Bear River still unbeaten as league play begins

The 2025 prep baseball season is moving along with multiple teams beginning league play this week across the Sac-Joaquin Section. There is still plenty of baseball left to be played but a strong start is crucial with only a few playoff spots up for grabs. One of the hottest teams in the region entering the week are the Bear River Bruins, who sit at 5-0 with three shutout victories after Friday's 5-0 triumph over Twelve Bridges in Lincoln. Bear River coach Russell Brackett has high expectations this season and says that this is the season that it has been building up to for the last few years. "Coming from a small school, it takes time to build sometimes. You're not getting this big influx of guys all the time," Brackett said. "We lost our JV team this year. Just didn't have a lot of players. We got 16 total in the whole program, but these kids know how to play baseball the right way and they're going about the business the right way." What Bear River lacks in numbers it makes up for in work ethic and fundamentals. Brackett noted that there are few teams that are working harder than the Bruins and that everyone shows up eager to learn and ready to get better every day. "It's just one of those things that you get excited about as a coach when you have a team like this," Brackett said. "They've really bought into our culture and our program." Leading the charge for this season is Bear River ace and Cal Poly commit Kaden Nicholls, who is regarded as one of the top pitchers in Northern California. The junior southpaw was dominant in the Bruins' win over Twelve Bridges, hurling six shutout innings and striking out 10 while allowing five hits. In three appearances this season, Nicholls is 3-0 with 33 strikeouts in 17 innings. He has surrendered just eight hits and walked three without allowing a run. Nicholls says that he thinks that the Bruins have potential to do some great things this season and feels that the chemistry this year is the best that it's been since he has been on campus. "I'm super happy with this team. We're better than we were last year. All of us have gotten to practice way more. I'm super grateful that I get to play another year with these guys," Nicholls said. Nicholls also added that the Bruins have the pieces for a deep playoff run and they are fueled by an early exit in the last two postseasons. "We feel we can win a section title," said Nicholls. Brackett agrees, and he has used the early exit as motivation as well and said that the kids understand that this is their opportunity to go down in history as a championship team. "There is that fire that burns from last year. They were frustrated. We were the only one seed to get knocked out in the first round last year and they took that to heart. That one hurt them a lot because it ended so abruptly and it was tough," Brackett said. "We talked about it a lot, especially before the season. I told them that we've got to turn the page." Brackett says one of the biggest strengths that this team has is pitching and noted that Cooper Berry, Seamus McKeown and Charlie Smith round out a strong staff that will be toeing the slab this season. "Anytime Kaden is throwing you always have a chance to win a baseball game. I mean, he has off days just as much as anybody, but he's such a competitor," Brackett said. "We're much deeper when it comes to pitching. We were very young last year. Now we have two seniors with experience and two sophomores that might have been on the JV if we had one, but we don't, so they're going to come up and they're going to compete." Brackett is also excited about the hitting this year and says that he believes the team will have no problem getting run support for its strong pitching staff. Through five games, Bear River has four hitters with five or more hits with Berry leading the way with seven hits and eight RBIs. Brackett said that the strong offense is another testament to the work that they have put in all offseason and that the team is taking a different approach at the plate and are aggressive two-strike hitters. The Bruins begin Pioneer Valley League play with a tough test, facing defending NorCal champion and two-time D-III section champion Oakmont on Thursday and Friday. After that the Bruins will visit East Nicolaus on Mar. 18.