Bio
Hunter Cashero, a right-handed pitcher, joined the Explorers on May 4 as the team began their first full week of workouts. He played six years of college baseball—two at the junior college level, two in the Big 12 at Kansas, and one at NAIA Ave Maria University just outside of Naples, Florida.
In 2025 Cashero went 4-9 with a 5.06 ERA for Ave Maria with a 5.06 ERA, the second lowest of the regular-starting rotation. He would make a team-leading 16 starts, tossing three complete games and a pair of shutouts. Cashero led the team in strikeouts with 72 while issuing 33 walks and surrendering 48 earned runs on 86 hits. He would finish the season with a 1.395 WHIP for Ave Maria.
Cashero, a native of the metro Kansas City area, spent two seasons at the University of Kansas before transferring to Ave Maria. He would appear in nine games out of the bullpen as a Senior at KU in 2024, posting a 9.31 ERA in 9.2 innings with five walks and five strikeouts for the the Jayhawks. He was charged with one bullpen loss, going 0-1 on the season.
In 2023 Cashero made eight starts and pitched in a total of 16 games, going 3-1 with a 7.09 ERA. He worked 32.1 innings, issuing eight walks and punching out 24. Cashero went 3-1 as a starter and his 1.58 BB per nine innings led the team in 2023. He earned his first career win on April 12 against Texas Southern, pitching six innings and scattering nine hits while giving up three unearned runs.
Cashero spent three seasons at Kansas City Kansas Community College from 2020-2022. In his final season in 2022, Cashero was named All-KJCCC Honorable Mention while leading the team in wins and saves with seven apiece. He went 7-2 with a 4.58 ERA in 35.1 innings with 39 strikeouts in 22 games while making one start. Cashero recorded 9.93 strikeouts per nine innings in 2022.
In 2021 Cashero went 3-0 with a 2.86 ERA in 34.2 innings with 35 strikeouts in 21 games while making one trip to the mound as a starter. He notched six saves, leading the team, and issued 11 walks during the course of the season. Cashero had the lowest ERA on the staff for pitchers that threw at least 10 innings.
In his first college season at KCKCC, he appeared in seven games before the season was suspended due to Covid. Cashero would strikeout eight hitters in the eight innings he pitched in the shortened season.
Cashero played all four years in high school at St. James Academy in Lenexa, Kansas. He was the 2019 team MVO and 5A All-State Honorable Mention at second base his Senior season. Cashero was part of a team that made it to the regional championship, posting a sub 2.00 ERA with 30 strikeouts over 35 innings. At the plate Cashero led the team in hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, on-base percentage and slugging percentage during his 2019 senior season. His father John played college baseball at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas.