The Highlander baseball team had its best start since the 2021-22 school year this year. Both the 2021-22 and 2024-25 teams started off with an 8-6 record. The 2021-22 had star pitcher Christian Aiello, who now plays for Rider University, who earned Four-Time First-Team All-Conference, and Two-Time First-Team All-County awards. Unfortunately, even with Aiello, the 2021-22 team still lost eight of their last nine games. The current Highlanders have avoided stumbling where the 2021-22 team fell, as they now have a record of 15-9
Senior catcher Christian Martinez has been one of the team’s best bats. He’s hitting .361, with fifteen RBIs, five walks, and four stolen bases. Junior Chase Tyburczy has been another one of the team’s best bats. He is crushing the ball, hitting .366 with a strong .695 slugging percentage, five home runs, twenty-two RBIs, eleven walks, thirteen stolen bases, and a triple.
On the other side, Tyburczy has been a lights out pitcher as well. He’s pitched a team high in both innings and strikeouts, with 39 innings thrown, striking out 50 batters. He also has a 4.13 ERA. Another junior pitcher, Cole Czerepak, has also been a phenomenal pitcher and has closed multiple games for the Highlanders. He comes in third on the team for innings pitched, with 34.1 innings, third in strikeouts with 29, and a 3.26 earned run average.
The team won the Big North Independence Division with a division record of 8-2. Passaic Valley was in first for most the year, until the Highlanders beat them by scores of 5-3 and 6-2. The Highlanders suffered a big loss to DePaul in the semi-final round of the Passaic County Tournament, and will host High Point today in the first round of states. It is the first time since the 2020-21 season that West Milford Baseball will host a state game.