Marty Gordon
NRVsports@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Auburn High School has dominated baseball for the past three years, and this year could be another one with a state title.
Two players, which will play a big part of that success, are Matthew Altizer and Brody Hensel, who will both play at Concord University when their high school career is over.
The Auburn duo are the All-County/All-City preseason baseball players of the year and were 2025 all-county/all-city honorees.
Altizer finished last season hitting .407 with two home runs, 33 RBIs, 10 doubles and
three triples. He also had a 4-0 record on the mound in 19 innings pitched with 35 K’s
and a 1.47 earned run average.
Last season at Auburn, Hensel battled through an arm injury that sidelined him for part
of the year but was still able to finish with a good year where he hit .474 with an .895
slugging percentage, recording 27 hits, five triples, two home runs, 17 walks, and only two
strikeouts on the season.
On the opposite side of the sports complex, catching highlights the preseason softball players in Auburn’s Hope Wilson and Christiansburg’s Reagan Smith.
Wilson, who is a junior, broke or tied five school records this past season including setting a new high for home runs in one season with15 and RBI’s with 59. Both previous records were held by an AHS alum she knows so well, her older sister who just finished playing at Radford University.
Hope Wilson fell two short of the state record of 17 homeruns. She also tied the record for hits in a season with 49 and finished with .563 batting average and 12 doubles. She was named the all-state Class 1 first-team catcher, and all-region and all-Mt. Empire District player of year.
For her effort, Wilson was the 2025 all-county/all-city softball player of the year. She has announced an early commitment to Radford University.
Smith, who is also a junior, is the sleeper of the upcoming season and could be looking at a breakout, leading a team that is only two years out from a state championship. A new coach at Christiansburg and a lot of young players could depend on her leadership.
Her stats from the past season aren’t as flashy as Wilson’s, but she will have to be on her game for Christiansburg to have a chance to repeat the previous success.
Last season, Smith batted .429 with 30 hits, 27 RBIs and five home runs. She caught 130 innings behind the plate and threw out five base runners.
