Pitchers Benton Hickman ’25 and Jack Lafflam ’25 are both committed to play D1 Baseball at the University of Arizona, a college that has won 4 NCAA Championships and has made 18 College World Series appearances. 

“The pitching coaches that they have, they are top notch and that was also a big draw for me,” said Hickman.

“I committed my sophomore year. The program was a little different back then, but it’s gotten even better,” said Lafflam. “How much they care about their players and how they run their organization and again close to home and a really competitive environment.”

Kevin Vance oversees the pitching staff at the University of Arizona. Under his direction, all three of the Wildcats weekend starters won Pac-12 All-Conference selections. 

In terms of how the current season is going, both Hickman and Lafllam say things are heading in a good direction. “I think there’s a bunch of uncertainty with this team compared to last year, so we take it one game at a time,” Hickman said. “I feel like the younger guys in our lineup are starting to gel together and come together and really accept the roles of what they’re going to be doing throughout the year.”

The goal of the team this year is to take it one game at a time, and see how far they go. The ultimate goal is of course to always aim for a State title.

Hickman was named the Premier Region Defensive Player of the Year and made the AzBCA First Team All State team. Lafflam was an All-Premier First-Team selection and AIA 6A Conference second-team all-state choice Lafflam will be the first four-year varsity player on Brophy’s team since 2005.

In the 2024 season, the baseball team was the State Runner Up at the AIA 6A Championships.