The 2025 Wisconsin high school baseball season is quickly approaching and, as usual, excitement is abound throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across the Badger State.

Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in their respective WIAA Division State Championship, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams with this initial Preseason Power 25 release which will take us right up to first pitch.

Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across Wisconsin. Each week we will be releasing our Power 25, Players of the Week, Diamond Notes, Scout Blog and much more.

Our 2025 preseason coverage continues today.

High School: Monona Grove Silver Eagles
Preseason Rank: 2
Head Coach: Kevin Connor
WIAA Division: 1
Conference: Badger Large
Last Year’s Record: 22-8
2024 Season Highlights: Back-to-back conference champs, sectional finalist; broke program records in team batting average, runs scored, hits, home runs, and team fielding percentage.
Key Players Lost:

• OF Nick Guidici (Parkland JC)
• RHP Reece Chynoweth
• RHP Auden Jatczak (Wisconsin Lutheran College)

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ROSTER PREVIEW

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X-FACTOR

INF/RHP Kaden Connor (North Dakota State commit) is going to be crucial to the Silver Eagles’ success this season because, if there’s one area our No. 2-ranked squad is “light,” it’s probably in its on-mound depth. They have one of the top-ranked juniors in the Midwest all set as its frontline ace, but after that, they’ll need two-ways like Connor to grab hold of the Nos. 2 and 3 spots in the rotation. Connor is more than capable of that though, as he covered some of the most important relief work in 2024, in addition to starting, and we’ll see how he’s deployed as an arm in 2025. He’s not far removed from being the 2023 conference pitcher of the year, either.

Either way, Connor’s best asset is probably his defensive versatility, capable of playing either spot on the left side of the infield soundly, which he’ll be asked to rotate through regularly. The North Dakota State recruit’s left-handed swing is also sure to feature in the middle of this lineup again in 2025, and he adds to one of the most competitive lineups in the WIAA.

Monona Grove’s season hinges on the depth and experience this Class of 2025 has gained after successful seasons in 2023 and 2024, and now it’s time to bring it all together.

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NEWCOMER TO WATCH

1B/RHP Eli Bauler (2027) saw plenty of action as a freshman in 2024, but he’s got a pivotal role in this Monona Grove squad in 2025 now, bringing back valuable experience while paving over the run production lost from the graduation of several key members of the ‘24 class. Bauler’s left-handed swing is fierce, fast, and physical, and he could wind up being one of the most powerful sluggers in the state as soon as this year, which only further adds to the threat the Silver Eagles will pencil into the daily lineup.

At the Madison ID last month, Bauler generated some of the highest average bat speed of the winter (76.7 mph), that in combination with his natural strength and 6-foot-1, 215-pound stature resulted in some exit speeds into the upper-90s, and with relative ease.

Meanwhile, he can also pump strikes on the mound with low- to mid-80s velocity, and his development on the mound might be even more important to Monona Grove’s season outlook, so we’ll see how that progresses this spring.

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TEAM OUTLOOK

“There is a special buzz surrounding this season as we have geared up. Players are excited to get after it as well as the coaching staff. The key will be can we lock in one day at a time and not get ahead of ourselves? Time will tell, but like every spring, we are looking forward to getting to work with our seniors one more time and give them the best high school baseball experience we can.” – Kevin Connor, head coach

What Monona Grove achieved in 2024 was special, even though they fell just short of a trip to Appleton in a sectional finals loss to Sun Prairie East. Last year’s Silver Eagles set program records in all kinds of offensive categories, from batting average, to hits, runs, homers, and even fielding percentage.

We’ve got Monona Grove up this high though – not because of what they accomplished in 2024 – but because of what they’re bringing back in 2025.

Notably, we’ll start with senior backstop Terek Verhage (St. Thomas, MN), who was the Badger Large Player of the Year in 2024 as he finished the season hitting .343 with 11 extra-base hits and he drove in 28 runs with the help of finding some more power in his left-handed stroke. He’s long showed us advanced defense from behind the plate, both as a mobile receiver and willing blocker, but one who’s also armed with big arm strength. His offensive leap in 2024 helped the Silver Eagles achieve big things last spring, but yet another jump at the plate could carry them even farther this year.

Verhage will be batterymates with MG ace Calvin Moreau (Central Florida), who is one of the very best juniors in Wisconsin. At 6-foot-3, 186 pounds, Moreau has obvious physicality, but he’s also one of the most athletic players in the state too, especially for his stature. At last year’s Future Games, while representing Team Wisconsin, he ran a 6.64, jumped over 35 inches in the vertical, and big bat speed and bat strength. He’s also equally as impressive on the mound with upper-80s velo last summer and a wipeout slider he trusts fully. And on top of it all, Moreau will captain the infield from shortstop when he’s not on the mound, where he moves especially well for his build.

He was the conference’s pitcher of the year in 2024, and he has a chance to be one of the best players in the entire state on both sides of the ball this spring, boosting Monona Grove’s chances at clinching a spot at state, and he’d become one of the last arms the opposition would want to face in Appleton.

We’ve highlighted a handful of the players we expect to be the key day-to-day performers for this squad, but Monona Grove’s biggest asset is the number of talent inside its daily order, and it goes beyond the four we’ve referenced to this point.

The returning seniors here like Verhage, Connor, OF/RHP Carson Coyle (St. Mary’s, MN), INF/RHP Dom Najacht (St. Mary’s, MN), and RHP/INF Noah Schaller (Kent State Tuscarwas) really help set the foundation for another special spring in Monona Grove.

Coyle really impressed at our inaugural Wisconsin State Games last August, with some right/right athleticism and strength in a 6-foot-1, 190-pound build. He ran a respectable 7.37 with a near-30-inch vertical and his throws from the outfield topped 91 mph which played in the low- to mid-80s on the mound, all while generating a power-type contact profile in BP. Najacht, who’s also committed to St. Mary’s (MN), was also in attendance at the State Games where he showed strong bat-to-ball skills from a simple right-handed swing, and he too is listed right around the same height/weight as his teammate Coyle, adding to this lineup size and strength.

Senior righty Schaller is a returning second-team all-conference pitcher making his way back into the rotation in 2025, and the depth he provides on the mound will really help this team hold ground once conference play kicks up inside the competitive Badger Large. It’s a low-80s fastball with strikes and he can hold his own in the batter’s box from the left-handed box when called on.

More seniors like OF Chase Yinko, UTL/RHP Drew Larsen, OF Mason Wiese, INF/RHP Trey Hauge, and C/RHP Logan Johnson further highlight the depth inside the daily lineup, underscoring how competitive this group will be.

We mentioned the sophomore Bauler as a two-way piece the Silver Eagles will need in 2025, but INF Luke Chynoweth (2027) is another returner here who saw the field as a freshman last season. He made the most of his playing time as a freshman, which made him a regular presence in the lineup more and more as the season went on. He’s a competitive at-bat and he can relieve Verhage from behind the plate when he needs a rest, otherwise he’ll fit in on the infield in a variety of positions, wherever they need him.

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BOTTOM LINE

There might not be a team returning as many quality innings and runs scored as Monona Grove is in 2025, coming off a 22-win spring in which they fell just short of a state tourney berth. They’re so close, and this Class of 2025 knows that, making them a worthy bet to capture more than just the Badger Large this spring, they have their sights set on Appleton – though head coach Connor knows this group just has to take it “one day at a time.”

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Find more information on the 2025 Monona Grove program below:

• Follow the Silver Eagles on X: @MG_Baseball1

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