Gendreau said of the third-ranked senior shortstop in the state, a Michigan commit. “He’s different. We’re glad he’s a three-sport athlete, but if he focused solely on baseball he’s probably a draft prospect like his dad was. He’s going to be a three-sport varsity athlete for four straight years. He has that rare combination of size and speed.”

Roa hit .464 last year with a 1.3 OPS, pounding out 45 hits with 46 runs, 30 RBIs, 30 stolen bases, 13 doubles and three home runs. In addition, Roa was 7-7 in save opportunities on the mound with a 0.368 ERA.

Eweles, the ace of the pitching staff, is also a college recruit, with the senior headed to Miami of Ohio.

“He’s the best student-athlete I’ve ever coached as far as a student leader,” Gendreau pointed out. “I’ve never had a guy who could win games at first base.”

A .420 hitter with 50 hits, 40 RBIs, 13 doubles and three home runs a year ago, the second-ranked first baseman in Michigan is also a standout on the hill with the southpaw winning seven-plus games three years in a row. Last season the lefty had a 1.28 ERA with 50 Ks.

With Roa staying in relief, Owen Fulsher will be the number two starter on the mound. The cleanup hitter for the Fighting Irish, a Northwood commit who will play third base and catch a little, carried a .305 average a year ago with 32 hits.

Junior Jack Fallone returns to play third base while filling the role of the number three starting pitcher and also seeing time at first base. 

Tomassino Offer, “an elite defender” in the eyes of Gendreau, will bat leadoff and play second base with the Wheaton College recruit moving to short when Roa pitches.

Sophomore Anthony Fischione split duties behind the plate a year ago but takes over full time in 2026.

Senior captain Jack Leuchtmann returns to left field with Adrian commit PJ Stieber in right. A pair of sophomores will see action in center field in Ross Cherfoli and Benedetto Offer.

“This is a top five-worthy team,” Gendreau said. “It’s an explosive team returning plenty of experience. I really like our plus experience and team defense.

“The key for us is we’ve got to score runs. We know we will hold our opponents under three or four runs, but we can’t leave 12 on like we did when we were shut out by Orchard Lake St. Marys.”

That came in the district finals in a 2-0 defeat, a matchup that could happen again with Ewles once more squaring off against Indiana signee Luke Crighton.

“It could be the same this year with the same pitching matchup,” pointed out Gendreau, whose squad finished 29-7 a year ago. “Both of our teams are good enough to be state champ. What we have to be able to do is manufacture runs in tight games.”

The head coach, who enters his 21st season at the helm with 396 wins, looks forward to another season with the veteran squad.

“We’re very disciplined, blue-collar,” Gendreau concluded. “It’s not what you’d expect from a Catholic school on the surface. Talent comes and goes, we don’t typically reload, but we’re in a good place right now. This senior class will be impossible to replace. We’ve been very spoiled.”

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