LAKE STEVENS — Aspen Alexander had already accomplished what he wanted to this season by leading Lake Stevens baseball to the state tournament, but in the top of the seventh inning against the top seed Puyallup in the 4A state quarterfinals on May 24, he had an opportunity to do more.
Lake Stevens trailed 3-2 with a runner in scoring position down to their final out against a nationally ranked opponent, Alexander could feel the weight of the season on his back. Despite the pressure of the moment, the senior shortstop waited for the right pitch.
He took strike one, but kept his nerve. He worked the count to 2-1 before whiffing on a curveball. Two strikes, two outs and the season on the line. Alexander took it all in.
“I just kind of had to take a deep breath and understand, like, this is a situation I want to be in,” Alexander recalled from the Lake Stevens dugout on Thursday. “This is what I trained for every single day.”
Alexander decided to sit on the Puyallup pitcher’s curveball, which is exactly what he got on the next pitch. He saw it right out of the pitcher’s hand, and his mind went blank. Next thing Alexander knew, he was standing on second base after ripping a game-tying double to the opposite gap.
If anyone was going to keep Lake Stevens’ season alive, it was going to be Alexander. After batting .403 with a 1.279 OPS and hitting four home runs with 26 RBI, the Grand Canyon University commit is The Herald’s 2025 Baseball Hitter of the Year.
After Alexander’s game-tying double against Puyallup, Lake Stevens took a 5-3 lead before giving up three runs in the bottom of the frame to be walked off 6-5. Puyallup was too talented at the end of the day, but Alexander is at peace, especially with delivering in the clutch in what would end up being his final high school at-bat.
“That was a tough way to go out, but I was thankful for all the opportunities our team had this season,” Alexander said. “Honestly, it just shows how much hard work we put in, how much it paid off in the end.”
Prior to this season, Lake Stevens baseball had not qualified for the state tournament since 2017, and after falling one game short of making it last season, Alexander and his teammates were determined to get the job done.
Alexander felt that pressure. As the team’s top player, he was the one everyone else looked towards. Lake Stevens coach David Benson called Alexander a player who elevates his teammates, but also recognized how overwhelming the expectations can be for an 18-year-old.
So when Alexander ran into a little slump a few games into the season, Benson pulled him aside for a conversation.
“Just letting him know, like, ‘You are Aspen Alexander. You don’t need to prove anything to anybody else,’” Benson said. “‘You just need to go out and play your game, right? Just do what you do. You don’t need to do more than what you already are.’”
With that reassurance, Alexander reframed his mind and started to play looser, which helped his game for the rest of the season.
In a sport that’s often as mental as it is physical, if not more so, Alexander has embraced it head-on. He labeled “staying mentally tough” as his biggest focus entering this season. He’s become a big proponent of manifestation and visualization, and he even plans to major in psychology at Grand Canyon.
“The mental battle at the plate and everything, that is just so big for me,” Alexander said. “And kind of understanding, just having mental toughness and grit at the plate and understanding there’s failures in this game, you just got to learn how to overcome those.”
By mastering the mental and physical tools at the high school level, Alexander was the engine to the Lake Stevens offense while also playing a key defensive role at shortstop all season. The Vikings rolled into the District 1/2 4A tournament as the No. 2 seed, but their hopes for state took a big hit with a 4-1 loss to No. 7 Eastlake on May 10.
Faced with a loser-out game against No. 6 Bothell on May 15, Lake Stevens faced a similar fate as last season. But Alexander and fellow seniors Luke Morris and Julian Wilson would not let that happen. The Vikings pulled off a 3-1 victory to finally punch their ticket to the state tournament.
Alexander remembers tossing his glove in the air as the team ran to the mound and formed a dogpile. He called it “the best feeling in the world.”
That’s what Benson appreciates most about Alexander. Even with the accolades and a future in college baseball ahead of him, he simply enjoys the game. He cares about trying to win, with his team and for his team, which isn’t always the case.
“It’s just nice to have somebody as talented as that, that is extremely humble on the field and they play with a passion of the game that they love,” Benson said. “Opposed to just treating it like it’s a job. They love doing the things that they do, and it’s cool seeing them have success.”
It’s a good thing Alexander loves the game, because that’s pretty much all he’ll be doing this summer before heading to school. With all the tournaments and club events he takes part in, he estimated he was only home for a few days across all of last summer, and this year should be more of the same.
He wouldn’t have it any other way. He stopped playing football and basketball once he reached high school because baseball is what he wanted to play most. After reaching his high school goal of making the state tournament, Alexander gets to live out another goal of his.
“I just know that this is what I want to do in college,” Alexander said. “This is what I’m going to just work every single day for, to keep going.”
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