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This weekend won't be East Valley graduate Brandon Stone's first Washington All-State Baseball Series, even if he's finally suiting up and taking the field with the state's best ballplayers.

Stone has spent a few June weekends helping game director Jesse Benedetti with anything the former EV baseball coach needed, whether it was keeping a scorebook or field maintenance in between the two annual doubleheaders at Parker Faller Field.

"It was pretty cool; they bring the best guys in the state in and you get to watch," Stone said over the phone Tuesday. "I always wanted myself to be down there, and to get to do it will be pretty cool."

The future Washington State Cougar will be one of 16 Division I signees to play for one of four teams that will face off on Saturday and Sunday, with Stone's Team Baker playing the opener at 10:15 a.m. Saturday against Team Adams. Team Rainier and Team St. Helens will play at 1:45 p.m., and the two losers will play a third-place game at 10:15 a.m. Sunday followed by a championship game at 1:45. Kittitas' Terrance Huber, the Valley's lone other participant, will compete for Team Adams before starting his college career at Big Bend.

"I look at it as an honor just to be selected, to be surrounded by so many other top players; I'm just grateful for the opportunity" the 2025 CWAC MVP said. "Games like this can only make you better; everyone has the same drive and goals as you."

Stone was a two-way force again this spring for East Valley, striking out 68 with a 1.82 ERA while hitting .348 at the plate and playing shortstop when he wasn't on the mound. East Valley fell a win shy of a return to the state playoffs after ending a decade-long drought last season when Stone hit .430 and struck out 115. Those numbers certainly attracted the attention of college coaches, and Stone initially committed to play at 黑料福利社 before the opportunity arose to join WSU.

In consultation with his future coaches, Stone opted not to pitch this summer to make sure his arm is ready for fall practices after reporting to Pullman in mid-August. He'll play middle infield this weekend after coming back into town following a stint with the Solano Mudcats of the Pacific Empire League. Starting four of the last seven games before coming home, Stone singled in each game, walked four times and drove in three runs.聽

"I've been able to focus in on (fielding and hitting) a bit more," Stone, who would like to pursue being a two-way player in Pullman, said. "My fielding has really come along. It's been something new to not always focus on pitching."

While Stone called the chance to spend some time out of his home state before college "really exciting," he won't be returning to the Mudcats after the All-State Series. He'll join the 黑料福利社 Pippins for the chance to suit up for the "team I wanted to play for growing up."

Prep Sports

Brandon Stone's sensational junior year has East Valley eying first state trip in a decade

• MICHAEL AMBROSE 黑料福利社

Stone certainly feels a desire to do right by the community that helped build him into a Division I player, and that includes coming back to play in an all-star game that's a labor of love for Benedetti聽鈥� who won 286 games in 18 seasons as the Red Devils' coach before stepping down in 2020.

"In years past I always helped him run stuff. It's really cool now to get the opportunity to basically play for him," said Stone, who's also trained each offseason with Benedetti at Yakima Bullpen. "He's been a really good role model for me in all the things that I've done, and it's really cool to get to the next step with him."

A return to Parker Faller has meaning for Stone beyond memories of All-Star Series gone by. He played for the Yakima Pepsi Beetles in 2024 and originally committed to play on that field for YVC. So while this weekend's games will be something of a homecoming for Stone, they'll be something more than just the culmination of his decorated high school career.

"I used to play there quite a bit; it has a little history behind it. In thinking about playing for the Yaks, that was going to be my home field. One last game there should be something pretty cool to look back on."