By Alex Rychwalski
Cumberland Times-News
Northern, Frankfort and Allegany combined for 11 selections to the first team, and nine different schools were represented on the 2025 Cumberland Times-News All-Area baseball team.
The squad was chosen at a meeting of the area’s head coaches on Monday. Six coaches attended the meeting, and 12 nominated players to be considered.
Senior-laden Northern, which finished with an area-best 18-3 record, led the way with five players named to the first team. Maryland Class 1A state champion Allegany and West Virginia Class AAA runner-up Frankfort slotted three players each, and East Hardy, Fort Hill and Southern tallied one each.
Petersburg, Keyser and Mountain Ridge had players named to the second team.
First Team
Pitchers
A pair of award winners and the area’s ERA champ made up the three-team pitching staff.
Frankfort junior Lanson Orndorf, the Potomac Valley Conference Player of the Year and a Class AAA All-State first-teamer, was selected as Area Player of the Year. He makes the All-Area first team for a second time.
The right-handed University of Charleston commit finished with a 7-3 record, two saves and a 2.85 ERA in 66 1/3 innings pitched. He struck out an area-best 76 and walked 14.
Allegany sophomore right-hander Kohen Madden was voted Pitcher of the Year. His 1.40 ERA ranked third locally, and he went 5-1 with a save with 62 strikeouts to 21 walks in 50 innings of work.
Northern junior right-hander Landon Yoder rounded out the staff. His 0.38 earned run average led the area for players who threw at least 30 innings. Yoder had a 6-0 record and allowed just two earned runs in 37 2/3 innings pitched, striking out 33 and walking five.
Catcher
Southern junior Reece Tasker is the first-team catcher after hitting safely 20 times in 50 at-bats for a .400 average with six doubles, one triple, two home runs, 12 RBIs and nine runs scored.
Infield
A pair of first basemen and a pair of shortstops were named to the first-team infield.
Northern first baseman Wally Brands was the lone senior selected to the position group. Brands had a .405 average with four doubles, a home run, 23 RBIs and 29 runs.
Brands, who made the first team as a sophomore and was second team last year, was admitted to the United States Naval Academy, where he will hope to continue his baseball career.
Fellow Western Maryland Athletic Conference first baseman, Allegany’s Kane Williams, lands on the top squad after establishing himself as one of the area’s premier power hitters.
The left-handed hitting sophomore batted .397 with four home runs, five triples, six doubles, 29 RBIs and 26 runs.
It will be Williams’ final season at Allegany, as he is transferring to Morgantown next year.
Junior shortstops Evan Hamilton of East Hardy and Blake Jacobs of Frankfort make their second straight appearance on the top team.
Hamilton, who captained the Class A All-State team for the state title-winning Cougars, batted .485 adding 10 doubles, nine triples, five home runs, 24 RBIs, 44 runs scored and 28 stolen bases in 29 games.
Jacobs, a Class AAA All-Stater, hit .412 with 11 doubles, a triple, four homers, 33 RBIs, 45 runs and 20 stolen bases.
Outfield
A trio of seniors return to the first-team outfield, though one, Allegany’s Myles Bascelli, made the squad as a pitcher in 2024.
Bascelli started slow but ended with a .317 average, tallying seven doubles, a triple, a home run, 13 RBIs, 32 runs scored and 12 stolen bases.
The center fielder and lead-off man for the state titleist Campers, Bascelli likely possessed the strongest arm of an outfielder this season.
Northern senior Luke Ross, the WestMAC Player of the Year, led all outfielders with a .435 batting average. He doubled six times and tripled once, driving in 15 runs, scoring 32 times himself and swiping 18 bases.
Frankfort’s Jacob Nething, who was Class AAA All-State first team, returns to the All-Area first team following a season in which he recorded a .390 average, nine doubles, three triples, two home runs, 35 RBIs and 34 runs.
Utility
The area batting champ and a senior who relinquished his starting catching spot to get another bat in the lineup made the squad as utility players.
Fort Hill sophomore Bobby Brauer was tops locally with a .541 average to go along with five doubles, two triples, 12 RBIs, 20 runs scored and 18 stolen bases.
Northern senior Liam Stewart started the season as a catcher but moved to second base to get Hunter Livengood’s bat in the lineup. He finished with a .390 average, adding two doubles, 11 RBIs and 15 runs.
Designated Hitter
Northern sophomore Jake Chambers was picked as the first-team DH. He hit .350 with three doubles, a triple, a home run, 18 runs batted in and 18 runs scored.
Second Team
The second-team pitchers are Northern left-handed senior Robert Deatelhauser, Frankfort right-handed junior Jaxon Hare and Southern left-handed sophomore Cade Leader.
Fort Hill sophomore Jake Rice is the second-team catcher.
Three seniors made the second-team infield: Southern’s Brayden Upole, Northern’s Cole Folk and Petersburg’s Peyton Tingler. Allegany sophomore Cole Ricker and Petersburg freshman Payton Metheny round out the unit.
Northern seniors Devin McKenzie and Nick Riley and Southern senior Jared Haskiell are the second-team outfielders.
Allegany senior Landyn Ansel, who is signed to Davis and Elkins, and Keyser junior Lucas Williamson received the nod as utility men.
The designated hitters are Mountain Ridge sophomore John Delaney and East Hardy sophomore Garrett VanMeter.
Honorable Mention
Pitcher: Carson Bender (Fort Hill), Rhett Sensabaugh (Frankfort); Catcher: Justin Wakefield (Allegany), Hunter Harr (Keyser), Oliver Crites (Moorefield); Infield: Jackson Resh (Allegany), Mason Hamilton (East Hardy), Colt Resh (Fort Hill), Lane Lease (Frankfort), Brayden Hott (Hampshire), Cam Larkin (Keyser), Lukas Wolford (Petersburg), Ryan Bird (Southern); Outfield: Eli Imes (Allegany), Coye Resh (Fort Hill), Uriah Cutter (Frankfort), Channing Wilt (Hampshire), Mikey Mongold, Landon Tysinger (Keyser); Utility: Lucas Davy (Keyser).
