By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Oct. 12, 2025)

Amidst the exciting backdrop of Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon’s 2023 declaration regarding his desire and efforts to bring a Major League Baseball expansion franchise to Raleigh, professional baseball fans in the Bold North State can spend October enjoying a bunch of North Carolina high school and college products competing in the MLB playoffs.

Entering the American League Championship Series (Seattle vs. Toronto) and the National League Championship Series (Milwaukee vs. Los Angeles Dodgers), or baseball’s version of the “Final Four,” a North Carolina prep product ranked as one of the highest-profile participants, and former college players at East Carolina, Elon, Lenoir-Rhyne and UNC also were serving important roles for their respective professional teams.

The ALCS begins Sunday, with Seattle visiting Toronto (8:03 p.m., FOX/FS1). The NLCS begins Monday, with Los Angeles visiting Milwaukee (8:08 p.m., HBO MAX, TBS, truTV). The matchups are in a best-of-seven format.

MLB’s three national television partners (ESPN, Fox, TBS) all had year-over-year viewership increases during the regular season. ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast was up 21 percent, with an average audience of 1.8 million, its highest total since 2012.

That upward trend continued during this year’s postseason wild-card round. Those 11 games averaged about 4.6 million viewers, a 64 percent increase from last year’s opening round.

Entering this year’s postseason, five products of North Carolina high school programs were in the playoffs.

Now, the last man standing from that group is Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh (pictured above), who played at Smoky Mountain High School in Sylva before his college career at Florida State. A 2025 MLB All-Star, Raleigh led the major leagues in home runs (60) and the American League in runs batted in (125) during the regular season.

Meanwhile, there are 18 Division One baseball programs in North Carolina, and six of them were represented at the start of this year’s baseball playoffs: East Carolina (three), Elon (one), Gardner-Webb (two), NC State (two), UNC (two) and Wake Forest (two).

A pair of Division Two programs in the Bold North State, Belmont Abbey and Lenoir-Rhyne, also had one player each at the beginning of this year’s postseason.

Among the four remaining playoff teams, Toronto’s pitching staff includes three players with North Carolina ties: starting pitcher Trey Yesavage (ECU), relief pitcher Brendon Little (UNC) and closer Jeff Hoffman (ECU). Seattle’s postseason regulars include Raleigh and starting pitcher George Kirby (Elon). LA’s playoff roster includes backup center fielder Justin Dean (Lenoir-Rhyne).

Please see below for the entire postseason list.

2025 MLB Playoff Participants
(NC-Based Programs)

Belmont Abbey/D2 (1)

x-Emilio Pagan, RP, Cincinnati

East Carolina (3)

Jeff Hoffman, RP, Toronto
x-Gavin Williams*, SP, Cleveland
Trey Yesavage, SP, Toronto

Elon (1)

George Kirby, SP, Seattle

Gardner-Webb (2)

x-Mason Miller, RP, San Diego
x-Emilio Pagan, RP, Cincinnati

Lenoir-Rhyne/D2 (1)

Justin Dean, CF, LA Dodgers

North Carolina (2)

x-Michael Busch, 1B, Chicago Cubs
Brendon Little, RP, Toronto

NC State (2)

x-Carlos Rodon*, SP, NY Yankees
x-Trea Turner, SS, Philadelphia

Wake Forest (2)

x-Chase Burns, RP, Cincinnati
x-Gavin Sheets, LF, San Diego

x-team now eliminated from 2025 MLB playoffs
*-also listed below (both high school and college in NC)

NOTE: North Carolina’s other D1 baseball programs are at Appalachian State, Campbell, Charlotte, Davidson, Duke, High Point, North Carolina A&T, Queens, UNC Asheville, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington and Western Carolina.

2025 MLB Playoff Participants
(North Carolina High Schools)

x-Zack Littell, SP, Cincinnati (Eastern Alamance HS, Mebane)
Cal Raleigh, C, Seattle (Smoky Mountain HS, Sylva)
x-Carlos Rodon, SP, NY Yankees (Holly Springs HS, Holly Springs)
x-Gavin Williams, SP, Cleveland (Cape Fear HS, Fayetteville)
x-Weston Wilson, INF/OF, Philadelphia (Wesleyan Christian Academy, High Point)