Benedictine won state titles in 2014 and 2018, and reached the finals in 2021, when the Cadets lost to Marist in the senior year of Carter Holton, who went on to star at Vanderbilt and is now a pitcher in the minor leagues for the Braves, who picked him in the second round of the 2024 MLB Draft.
Pascual took over after Kevin Farmer stepped down as the Cadet coach after a stellar career following the 2023 season. This Cadet squad is winning behind a mix of veteran leadership and an influx of young talent.'s
The Cadets have a senior leader at catcher in Mason Diamond, who has signed with South Georgia State College. Senior pitcher Colvin Proto has signed with Marion Military Institute, while classmate Mason O'Neil, a standout first baseman and pitcher, is headed to Flagler College.
Junior shortstop Omari Burse has been on fire at the plate — the University of Alabama-Birmingham commit is hitting .500 with a pair of homers, 18 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases.
"I've empowered our seniors to lead our team, and they have been doing a great job," Pascual said. "And they all have been keys to our success. "Omari (Burse) has tremendous athletic ability, as he has also shown on the football field. He is off to a great start and is so important to our team. The younger guys, led by the Harris twins, have come out and played great all-around baseball. They are special players."
The Cadet youth movement is led by the Harris twins, Noah and Landen. The standout sophomores have burst on the scene in their first year on the varsity. Noah Harris leads off and plays second base and pitcher. He is hitting .542 with nine extra base hits and 22 RBIs. A right-hander who bats left like his twin, Noah is 4-0 on the mound with a 1.11 ERA.
"I think our culture has been the key," said Diamond, who is hitting .346 with two home runs and 16 RBIs. "We're playing for each other instead of just playing as an individual. I think we can hit from the top down in our lineup. That's our biggest jump forward from last year"
Diamond's assessment is spot on, as the Cadets are averaging 10.6 runs per game. Proto, a senior pitcher whose father, Mike, is the Cadet pitching coach, loves the run support from his teammates. He pitched four scoreless innings in a 13-0 Region 1-4A win over Warner Robins on Friday as he improved to 5-1 this season.
"I've gotten better with my command of my off speed stuff and I'm getting ahead early in the counts, which has been a game changer," Colvin Proto said. "I added a cutter in the offseason. I've been playing with Mason (Diamond) since we were 10 years old, so we're really close. We have an energy around our team this year, everyone loves each other and we hang out outside of baseball. It's that camaraderie that has built us."
The outfield has a group that has stepped in as key contributors with Joiner Uhrich, Jadon Muller, Ike Ross, and Ben Kleinpeter all seeing time. Sophomore Elliott Zeigler has also stepped up at third base.
Mason O'Neil, a lefty on the mound and at the plate, who also plays first base, earned the win in the second game Friday over Warner Robins as the Cadets rolled to a 12-0 victory in a game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule. He threw four innings to earn the win as he improved to 2-0 and lowered his ERA to 2.00. He is hitting .348 with two homers and 12 RBIs.
O'Neil, who is headed to St. Augustine to play at Flagler next year, said everything seems to be clicking with all aspects of the team this year.
"Coach Pascual believes in us," O'Neil said. "He puts the lineup up in the dugout and just lets us do our thing and play," O'Neil said. "He knows how to manage everything. And it's insane the way we've been hitting, everybody is hitting, even the guys coming off the bench. We've just got a great energy going, everyone is playing free."