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Preseason Power 25 Countdown: No. 25 La Crosse Aquinas

March 20, 2025
By Josh Fields
Wisconsin Staff

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: La Crosse Aquinas Blugolds
Preseason Rank: No. 25
Head Coach: Mike Dee
WIAA Division: 2
Conference: Mississippi Valley
Last Year’s Record: 25-4
2024 Season Highlights: WIAA D3 State Champions
Key Players Lost:

ROSTER PREVIEW

NAME STATE CLASS POS COMMITMENT
Isaac Schelfhout WI 2025 RHP/INF UW-Stevens Point (football)
Cullen Sackman WI 2025 OF -
Jacob Thornton WI 2025 C -
Kyle White WI 2025 1B -
Aedan David WI 2026 RHP/DH -
Waylon Hargrove WI 2026 RHP/OF -
Jonny Deets WI 2027 SS -
Landon Teachout WI 2027 OF/RHP -

X-FACTOR

MIF Jonny Deets (2027) returns as a second year starter and, with the graduation of star Eddie Peters, the Blugolds will be looking for a new shortstop and someone to fill in the void in the lineup. Deets is more than capable, adding strength and athleticism to an already strong and twitchy frame, Deets looks poised to build off his production from last year as he slides over to shortstop where he is more than a capable defender. At the plate, the bat-to-ball stands out effortlessly finding the barrel and driving the ball on a line to all fields. With the added strength, Deets’ flashed ability to impact the baseball more consistently.

TEAM OUTLOOK

The reigning WIAA Division 3 state champs are making the move up to D2 this upcoming season and they have the luxury of returning a large majority of their roster only losing three seniors from last season's squad. Led by one of the most experienced and winningest head coaches in Wisconsin, Mike Dee, the Blugolds have gone 147-27 and have been a perennial powerhouse in the state. Dee’s resume is obviously impressive inside of the WIAA, but he’s also became a legendary head coach in college as well, winning 10 Horizon League Coach of the Year awards during his tenure at the University of Illinois-Chicago, from 1999 to 2021.

So, while the Blugolds graduated three key members of last year’s squad, including their top bat and their top arm, a coach like Dee will keep them as competitive as ever while navigating their new D2 environment come playoff time.

Returning two-way RHP/DH Aedan David (2026) was named First Team All-Mississippi Valley as a sophomore after going a perfect 10-0 with a 0.82 ERA while hitting .511 serving as one of the top run producers in the lineup.

The roster features mostly familiar faces both on the mound and in the lineup. The lineup is led by a pair of seniors with three years of varsity experience C Jacob Thornton (2025) and OF Cullen Sackman (2025) who return as some of the top players in the conference.

Thornton is entering his third year as a starter, and his second as the starting catcher and caught the majority of games for them on their state run. The switch-hitting catcher returns a .373 average giving the Blugolds a key bat to lean on.

Sackman returns as a three year starter in center field. The left-handed hitting leadoff hitter was a Second Team All-Conference player in 2024 and played a key piece in the Blugolds success as a sophomore and junior.

Other experienced bats returning to the lineup include OF Waylon Hargrove (2026) and INF Kyle White (2025), with OF Landon Teachout (2027) looking to build off his performance in his second year on varsity.

On the mound, the Blugolds are deep with capable arms that performed beyond the aforementioned David, two-way outfielders Hargrove and Teachout return to the staff each holding an ERA under one while maintaining perfect records on the mound. Senior RHP Isaac Schelfhout (2025) will be another key arm, returning a 2-0 record and a 1.78 ERA.

BOTTOM LINE

The Blugolds return six starters from last year’s state championship lineup, and a number of their top arms from last year. The experience throughout the roster, paired with the coach pedigree of Mike Dee, the Blugolds look poised for another successful season in the Mississippi Valley.

Find more information on the 2025 La Crosse Aquinas program below:

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