'All our lives for this': Caden Andreas leads five Ridgeline baseball seniors on 'last ride' through GSL | 2026 Spring High School Sports Preview

Throughout Caden Andreas’ four years on varsity, the Ridgeline baseball team has been that scrappy team that no one wants to play when there’s something on the line. No one embodies that more than Andreas himself.

Despite not standing 6-foot tall, Andreas recently became the Greater Spokane League’s sixth all-time leading scorer in basketball. It’s that determination and relentless pursuit of perfection that he carries over to his “first sport” of baseball.

“He is a special, talented player,” Ridgeline fifth-year coach Jeramie Maupin said. “It’s his work ethic, his drive, wanting to be the best. I don’t know, maybe being a little smaller he’s got a little chip on his shoulder.”

After a couple of seasons of fighting for every win, and growing together with a solid nucleus, the Falcons finally broke through with their first berth to the state playoffs last year. That trip lasted just one game, and it left the program hungry for more this season.

But they won’t be sneaking up on anyone. In an informal poll of GSL coaches, the Falcons were picked no lower than fourth, with several first-place ballots. It’s a veteran group, with five seniors – all of whom have been four-year varsity players and All-GSL picks.

“It’s honestly pretty cool,” senior Charlie Lynn said. “Because we were all freshman and sophomores on varsity, just scrapping and clawing for wins, and now we’ve all worked really hard and developed really well, and now to be one of the favorites is really cool.”

“We know what’s at stake this season,” Andreas said. “Us five seniors – we’ve worked all our lives for this. We’ve been playing together all our lives. So we know this is last ride, last chance to go get state. We really want it. We’ve been working for it. It was a really good team those first couple years, but I think that was just the start. We were really like a new team coming in. Our record wasn’t that great. They didn’t really show on paper, but we all knew that all it took was time.”

“We’ve had this group of five that came up as freshmen,” Maupin said. “They got us that first .500 season (in 2024), and they were young, but scrappy. And then we kind of built from that, and we filled in pieces. … They’ve just matured and built over the years, and now they’re finally seniors, and they’ve been marking that day since they were freshmen. It’s exciting to see them grow and see what they can do this year.”

Andreas is the defending league offensive player of the year and first-team All-State. Third base Mikey Macall was first-team All-GSL and second-team all-state. Lynn (P/OF) and Ben Wartinger (P/2B) were first-team league picks and catcher Nolan Wohl was an honorable mention. All will play college baseball – Andreas committed to Northwest Nazarene, Wohl at Olympic Community College and the other three at Tacoma CC.

“I mean, there’s a lot of people that get cocky and arrogant thinking about college,” Andreas said. “But man, I just want to make the most of my high school career. I know that this is it. I know that it’s all gone by in the blink of an eye, and I know this year is going to go by in the blink of eye. So I’ve just got to make the most of it. It’s the bus rides, it’s going to dinners after the games. I’ve got to make the most of it, because I know in college it’ll be a fresh start. I’ll be the freshman again. It’s a whole different world.”

As the seventh seed to last year’s District 6 3A tournament, the Falcons upset second-seeded Central Valley in the first round and sixth-seeded University in the semifinal to qualify for state. But they lost to top-seeded Kennewick in the district title game, then as the 20th and final seed in the state tournament lost to 12th-seeded Shorewood 5-3 in the state play-in game.

“Last year, it hurt, man,” Andreas said. “We knew that we shouldn’t have lost our first game in the state playoffs. We knew that we had more in the tank, but it just didn’t work out in our favor. And now that it’s our last year, we really know that it’s time to go. We can’t make those mistakes like we did last year. We learned from them. We’re ready to go now.”

“They’ve set their goals pretty high this year, which is great. We got that taste (of state) last year,” Maupin said. “Early in the year, I don’t know if they would have all said, ‘Yeah, we’re going to play at state.’ I don’t know if they would have realistically thought that that was an achievable goal or not. But then getting there, kind of peaking at the right time – easily that game could have went either way.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way, but now they know what it takes to get there, what it looks like when you get there, and so it’s just kind of that next step in the progression.”

It has historically been a struggle for GSL baseball teams in the postseason – no Spokane team has ever won a state title.

“It’s something that we are kind of aware of,” Lynn said. “And it’s honestly pretty motivating to have a team compete this year, even in the Final Four, because we do have some really good baseball over here.”

The Falcons offense “is stacked,” according to Andreas, who is the leadoff hitter and shortstop. He’s the catalyst to everything the Falcons do offensively and defensively.

“My favorite thing in the world is to compete,” he said. “And as that leadoff spot, I love getting my team going. I love getting us started. It’s just the adrenaline you feel at the start of the game. It’s all on you. I love it. There’s nothing else like it.”

That adrenaline helped him on the basketball court, where it’s 100% on the gas at all times. Andreas contrasts the two sports.

“Baseball, to me, is 100% more mental. The thing with basketball is it goes so quick you have to flush it and get on the next play. But baseball, you just sit out there and think about how you’re gonna improve next time and what are you are gonna do next time. So that’s one of the hardest parts of the game, is the mental side.”

Maupin lauds his leadoff hitter as a “lead by example” type, but that he doesn’t shy away when others need one-on-one help.

“We have a freshman, and I’m talking to his parents the other day,” Maupin said. “I asked them how they thought their son felt tryouts went, and they said he was really nervous until he got to practice. But Caden walked him through everything and helped him, and he said he felt so much better, so much more comfortable after.”

“I love being a leader. I feel like this isn’t my first time being a leader, just because I’m a senior,” Andreas said. “I’ve been a leader ever since my sophomore year, ever since I got that confidence. And it’s my favorite thing in the world, helping the young guys get confidence, knowing that it’s just a game. We’re all here to have fun and to not worry so much. And playing loose, playing confident is the best you can do.”

Andreas has a board set up at home with some of his personal goals for the year. After leading the league in hits last year with 39 he wants to reach 45 this year. He wants All-State again. And obviously, he wants the Falcons to go further at state. But his last goal may be his loftiest – he wants to commit three or fewer errors this season.

The Spokane weather may have something to say about that.

“Something I really take pride in is my defense,” he said. “Some of my goals I can’t really control. I had my mom and dad tell me that the other day. To me, if I don’t get a hit, it’s on me. But I’ve got to know that I can’t control it. But I know that if I compete and I play at my best, I’ll get everything I want.”