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2026 High School Team Preview: Portland St. Patrick Shamrocks

PORTLAND - A dozen players return, including a trio of first team all-staters, making last year’s Division 4 state champion Portland St. Patrick one of the teams to beat this season in Division 4.

“Our expectations are the same as usual,” pointed out head coach Bryan Scheurer. “We expect to do ‘winning things’ and compete for regular and post-season championships.”

The return of Jerryd Scheurer, Charlie Thelen and Brady Leonard is a major reason why those goals are attainable. Scheurer, a two-time first team all-state shortstop, batted .500 with 55 runs, 29 RBIs and 48 stolen bases batting out of the leadoff position last season. The 12th-rated junior SS in Michigan also went 7-0 on the mound with 38 strikeouts and six walks in 32.1 innings, posting a 0.216 ERA and 0.649 WHIP, with opponents batting just .129.

Leonard was 12-0 on the hill with 95 Ks and 25 base on balls in 62.1 frames in earning first team all-state recognition, finishing with a 0.786 ERA and 0.882 WHIP with the opposition hitting .146.

Thelen, a left-handed hitting first-team all-state performer called “a leader and difference maker at catcher and at the plate” by the head coach of the Shamrocks, batted .382 with 15 extra-base hits including three home runs a year ago, driving in 40, scoring 42 and stealing 20 bases while producing 31 assists.

There are holes to fill with the loss to graduation of Brayden Simon (7-0, 71 Ks, 49 innings, 0.429 ERA, Kellogg CC), Simon White (LF), Nathan Fears (utility) and Grant Pline (OF), but Scheurer is confident St. Patrick has the potential for another impressive year coming off a 34-1 season.

“We have many key returners back at many key positions,” noted Scheurer. “We just have a really competitive group of kids that I’ve been fortunate enough to be around since they were in grade school. With a very similar group, they just won the 2025 state title in football and are currently putting together an extremely impressive basketball career.”

TJ Chamberlain (OF/P) and Hudson King (OF) are seniors being counted on this season with juniors Tyler Thelen (1B/LHP), Sean Fedewa (P/Utility), Logan Howe (3B/C/P), Isaiah Rockey (IF/P), Ben White (OF), Mason Simon (OF/LHP) and Caleb Pline (OF) bringing more promise to the squad.

Now with a 477-150 coaching record, Scheurer points to assistants Dan Thelen, Ben Brown and Mark Scheurer as “the best in the biz” as the Shamrocks look to make another run.

“We’re known as a ‘small ball’ team,” explained the head coach since 2005, who had teams reach the state finals in 2016 and won it all a year later. “We believe in getting people on base by any means necessary and then putting pressure on the defense in multiple ways that we deem the most situationally relevant."

“Defensively, our expectation is pretty simple. We throw strikes, make routine plays, and an occasional wow play, and shut down the opponent’s run game. We are consistently talking to our players to be competitors that affect winning in multiple ways.”

Scheurer points to staying healthy, especially the pitchers, and also staying hungry as the keys to success.

“Defending a title is always harder than winning one,” Scheurer said. “We were better on paper in 2018, after winning it in 2017, were ranked #1 all year, but didn't get out of districts. This will test our character, discipline and focus.”

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