Panther Baseball: 2025 Season Preview

As the 2025 Chaffey College baseball season rapidly approaches, head coach Andrew Smith is poised to lead the Panthers in their pursuit of an unprecedented third consecutive conference title and a deeper playoff run. Now entering his fourth season, Smith is optimistic that this year's team has the potential to compete with the best in the state and, if everything falls into place, should have an exciting season. 

Despite finishing the season with a strong 27-15 overall record (21-3 in conference), the Panthers entered the regional playoffs with less momentum than they had hoped for. The team had stumbled down the stretch, dropping two of their last three games, including a lopsided 24-14 loss to Pasadena City College and a narrow 6-4 defeat against Mt. San Jacinto College. This late-season slide proved costly in the playoffs, where the Panthers were eliminated by Riverside City College after losing the series 12-8 and 11-3. 

We caught up with Smith to discuss the upcoming 2025 season and what he most looks forward to. 

1. Question: Thank you for taking the time to join us, coach. Can you give our readers a quick recap of last season.

Andrew Smith: The 2024 squad accomplished something that hadn't been done since 2008, which is repeat as conference champs. We finished 21-3 in conference play, and 27-15 overall. We had a hitter clear the .400 average mark for the 3rd consecutive year (Tank Rodriguez), had an All-American for the 2nd year in a row (Ryder Young), and we committed 16 sophomores to 4-year institutions, including 5 to the NCAA D1 level (for the 2nd year in a row). Some other team highlights included top 10 in the state in stolen bases (2nd), ERA (5th), and Strikeouts (6th). 

Zac Tapia, our pitching coach, absolutely deserves a ton of credit for overseeing such a successful pitching staff in his first year as a collegiate pitching coach. 

2. Question: What were some of the negatives from last season, and moving forward, how do we improve those negatives or challenges into success?

Andrew Smith: Being bounced out of the playoffs in the first round, at home, for the second year in a row was disappointing. However, if there’s a silver lining, losing to solid programs like Fullerton College and Riverside City College was a really good learning opportunity for me as a coach, and the players as well.

We also need to be better when we are on the road. We were 9-10 last year when we travelled. I need to do a better job preparing the team to perform in different environments and when the spotlight is brightest, but I also feel like the personality of this team will shine brighter than in past years just based on the feel of the group.

I really like this group and can see them being a much more difficult offense to keep at bay. It is hard to imagine a staff ERA better than top 5 in the state, so it will be more about seeing some clutch pitching performances in big games from some guys.

3. Question: Matriculation is part of the game. It’s always bittersweet when a player moves on. Who were some of those players and what did they bring to the table? 

Andrew Smith: On the mound, we lost a handful of key arms including two starting pitchers Donnie Jackson (UCSB) and Brock Mayer (Point Loma). Brian Garcia, Josh Verkuilen (both at CSUSB). James Rivera (MVSU) and Damian Hernandez (UCR) were also key contributors over the last two seasons. All of those guys threw a ton of strikes and pitched with confidence, so that is not an easy component to replace. In the lineup, Jacob Billings (ULM) and Tank Rodriguez (CSUSB) were two feared hitters in our conference last year that will be missed. We will look to find that game-changing threat from other places this year. We were spoiled with our middle infield last year with Yahir Ramirez, Christian Mosqueda and Aaron Whobrey. Those 3 guys were exceptional defenders. We hope to come close to their level of consistency and game-changing ability with their gloves.

4. Question:Who do you expect or want to see step up and fill the shoes of the players that have left?   

Andrew Smith:  Ian Hoffstetter returns and is set to be an ace of our pitching staff after a dominant fall. He can really pitch and get hitters out, so we expect a big year from him. Newcomer Jackson Price is another exciting arm that we expect to be in our rotation. He is another division 1 caliber arm that will turn some heads this spring. Joe O Regan returns after an outstanding freshman campaign. He is committed to Cal State Bakersfield and we expect him to have another quality year for us. We have a handful or redshirt freshmen that we expect to contribute in big time ways, including Ryan Harrison (Upland HS). He is already drawing D1 interest and will be a key arm for us as well. 

Ryder Young returns as our all-American and is committed to Gonzaga University. We expect Ryder to have success with the bat again this year and will provide some defensive versatility for us as well. Newcomers Jaden St. Cyr, Jayden Sanchez, Dillon Smalls will be three exciting bats to watch this year. Eric Valdivia and Austin Easter return after missing the 2024 seasons, both of which had productive springs of 2023. 

We’ll look to Kaden Durazo and Derek Almeda to be staples in our infield and bring some athleticism and energy to the dirt.

5. Question: Please tell us about the new recruits. Who do need to keep an eye on. 

Andrew Smith: Two exciting sophomore transfers are outfielders Jaden St. Cyr and Jayden Sanchez. St. Cyr was a dominant player in the 3C2A last year, and UCR transfer Jayden Sanchez is an exceptional athlete that is already committed to UNLV. Both show some power, and impressive speed. We will look for them to set the table, get on base and wreak some havoc. Freshman Dillon Smalls had a spectacular fall and will be in the middle of our lineup and get innings on the mound as well. We expect him to provide some needed thump. Jackson Price and Kole Acker coming from the Pacific Northwest will be key contributors on the mound for us as well. 

Question 6: Based on the work you’ve put in offseason, how far do you think this team can go?

Andrew Smith: We need to just take it one game at a time. It’s fun group-we have some talent and athleticism, and we have plenty of depth. But we just need to focus on getting ready for Fullerton on Jan 24. 

At this point it’s just about setting a course and sticking with it through the ebbs and flows of season. We’ll see who rises when the going gets tough! We need to show it against the best competition in the state, and we play a very strong schedule early. 

Question 7: Are we a young or veteran team, or mixed? 

Mixed group for sure. We lack experience on the mound, and we don’t have a ton of returning starters, but we have plenty of older players that have played some good baseball. I look forward to seeing the leadership emerge from the guys and how the personality of the team really takes shape down the stretch. 

Last question for you coach, and again, thank you for your time. We are excited to see the team on the field and take on Fullerton College on Friday, January 24 at Chaffey College. With the first pitch at 1:00 p.m. What would you say is the biggest strength of this the team you have assembled?

Andrew Smith: I like this athleticism of this group. We have a lot of speed, we have a lot of guys that can hit. It’s the deepest lineup we’ve had in my time here. So it will really come down to playing clean baseball and not trying to do too much. They have fun playing together, bring great energy to the field, and know they can play with anyone in the state. Now it will come down to proving it and overcoming the inevitable adversity we will face.