Prep Rally: Boras Classic baseball tournament to showcase Southland’s best

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. The 16-team Boras Classic baseball tournament begins Tuesday at JSerra and Santa Ana Mater Dei. The teams are the best of the best, with the early pitching matchups a must-see event.

Baseball at its best

Agent Scott Boras helped create the Classic, a North-South competition that brings together top high school baseball teams in a 16-team format. The South portion begins on Tuesday. Here’s the link to the bracket.

The top pitchers usually go in either the first or second games, and those are the matchups to get excited about. It starts with Santa Margarita and Collin Clarke taking on Corona and Ethan Schiefelbein at noon at Mater Dei. Don’t expect a whole lot of runs being scored.

Another good opener has La Mirada playing National High School Invitational champion Huntington Beach at 3 p.m. at Mater Dei. Winning the Boras Classic is usually harder than winning in Cary, N.C. La Mirada has either Eric Jeon or Donald Murray ready to go against the Oilers.

No. 1-ranked Sherman Oaks Notre Dame plays San Dimas at 3 p.m. at JSerra. The Knights are 16-2 and have been off a week. UCLA commit Justin Lee is expected on the mound.

The championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at JSerra.

“It’s extremely high quality teams, highly competitive, and you get see where you are at a couple weeks before playoffs begin,� Santa Margarita coach Chris Malec said.

Baseball rewind

Old-school baseball is still happening at the high school level. Servite used four bunts in the fifth inning last week to score four runs against San Dimas.

Yucaipa pitchers threw three consecutive shutouts in the Ryan Lemmon tournament.

Cypress won its second straight National Classic to push its winning streak to 12. Luke Matlock was the tournament MVP. Here’s a report.

Andrew Rudd of Arlington struck out 16 in a 5-0 win over Ramona.

Joseph Steventon of Oaks Christian threw a three-hit shutout against Westlake.

Track

Dijon Stanley of Granada Hills turned in the top performance of the Arcadia Invitational.

(Craig Weston)

Dijon Stanley of Granada Hills left little doubt that he has become one of the best athletes in California, if not the nation, after his performance at the Arcadia Invitational.

He was a member of the Highlanders’ winning 4x100 relay team, then ran a career-best 45.92 seconds to win the 400-meter race and finished second to teammate Jordan Coleman in the 200.

Here’s a report on Stanley and other accomplishments at the Arcadia Invitational.

Carson’s 4x100 girls’ relay team won at the Arcadia Invitational with Christine Gray (left), Kaitlyn Williams, Reign Redmond and TaAhjah Fann.

(Craig Weston)

Carson’s girls’ 4x100 relay team also won, marking the first time in the modern era of the Arcadia Invitational that two City Section teams swept the relay.

April Fontenette of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame won the discus at 153-1. Meagan Humphries of Castaic won the triple jump at 39-9 1/2.

Another City Section star in the making is Palisades’ Mari Yolas, who won the 100 in 10.61 seconds at the Tiger Invitational. Granada Hills’ Coleman won the 100 in the seeded division at Arcadia, making him the favorite to win the City Section 100.

Football

New football coach Bryan Robinson of L.A. University.

(Bryan Robinson)

Bryan Robinson has taken over as the head coach at Los Angeles University. The name is familiar in the City Section. His father, E.C., spent 20 years as head coach at Locke, then went to University and guided the team to a City 3A title in 2008. Bryan 36, is working on completing his teaching credential.

Bryan played at University and has brought along his brother, Jason, another former University player, to be an assistant. E.C. coached both of his sons at University. Bryan was a graduate assistant at South Carolina State from 2010 to 2014.

Transfers continue to take place so that players can participate in spring practice with their new team. Here’s the link to the high school football transfers tracker.

Bryson Beaver, who passed for 694 yards as a freshman for Temecula Valley, has transferred to Vista Murrieta, where he’s expected to take over for Akili Smith Jr., who transferred to San Diego Lincoln.

Girls’ flag football is picking up steam in Orange County. Here’s the report.

Golfer=Physics

Junior Turner Osswald of El Camino Real is the defending City Section golf champion.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Sitting on a bench adjacent to the putting green at Woodley Lakes Golf Course, 16-year-old Turner Osswald of El Camino Real High offered a stunning theory.

The defending City Section golf champion, who’s getting an A in advanced placement physics, is a member of the school‘s robotics team and once dressed up as Albert Einstein for Halloween. He was not kidding when he said, “I base a lot of my putting skills on sleep.�

Forget the putter. Forget the ball. Forget the green.

“I guess you can say this was an experiment,� he said. “One time I had two hours of sleep and missed every single putt. I lost 15 strokes putting. On the day of the City championship, I got 15 hours sleep and made every single putt.�

There’s the legitimate excuse for every high school golfer to tell their mom or dad why they are sleeping in and not taking out the trash. They need sleep to help their putting.

OK, there are other things involved besides sleep, but the 5-foot-9, 141-pound junior has used his intelligence and work ethic and love for physics to make himself the top golfer in the City Section.

Here’s his story.

Lacrosse

It was a big week for Loyola’s lacrosse team.

First the Cubs defeated St. Margaret’s 10-9 in overtime on a sudden-death goal from freshman Finn Hazelton. Then they lost to Foothill in a battle of top Southern Section teams.

This week the Cubs head to Texas to play in two matches.

Hall of Fame

The City Section Hall of Fame class for 2023.

(City Section)

The City Section is holding its latest Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Sunday in Granada Hills.

The list includes former baseball coaches Darryl Stroh (Granada Hills) and Mike Maio (El Camino Real), the late basketball star Greg Lee (Reseda), former City Section commissioner John Aguirre (Garfield), former Fairfax coach and athletic director Judi Edwards, former basketball coach Dave Yanai (Fremont) and more former football, swimming, basketball and softball athletes.

Among the group of legacy honorees is journalist Pete Kokon, who covered high school sports for more than 50 years.

Softball

Ella Parker of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame hit her 10th and 11th home runs of the season to lead the Knights to a Mission League win over Sierra Canyon.

Anahi Arreola of Oaks Christian hit her 14th home run in a win over Westlake.

Parker and Arreola are swinging for the fences like it’s Sammy Sosa vs. Mark McGwire.

Huntington Beach High softball pitcher Zoe Prystajko poses for a photo at the pier.

(Joe Katchka)

Who are the best two-way softball players in the Southland?

Here’s a report on the top players.

Here’s a report on Huntington Beach earning a split against Marina.

Here’s the top 20 rankings for softball from last week.

Volleyball

Chatsworth, Eagle Rock and Palisades continue to top City Section volleyball, but most coaches believe it will be wide open when the Division I playoffs begin.

Here’s the link to CIF state notebook that has a list of college commitments.

Notes. . .

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has openedits girls’ basketball coaching position after Paul Gross was head coach for 21 years. . . .

Defensive back MJ Coleman from Brentwood has committed to Morehouse College. . . .

Jordan Jackson is the new girls’ basketball coach at Muir. She was head coach at St. Pius X-St. Matthias. . . .

Former Windward standout Charisma Osborne announced she would return for a fifth year to play for UCLA. . . .

Baseball player Ty Cowley from Foothill has committed to Biola. . . .

Ethan Anderson, the former City player of the year from Fairfax, is transferring to Pepperdine after playing at Wyoming last season. . . .

Kevin Encinas has resigned as football coach at San Gabriel. . . .

Joseph Harnett has been recommended to be the next football coach at Gabrielino. . . .

Price has named Casey Trujeque as its new boys basketball coach. He’s an alumnus and has hired former NBA player Allen Crabbe to join him, another Price grad. . . .

Pitcher Josh Hickey from Yucaipa has committed to Westmont College.

From the archives: Garrett Mitchell

Former Orange Lutheran and UCLA center fielder Garrett Mitchell has Milwaukee Brewers fans excited what he brings to the team. His speed, athleticism, power and determination are just a few of his strengths. He’s considered the fastest player in baseball.

Mitchell has overcome diabetes since he was 9. Here’s a story from 2020.

He got his first major league start last August, so he’s eligible for rookie of the year consideration in 2023. He was eight for eight on steal attempts after being brought up. And he’s had a big week to start the season.

Recommendations

From Dartmouthsports.com, a story on former Fairfax basketball player Robert McRae.

From MLB.com, a story on former Corona Santiago baseball star Brice Turang hitting a grand slam, his first home run for the Milwaukee Brewers.

From BVMSports.com, a look at Villa Park standout Gavin Grahovac.

From the Washington Post, a story on the kids Kobe Bryant coached at the Mamba Academy.

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