New England Baseball Journal has named St. John's Shrewsbury senior pitcher Brayden Mercier as its 2025 MIAA Player of the Year.
As the Pioneers' ace, Mercier (Oxford, Mass.) led SJS to an 18-6 season and a third consecutive trip to the Division 1 semifinals, where they lost to eventual champion Chelmsford.
"This year, being our No. 1 guy and taking over for Brady Shea (Shrewsbury, Mass.), he did a tremendous job in that spot," St. John's head coach Casey Cummins said. "With our schedule (in the Catholic Conference), he didn't shy away from throwing against the best of the best in our conference. Consistently, every day that he started, you knew that he was going to give us a quality start. You knew that he was going to give us a chance to win."
Mercier was one of the best pitchers in Massachusetts high school baseball this spring. In the regular season, the left-hander went 4-1 with a 0.82 ERA and 38 strikeouts, surrendering just four earned runs.
