2025 Bay Area News Group baseball player of the year: Valley Christian’s Quinten Marsh

SAN JOSE — It’s not uncommon to see high school baseball players excel in pitching and hitting.

But to be elite at both is rare air.

That’s where Valley Christian senior Quinten Marsh sits – in a class of his own as a two-way force.

Playing in one of the Bay Area’s most competitive leagues, Marsh finished his senior year batting .505 with an eye-opening OPS of 1.382. As a pitcher, he struck out 76 in 54 ⅓ innings, allowing 34 hits while finishing with a 1.14 ERA.

Marsh’s production as a two-way player made him a clear choice for Bay Area News Group player of the year. The Stanford-bound star also was named the West Catholic Athletic League’s player of the year.

“What he did this year offensively was incredible. That’s not expected of anyone in this league,” Valley Christian coach John Diatte said. “For him, it was just about competitiveness. He wants to be successful. We knew we were going to get a competitive person on the mound. We knew we were going to get his leadership on offense and defense. That was really special this year.”

Marsh has played at a high level since he arrived at Valley Christian as a freshman, but took a major jump offensively this season.

As a junior, he hit .378 with 34 hits and 18 RBIs. This season, he had 46 hits and drove in 30 runs.

“Playing at Valley Christian has definitely been a huge factor in my development and where I’ve gotten to today,” Marsh said. “It was an amazing experience to play with and against some of the best players in Northern California.”

Marsh helped lead Valley Christian to four NorCal Division I playoff appearances and a Central Coast Section championship in 2023.

Along the way, he was teammates with his older brother, Tatum, who helped show him the ropes before moving on to Stanford himself. Tatum hit a team-leading .377 in 50 games (49 starts) for the Cardinal as a freshman this past season.

“They both had a healthy competitiveness,” Diatte said. “That was the best thing for both of them. They both wanted to succeed and Quinten knew exactly what to expect since Tatum played as a freshman as well.”

The younger Marsh always seemed to save his best performances for the biggest games.

In a CCS Division I semifinal against Los Gatos, Marsh struck out seven, allowed no runs and gave up three hits in a 4-2 win.

At an elite tournament in Las Vegas in April, Marsh went 2 for 4 and drove in and scored a run to lead Valley Christian to a 10-7 win over national powerhouse Archbishop Moeller of Cincinnati.

While Valley Christian has had numerous players compete at the Division I college level over the years, Diatte said what has separated Marsh from many others is his ability to make his teammates better on and off the field.

“He had high-level character and high-level leadership,” Diatte said. “He took care of the things that needed to be taken care of and made sure he was doing whatever it took for the Warriors to win on any given day. We never had to worry about his competitiveness. He always had a high-level commitment to our program.”