The First Academy baseball starts season ranked No. 24 in the nation

Following an appearance in the final four last season, the addition of a new coach and a heap of returning starters, the Royals are primed for another big season.

By Sam Albuquerque
| 12:00 a.m. February 21, 2025

The First Academy senior catcher, Austin Pierzynski (No. 12), will be a huge factor with his bat and behind the plate for the Royals this season.

Sports
High Schools

In the first edition of MaxPreps’ national high school baseball rankings for the 2025 season, The First Academy (4-1) was the lone area program — and one of six teams from Florida — included in the list, coming in at No. 24.

Considering the various college-level players that are returning from the Royals’ 2024 team, which finished the season 24-7 and reached the Class 2A final four, and the addition of new coach Alan Kunkel — who brings not only college coaching experience but high school championship-winning experience to the TFA dugout — it’s easy to understand the buzz around the 2025 version of this club.

Expect familiar names like Remo Indomenico, an Oklahoma State signee, Austin Pierzynski, a UAB commit, and Blake Fields to lead the way for Kunkel’s squad while keeping an out eye for emerging stars like sophomore Kinon Bastian — who has started the season on fire, batting .500 (5-for-10) with an OBP of .688, six runs scored, two runs batted in, one home run and five stolen bases.

author

Sam Albuquerque

A native of João Pessoa, Brazil, Sam Albuquerque moved in 1997 to Central Florida as a kid. After earning a communications degree in 2016 from the University of Central Florida, he started his career covering sports as a producer for a local radio station, ESPN 580 Orlando. He went on to earn a master’s degree in editorial journalism from Northwestern University, before moving to South Carolina to cover local sports for the USA Today Network’s Spartanburg Herald-Journal. When he’s not working, you can find him spending time with his lovely wife, Sarah, newborn son, Noah, and dog named Skulí.