Reeths-Puffer enters the 2026 season hoping to recapture the momentum that helped the Rockets play their best baseball at the end of the 2025 campaign. After entering the postseason with a 7-13 record, R-P played very well in the district tournament, upsetting Grand Haven and taking Kenowa Hills to extra innings in the championship game before falling just short.
"It is hard to end the season with an extra-inning loss, but for our four returning seniors and juniors, I think they know that no matter how the season goes, if you play a clean district Saturday, you can achieve that district mitten," R-P coach Butch Attig said.
The Rockets' biggest question mark entering the season will be the catcher position, less because of who will play it than because of the juggling Attig will have to do as a result. Quinn Alderink, last year's catcher, has graduated, and the Rockets are likely to turn to Brendan Guikema and Jack Yonkman to fill that spot. That could get "tricky to navigate," Attig said, because those two also enter the season as the Rockets' top two options on the mound.
Guikema, a junior, had a fine season a year ago, mostly playing left field, and has put in a lot of work in the weight room, Attig said. He should emerge as one of the team's top players.
The leadership of Yonkman and shortstop Ethan Frang, two senior captains, will also be a major factor in the Rockets' success.
"Both are capable of putting the team on their back," Attig said, adding that Yonkman could spend some time in the outfield in addition to pitching and catching.
The O-K Green Conference consistently produces quality baseball and will challenge the Rockets again this year. Attig said Jenison, the 2025 champions, project as the favorites again. The Rockets will be looking for revenge against the Wildcats, as well as Mona Shores and Byron Center, each of whom swept all three games from R-P last spring. Additionally, the focus will fall on the GMAA tournament - the Rockets were champions in 2024 and dropped a close game to North Muskegon in the semifinals last year - and on game-to-game improvement as the team pursues more hardware.
"Our goal is to grow week by week and clean up what we need to for that tourney run," Attig said.
