Somehow, through all the uncertainty of a whirlwind senior year, Alex Weingartner remained steadied in the storm.
The Saint Augustine Preparatory School senior baseball player received some of the highest honors possible while becoming a target of Major League Baseball’s 2026 Draft.
The awards, the accolades and the scouts in the stands would be an easy excuse for distraction, but Weingartner always found a way to remain present.
“For me, I think it was just understanding the power of the moment and the power of the day itself,” Weingartner said after another power performance in the Non-Public A state championship game June 10 at Rutgers University. “Trying to understand whatever happened yesterday and whatever happens in the future, I can’t control any of that. All I have is right now. That’s really what helped me throughout my career and throughout this season. Knowing that [what] matters is these guys and trying to make it as far as we can.”
Weingartner battled with his buddies until the bitter end, as Saint Augustine Prep fell to Delbarton 4-1 in the marathon 10-inning state championship game.
Weingartner started the game on the mound and threw 109 pitches over seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits (eight strikeouts). He also reached base on a single in his final high school at-bat. It was the 105th hit of his fantastic high school career.
“This has been awesome,” Weingartner said of his time at Saint Augustine. “It’s something I’ll never forget. It’s pretty cool to understand that this was my last game and that I tried to do everything for these guys, and they tried to do everything they could do, too.”
Weingartner, who plans to study kinesiology at Penn State University, earned the 2025-26 Gatorade New Jersey Baseball Player of the Year, known as one of the highest individual honors in high school athletics. It is presented annually to the nation’s top high school student-athletes, recognizing excellence on the field, in the classroom and within the community. It was first awarded in 1985.
Hermits coach Mike Ney said Weingartner deserved every accolade he received “for all that he’s been able to do with all the pressure on him and eyes on him at all times, and to come out and empty the tank basically the last two games for us after hitting a walk-off to extend the season. He’s just a phenomenal baseball player and human being.”
Weingartner batted .495 this season against some of the best competition the state has to offer. He delivered 15 extra-base hits, including seven home runs. He also drove in 36 runs – mostly from the leadoff position of the lineup – and scored 46 runs, which were both team highs.
His walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning against Red Bank Catholic in the South Jersey Non-Public semifinals will be a legendary story for years to come.
Plus somehow, he might have been better on the mound than in the batter’s box.
During his senior year, Weingartner pitched 48 and a third innings and recorded an 0.87 earned run average. He struck out 81 batters while allowing just 19 hits and six earned runs.
“He’s the best baseball player I’ve ever coached,” Ney said. “I’m going to miss being around him. I’ve seen him since he was a little kid, watching his older brother, and [seen] him grow to be the young man that he’s turned into.”
Saint Augustine Prep finished the season 22-8 and 90 feet from winning their second state title in three years. The Hermits had multiple chances to win the game in extra innings with the bases loaded, but just couldn’t get over the finish line. It was a disappointing feeling in the moment, but a season the Hermits will remember fondly.
“I’m very proud of them,” Ney said of his hardworking team. “They left everything out there, and no one quit. Just a [heck] of a season.”
Weingartner is prepared to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Ryan. Ryan Weingartner, a 2022 Saint Augustine graduate, played baseball at Saint Joseph’s University before transferring to Penn State. He was then drafted after his junior year of college by the St. Louis Cardinals and played this year for their Single-A affiliate in Palm Beach.
Alex Weingartner will choose his path after the MLB draft commences on July 11. Wherever he ends up, he will take the memories of an incredible high school career.
“It’s something I’ll carry with me my entire career, just knowing that I was able to try to live up to what my brother accomplished here,” he said. “Taking [this jersey] off is going to hurt, but it’s something I’m never going to forget.”
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