Caden Christopherson may be one of Perry’s most underrated athletes. In the fall, he is the Pumas’ top-ranked golfer, was named CUSD’s Golfer of the Year, and finished fifth at the state championships.

In the spring, the junior is one of the school’s most dominating forces on the diamond, as he has been a starting pitcher for the varsity baseball team since his sophomore year.

As baseball head coach Damien Tippett described, “he is one of the best competitors we’ve ever had.”

Golf coach John Lowery added that Christopherson is “consistently the leader that coaches look for in an athlete… he is grounded in his faith and truly cares about people…[he is]arguably the player of the year for the state of Arizona.”

He has set scoring records across all categories for Perry in 2017, finishing 4th in the Antigua High School Invitational, which Lowery said is “one of the most prestigious high school tournaments in the country.”

Being a two-sport athlete has helped him develop an advantage some people don’t get.
“Golf has helped me with being balanced and flexible which is important in baseball,” Christopherson said. “Also more importantly, the mental side of golf helps me with baseball. Being level-headed and having a bulldog mentality.”

In baseball, Christopherson grew up as both a pitcher and a catcher – positions that don’t mix anymore in the era of arm safety.

“Caden is an excellent catcher, but he is even better on the mound,” Tippett said. “In our program, we try to avoid guys doing both; that is just too much stress on the arm.”

Early last year Christopherson got his shot against nationally-ranked Horizon. He pitched 5.2 innings and allowed three runs, dominating a good Husky team.

All he did the rest of the season was make five starts (all against playoff teams) and posted a respectable 4.43 ERA.

“He has that catcher mentality, meaning he thinks like a coach, always one or two steps ahead. He does the dirty work, doing everything to help his team be successful but doesn’t always get the credit,” Tippett said.

Currently he is among team leaders in ERA (3.32), strikeouts (25), and WHIP (1.37). Tippett adds that as a testament to his control, “he can throw his fastball wherever he wants, whenever he wants…he has a great change up and curveball too.”

Junior infielder CJ Valdez said he loves playing behind Christopherson. “You know that the ball is going to be put in play, which makes it more fun.”

Senior shortstop Matthew Brown adds: “Caden’s a great pitcher, you need to make sure you’re locked in every pitch whenever he’s on the mound because he pitches to weak contact so much of the time.”

Weak contact is a trademark of Christopherson’s. As of press time, 73 percent of balls put in play were weakly hit.

Caden contributes his successes to “my dad and his teammates.” He expanded on this saying, “[my dad] has taught me a lot of baseball knowledge and advice. It’s great to have him as an outlet other than my high school coaches.”

Family ties are evident in the Christopherson house, his older sister, senior Ava said: “I am so proud of him…he has done a really great job being able to balance both golf and baseball.”

Ava has continued to be a part of Caden’s athletics, aside from being at the same school, she would sometimes drive him to practice when he was younger.

Christopherson’s father, Eric, is an assistant golf coach but also played professional baseball in six organizations as a catcher.

“I’m extremely grateful to be able to pass on things to him I’ve learned throughout my life as it relates to athletics,” Eric said. “But even more grateful to teach [my family] about life and faith.”