Butler County baseball all-stars: Meet the 2026 player of the year, first team, honorable mentions
Nolan Stefaniak’s last game wearing a Butler baseball uniform wasn’t an accurate representation of his senior season.
The senior pitcher and Penn State commit threw 5.2 innings, allowing seven hits and seven runs (six earned), in a PIAA Class 6A title game loss to Neshaminy.
“They were really pesky hitters,” Golden Tornado coach Josh Forbes said. “But I bet you he wishes that he was just perfect. He probably wishes he threw a perfect game or a no-hitter and it was just one of the best things ever. That’s just because he’s an uber-competitor.
MLB scouts clocked Stefaniak all season. His fastball touched 97 mph during the state final. With such talent came very high regard.
“If he ends up getting drafted, that’s great,” Forbes said. “If not, he’s gonna have a great career at Penn State and probably further on after that.”
Forbes added: “Just handling all of the added expectations. It’s so easy to go into a season with all of these expectations and not live up to it. And, let alone, just live up to them and just be like, ‘He was OK. He had a 1.50 ERA. He gave up 20 runs or whatever.’ It’d be a pretty good season for a lot of high school pitchers.”
According to statistics on MaxPreps, Stefaniak went 8-2 with a 1.18 ERA. He turned in 59.1 innings of work on the hill, striking out 85 and walking 18. At the plate, Stefaniak had a .364 batting average with 20 RBIs, 10 extra-base hits and two homers.
“He lived up to the expectations and then exceeded them,” Forbes said. “Not only as a pitcher, but as a hitter. He led our average for most of the year, he had the (second-most) RBIs on the team, on base almost 50% of the time. Just all around exceeded expectations as a baseball player.”
Kason Barker, sr., OF, Freeport: Barker, a first-team WPIAL all-section honoree, batted .424 with six extra-base hits, 22 RBIs and 24 runs scored during his farewell campaign with the Yellowjackets.
“(He) played a Gold Glove center field for his third position started in three years,” Freeport coach Ed Carr said.
Trent Best, jr., 1B, Butler: Part of an offense that powered the Golden Tornado the whole way through WPIALs and to the PIAA title game, Best slashed .373/.490/.480. His batting average and on-base percentage were tops for Forbes’ crew.
Gage Blystone, jr., P/3B, Freeport: Blystone went 7-0 on the mound for the ’Jackets, posting a 1.89 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP and 41 strikeouts during the regular season. For his efforts, he was named a first-team all-section hurler.
At the plate, Blystone hit .324 and drove in 20 runs.
Ashton Bricker, fr., UTIL/P, Freeport: Expect to hear Bricker’s name a good bit during the upcoming baseball seasons. The newcomer broke out by hitting .381 with four home runs — including a walk-off to the deepest part of Freeport’s field — and 11 extra-base hits. He also accounted for 25 RBIs and 24 runs.
Kyle Casteel, sr., P, Butler: Yes, there were two.
Casteel, a West Virginia commit and fellow possible MLB draft pick, would’ve been the unquestioned ace on just about any other prep team in the area, but shared that distinction with Stefaniak. Casteel went 10-0 with a 0.64 ERA over 65.2 innings. He struck out 103 batters and walked only 11. Sheesh.
Mavrik Clement, sr., C., Butler: Clement, a Pitt pledge, slashed .312/.485/.610 with 14 RBIs and three homers, putting his own stamp on a historic campaign for his program. Maybe most impressively, he handled Stefaniak and Casteel day in and day out. His glove is almost certainly worn out by now.
Dawson Cook, sr., P/SS, Moniteau: Cook, a two-way standout, was the engine behind the Warriors’ District 9 title run. Offensively, he batted .403 with 16 RBIs. Defensively, he had a 1.000 fielding percentage.
On the mound, Cook struck out 97 in 71 innings pitched, posting a 1.77 ERA.
Cole Johnston, jr., OF, Karns City: Johnston, who’s also a dual-threat quarterback for the school’s football team, hadn’t played organized baseball for three years, but returned to join the Gremlins this season. He wound up being an impact player, putting up a .400 batting average, five doubles, three triples, three homers and 21 RBIs.
Jacob Kunsman, sr., 3B, Slippery Rock: Kunsman had as strong an offensive effort as anyone on this list, pinning up a .452 batting average with four home runs. He also had a 1.423 on-base plus slugging percentage for a crew that reached the District 10 Class 4A postseason.
Trey Schreckengost, jr., C, Freeport: Schreckengost, who returned from a bout with sciatica this spring, earned Section Player of the Year plaudits, hitting .455 with nine extra-base hits, 21 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.
Behind the plate, he threw out 10 of the 20 baserunners who tried swiping a base on his watch.
Gavin Tola, jr., 2B, Freeport: Tola, who Carr described as “the engine of the offense,” had a .397 batting effort with a .561 on-base percentage. He also stole 22 bases, banged out seven extra-base hits and scored 27 runs for the ’Jackets, who enjoyed a nearly spotless regular season.
Luke Whitfield, jr., SS, Freeport: A first-team all-section performer, Whitfield “battled back pain for section play and still hit .385,” Carr said. Whitfield added nine extra-base hits — three clearing the fences — 17 RBIs and 14 runs scored.
Colton Christie, sr., P, Karns City; Bryce Covert, sr., 1B, Slippery Rock; Trent Fleming, sr., SS/P, A-C Valley/Union; Boden Lenyk, sr., IF, Butler; Isaac McCandless, sr., P, Slippery Rock; Danny Murray, jr., SS, Mars; Micah Olayer, sr., 1B, Seneca Valley; Doug Popovec, sr., CF, Slippery Rock; Cam Slater, so., C, Karns City; Owen Westendorf, so., P/1B, Freeport
Nominations and statistics from Knoch and North Catholic were not received.
