Prep talk: Mission League loaded with top baseball players

Is there life after Bryce Rainer in Mission League baseball? For four years, he was a prolific performer for Harvard-Westlake before becoming a first-round draft choice for the Detroit Tigers last summer.

“There’s no replacing a guy like that,” said Harvard-Westlake’s new shortstop, Cade Goldstein. “Generational talent.”

But Goldstein, a UC Santa Barbara commit, is part of a new collection of potential stars in the Mission League. His teammate, James Tronstein, is a junior outfielder committed to Stanford. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame pitcher Luke Berenson, a Boston College commit, has been sensational this winter.

“I have seen nothing but growth and maturity and competitiveness about him,” Notre Dame coach Tom Dill said.

There’s also Notre Dame first baseman Dominic Cadiz, a UCLA commit whom Dill called “a very special talent.”

Sierra Canyon has one of the best sophomore pitchers in Sean Parrow. Loyola welcomes back USC commit Walter Urbon, a center fielder who played in only nine games last season because of a lower back injury. “He can defend as well as any I’ve seen at the high school level,” coach Keith Ramsey said.

New Mission Hills Alemany coach Randy Thompson has the best catching duo in his son, Brody, a starter as a sophomore at Notre Dame and returnee Jayden Lusk. Both will play catcher and third base. St. Francis has a four-year starter at shortstop in Jordan Lewallen. Chaminade has two football players with terrific hitting skills in Isaiah Hearn and JT Tyler. Crespi has USC commit Diego Velazquez at shortstop and catcher Landon Hodge, an LSU commit.

There’s also the outstanding group of coaches, which might be best in Southern California as a group.

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