Prep sports roundup: Harvard-Westlake wins 2-1 over Crespi in Mission League showdown
As center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs becomes the talk of major league baseball with his defense, junior center fielder James Tronstein of Harvard-Westlake remembers the time when he was a freshman and Crow-Armstrong stopped by to offer some tips.
'Looking at him as an alumnus, I learn from him,' Tronstein said.
Tronstein, a Stanford commit, did his best imitation of Crow-Armstrong with one out in the seventh inning Tuesday, chasing down a deep fly ball hit by Landon Hodge and making the catch crashing into the fence to help the Wolverines defeat Crespi 2-1 and pull into a first-place tie in the Mission League.
'I was relieved James caught it,' said sophomore pitcher Justin Kirchner (7-0), who then struck out Diego Velazquez to finish with a complete game. 'I was never able to play with Pete, but James is pretty good.'
Harvard-Westlake (17-7, 11-2) became the first team to defeat pitcher Jackson Eisenhauer (7-1), who gave up two unearned runs in the third inning. Drew Rico started the inning with a double. Tronstein put down a bunt single that resulted in a throwing error to push across one run and Jake Kim drove in Tronstein with a bloop single.
Crespi got a sacrifice fly in the sixth from Justin Weiss for its run. Then came the seventh. Pinch-hitter Tyler Walton singled. After a force out at second, Hodge, an LSU commit, hit the ball to deep left center. Tronstein got a good jump and made the catch. 'The wall may not be OK,' Tronstein said.
Crespi (18-2, 11-2) and Harvard-Westlake play again on Wednesday at Hartunian Field, then back to O'Malley Field on Friday in what is the 'parking lot Mission League championship series' (the fields are separated by less than 100 yards in Encino).
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 6, Loyola 2: Jacob Madrid had two hits and three RBIs for the Knights battling for a Mission League playoff spot.
St. Francis 5, Sierra Canyon 3: Noah Aguilar-Tanphanich threw a complete game for St. Francis.
Chaminade 5, Bishop Alemany 1: Isaiah Hearn had three hits and Jackson Schroeder gave up one hit in six innings for the Eagles.
St. John Bosco 6, JSerra 1: Moises Razo had two hits and two RBIs and Trevor Heishman struck out seven in six innings.
Servite 11, Santa Margarita 4: Miles Scott had three hits and Hayden Woodson had a two-run double for the Friars. Austin Boatwright had three RBIs.
Los Alamitos 6, Fountain Valley 2: Tristin Dalzell struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings.
Huntington Beach 18, Edison 1: Jared Grindlinger had two doubles and two RBIs and Jayton Greer had three hits and three RBIs for the Oilers.
Corona 5, Roosevelt 0: Ethin Bingaman struck out 11 and threw a two-hitter for Corona's 14th shutout of the season.
Calabasas 9, Thousand Oaks 8: Jack Quirk had the walk-off RBI single to help the Coyotes' playoff chances out of the Marmonte League.
Newbury Park 8, Oaks Christian 7: Nathaniel Nunez had a walk-off single in the eighth inning for Newbury Park to cap a three-run inning. Chad Rolison had two hits and three RBIs for Oaks Christian.
Westlake 10, Agoura 2: Noah Stead had a grand slam for Westlake.
Ayala 7, Bonita 4: Landen Lambert had a three-run home run for Bonita.
Santa Monica 4, Culver City 1: Jaxson Ehlers had two hits and two RBIs to help Santa Monica in a battle for first place in the Ocean League. Blake Hunter went three for three.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 10, Sierra Canyon 0: Aliyah Garcia threw the shutout to keep Notre Dame unbeaten in the Mission League. Ellayne Tellez-Perez had two hits and two RBIs.
Orange Lutheran 2, JSerra 1: Cate Medvitz had the walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh to help the Lancers rally from a 1-0 deficit.
Norco 6, King 3: Sasha Pham had four RBIs for Norco in a Big VIII League win.
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Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Prep Rally: The best high school tournaments to watch this summer
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. The summer season has begun. Let's examine what to look for. The 2025-26 season starts with a busy summer of preparation, when freshmen and transfers get their first looks from coaches in the off season. Football teams have begun competing in seven on seven events, hitting the weight room and beginning the process of getting into shape for the start of the season Aug. 22. Fans wanting to get a sneak peek at this season's fall stars, here are some tournaments to watch. The L.A. Chargers are hosting a tournament June 14 in El Segundo. Arroyo High also has a tournament June 14. Palos Verdes has a tournament June 21. The Saugus tournament is June 21 at Central Park. St. John Bosco, Mission Viejo, Simi Valley and Baldwin Park are having tournaments June 28. Edison's Battle at the Beach is July 12 and a must-see event. Long Beach Poly is hosting a tournament July 19 that includes Mater Dei, which is also in the Mission Viejo tournament. In basketball, the California LIVE tournament for girls is June 12-14 in Roseville and for boys June 27-29 at Ladera Sports Center and San Juan Hills High. The Section 7 tournament for boys is June 20-22 at the Arizona Athletic Grounds and June 13-14 for girls. The War on the Floor tournament is June 19-22 at Chaminade and El Camino Real. The Maranatha tournament is June 9-14. The Fairfax tournament is June 16-21. In baseball, the Area Code tournament featuring class of 2026 and 2027 players is Aug. 6-11 at Blair Field in Long Beach. The Area Code underclass tournament is Aug. 1-5. Remember Southern Section schools have to take a mandatory two-week dead period in each sport, where coaches are not allowed to work with athletes. St. John Bosco culminated the greatest baseball season in school history by winning the Southern California Division I regional. The Braves previously won the Trinity League title and the Southern Section Division 1 championship. From shortstop James Clark to relief pitcher Jack Champlin, coach Andy Rojo's Braves finished 30-4 and beat one top team after another. Here's a report on their final win. If you want an early look at top teams for 2026, here they are: 1. St. John Bosco, 2. Harvard-Westlake, 3. Corona, 4. Norco, 5. JSerra. It's awards season, and Corona pitcher Seth Hernandez is going to be busy. Last week, he was named the state player of the year by Gatorade, then the national player of the year by Gatorade. Hernandez went 9-1 this season and should be a top pick in next month's baseball draft. He was home schooled until joining Corona his junior year and finished with a two-year mark of 18-1. Here's the report and video from the announcement. For all the push-ups completed, for all the running drills endured and for all the yelling received during his days playing high school football at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High in the 1990s, Dan Keeler is getting the last laugh later this month when he takes command of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in Coronado. 'Now I'm going to have to salute him,' former Notre Dame coach Kevin Rooney quipped. A story on the impact coaches can have on their players' lives. El Modena finished runner-up in the Division I regional to Chula Vista Mater Dei. Lots of top teams chose to opt out of participating due to club commitments, graduation and other issues. The CIF intends to hold state championships in softball and baseball soon, so finding a way to get the top teams to participate will be a priority. The regular season must end sooner to be held before school lets out or the problems will continue. Southern California is where golf prodigies Tiger Woods and Patrick Cantlay first began to receive attention as youths, and 15-year-old Jaden Soong, a member of the Class of 2028 at St. Francis High in La Cañada, is on the same path. On Tuesday, he mastered Poppy Hills Country Club, shooting a nine-under 62 to win the CIF state championship in Pebble Beach. He had no bogeys, seven birdies and an eagle. He's believed to be the youngest to win a CIF individual golf title. PGA winners Cantlay (Servite) and Rickie Fowler (Murrieta Valley) are former winners of the event. Here's a look at his amazing performance. Sydney Douglas, who was a 6-foot-7 starting freshman for Ontario Christian's championship girls basketball team, has transferred to Corona Centennial. . . . John Andrade is the new soccer coach at Viewpoint. . . . Offensive lineman Anthony Rodriguez of Long Beach Poly has committed to San Jose State. . . . Junior receiver Gavin Honore of Mater Dei has committed to Georgia. . . . Former Hart, UCLA and major leaguer Trevor Brown is the new baseball coach at West Ranch. He was known for his versatility, playing everything from catcher to the infield. . . . St. Francis basketball coach Todd Wolfson will also be the school's interim athletic director. Matt Luderer has been on leave while battling an illness. . . . Gina Hairapetian has resigned after 22 years as softball coach at Chaminade. . . . Offensive lineman Josh Haney from JSerra has committed to Fresno State. Ralphy Velazquez, a former Huntington Beach baseball standout, is playing in the Cleveland Guardians organization. The 2023 first-round draft pick has eight home runs this season in the minors playing in high-A ball. Here's a story from 2023 discussing his power potential. From the Los Angeles Times, a story on skateboarders in their 50s and 60s. From the Los Angeles Times, a story on Palisades High allowing its graduates to enjoy the Hollywood Bowl as the site for its ceremony with some celebrity speakers. From the Los Angeles Times, the story of a high school track runner being disqualified at the state track championships for using a fire extinguisher. From On3, a story on the new NIL rules approved by a judge for college athletics. Have a question, comment or something you'd like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer. Did you get this newsletter forwarded to you? To sign up and get it in your inbox, click here.
San Francisco Chronicle
6 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
St. Francis softball avoids another early NorCal exit with stirring 1st-round win
A year after complete despair brought on by a stunning upset loss in the first round of the Northern California playoffs, the St. Francis softball team experienced the opposite on Tuesday. With her team having been down to its final strike three times, junior outfielder and three-time West Catholic Athletic League MVP Jaime Oakland delivered a run-scoring double to plate May Meltz to tie the score. A few moments later, Peyton Tsao doubled home the winning run to beat Rocklin 3-2 in a Division 1 contest. Last season, following a 4-1 loss to Amador Valley-Pleasanton, the then-undefeated and national No. 1 Lancers tearfully walked off their home field. On Tuesday, they skipped and joyfully celebrated. The third-seeded Lancers (28-3) next travel to No. 2 Del Oro-Loomis (29-2) Thursday in the semifinals. Tuesday's win did end with controversy. Tsao's liner in right-center field appeared to be caught on a diving play. But after huddling, umpires ruled that the ball had bounced. It took nothing away from the emotional win, said St. Francis coach Mike Oakland, who has led the team to a sparkling 209-30 mark since taking over in 2017, including five Central Coast Section titles. The fifth CCS title came Saturday, a wild 9-6, eight-inning win at top seed Willow Glen-San Jose when Hayden Hummel, Tsao, Gabby Rocha and Isabella Sandoval all drove in two runs. Sandoval, Rocha and Hummel are all seniors. 'Our girls have been resilient all year,' Oakland said via text. 'They kept fighting (Tuesday) and found a way to get it done. Rocklin is a very strong team with an elite pitcher. There were no easy innings and we had runners on base most of the game and couldn't get the hit we needed until the end.' More first-round softball: In Division 2, Isabella Rice, Kylee McKinney and Taylor Jennings all blasted home runs to lift No. 4 seed Liberty-Brentwood (24-4) to a 14-3 five-inning home win over Central Catholic-Modesto. The Lions will travel to play top seed Vanden-Fairfield, an 8-6 winner over Foothill-Pleasanton, which got a home run and two RBIs from Alexa Sponsel. … No. 6 seed King's Academy-Sunnyvale (22-7) beat No. 3 Destiny Christian-Sacramento 5-4 behind two hits and two RBIs each from Katia Nesper and Mia Bennette. … In Division 3, Callie Howard threw a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts and Andrea Mansberry and Izzie Kunimune each had two hits and two RBIs as second-seed Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa beat Calaveras 5-1. … In Division 5, seventh-seed Balboa (14-4) broke open a close game with a 15-run fifth inning to win 20-3 at Foresthill (Placer County). The Bucs will have another long bus ride to face host and third-seed King City (19-11). Baseball first-round: In Division 1, Tyler Spangler and Antonio Castro had three hits apiece and Bubba Vargas drove in three runs as host and top seed De La Salle-Concord defeated Del Oro 7-3. 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John Depner, Drew Diffenderfer and Jaxton Chao all drove in two runs for the Bruins (28-3). … In Division 5, Nicholas Chiu hit a two-run homer and Jerry Hou and Everett Carvalho each drove in three runs leading sixth-seed Lincoln to a 16-4 win at No. 3 Vacaville Christian. The Mustangs (17-15), who got three hits and three runs by Aidan Castaneda, travel to No. 2 Stevenson-Pebble Beach, a 5-2 winner over Torres. State golf: Led by a 4-under round of 67 by Josh Kim and a 71 from Noah Eisen on Tuesday, De La Salle tied for second in the CIF State Golf Championships at Poppy Hills Country Club. The Spartans and Santa Margarita-Rancho Santa Margarita (Orange County) finished at 362, nine strokes back of champion and host Stevenson (353), which had three players finish under par, led by Luke Brandler (67). The individual champion was St. Francis-La Canada (Los Angeles County) freshman Jaden Soong, who shot a bogey-free round of 62 with seven birdies and an eagle to finish two strokes better than Evan Liu (64), of Torrey Pines (San Diego County). Palo Alto, led Brendan O'Keefe's 70 and Joshua Wang's 71, finished fifth out of six teams at 367.
Los Angeles Times
02-06-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Prep Rally: St. John Bosco was the surprise of the baseball season
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. What a weekend it was for championships in baseball and softball. Going into the 2025 baseball season, St. John Bosco was hardly on anyone's mind as a potential Southern Section Division 1 champion. It was going to be the super team, Corona, or last season's runner-up Huntington Beach. But coach Andy Rojo built the most consistent team of all, going 27-4, eliminating Corona 2-0 in the semifinals, then enduring nine innings to defeat Santa Margarita 3-2 on a walk-off hit by Miles Clark in the Division 1 final. There were so many big moments by big-time players in the Division 1 final. Few were more impressive than St. John Bosco closer Jack Champlin, who saved the Braves' win over Corona and then threw four scoreless innings against Santa Margarita with key strikeouts in moments of pressure. He may become a starting pitcher next season, but he's got a future as a closer because of his ability to thrive under pressure and his complete confidence in being able to do the job. The Division 2 final saw West Ranch defeat Mater Dei 2-1 behind pitcher Hunter Manning. Here's the report. Manning finished 10-0 on the mound and is headed to UC Irvine. The drought is over for Granada Hills softball. After losing heartbreaking championship games to Carson the last two seasons, the Highlanders beat the Colts in the City Section Open Division final 11-2. Here's the report. Norco ended the softball season No. 1 in Southern California after a 3-0 win in the Southern Section Division 1 final over El Modena behind pitcher Coral Williams, who threw a one-hitter. Here's the report. The Southern California regional playoffs for baseball and softball begin Tuesday, continue Thursday and end Saturday. Here's the baseball pairings. Here's the softball pairings. Led by a talented group of freshmen athletes, Servite won the state championship in boys track and field in Clovis on Saturday. Long Beach Wilson won the girls title. There were terrific individual performances, from Jack Stadlman of Temecula Valley winning the 400 meters to Leo Francis of Santa Margarita going 25-feet plus to win the long jump. Jayden Rendon of Carson wion the 300 hurdles. Here are the complete results. Here's the report from Clovis on the finals. Here's a closer look at Servite's Fab Four. Jaden Soong, a freshman golfer at St. Francis, thrives under pressure. 'I will say I like pressure,' he said. Twice in the last two weeks, he's won playoffs to keep his season going. But the story of his first playoff win is comedy at its best. He had left the Temecula Creek golf course at the individual championships after concluding he had failed to qualify for the SCGA regionals and had stopped at Jack in the Box while headed home. Then he got a phone call from a friend: 'Hey dude, we're in a playoff.' He was 17 minutes away and needed to be back at the course in 10 minutes. 'We hauled it,' he said. Thankfully, there were no police cars in the vicinity as he was driven back to the course. The playoff had started when he arrived. Players were in the fairway. He had no time to change into his golf shoes, so he played in his Nike Air Force shoes. He got a par on the first hole, then a birdie to win the playoff and advance. Last weekend, he won another playoff to reach the state championships Tuesday at Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach. He's ready for anything. Brady McHenry of Buena won the SCGA Southern California regional championship with a playoff win to be the No. 1 qualifier for the state championships Tuesday at Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach. Charlie Woods, son of Tiger Woods, won his first juniors tournament. Here's the report. The Bradford family in Manhattan Beach loves volleyball and everyone is tall. Here's a look at their love for volleyball and big shoes. Mira Costa won the first state Division 1 championship with a 25-14, 25-16, 25-21 win over San Jose Archbishop Mitty. Mater Dei defeated Buchanan 3-1 to win Division 2. Sage Hill won Division 3 with a 3-0 win over International. Here's the Daily Pilot report on Mira Costa winning against Huntington Beach the previous week. With major league baseball seeking to increase Black player participation, St. John Bosco has five Black players starting on its championship team. Here's a report. Lots of SoCal players are participating in the NCAA baseball playoffs. Here's a look. Brentwood sophomore to be Shaelen Sheppard has been selected to be on the U16 USA Basketball national team. . . . Austin Maziasz, a standout basketball player at Westlake, has committed to Johns Hopkins. . . . April Schilling is the new girls basketball coach at Oak Park. . . . Capistrano Valley has begun building a new $21.5 million football stadium that is supposed to be completed by the spring of 2026. . . . Chris Allen has resigned as baseball coach at Charter Oak. . . . The JSerra doubles team of Brady Schaefgen and Riley Anson won the Southern Section championship. Freshman Andrew Johnson from Palos Verdes won the singles title. . . . Roy Walker Jr., an assistant basketball coach at Westchester, has been hired as Taft's new basketball coach. . . . Dee Pinkard is the new girls' basketball coach at St. Bonaventure. . . . Mark Bowman, the top tight end in California if not America, has committed to USC. He was supposed to be a junior this coming season at Mater Dei but changed his classification to the class of 2026. Irvine University won the state Division 1 tennis championship. Griffin Canning is the best pitcher in the history of Santa Margarita. He led the Eagles to the 2014 Southern Section Division 1 championship, went on to star at UCLA and became a starting pitcher for the Angels. But this season he's enjoying a breakthrough pitching for the New York Mets. He's 5-2 with a 3.23 ERA. Here's a story from 2014 on how Canning pitched Santa Margarita to the Division 1 title. Here's a story from 2015 on the 'Griffin Canning rule' in the Trinity League. From a story looking at a survey of parents whether their kids will become pro athletes. From the Washington Post, a story on how a gymnast ended up getting a track and field scholarship. From the Los Angeles Times, a story on three L.A. students who earned college scholarships by caddying. From Spectrum News1, a story on USA volleyball using the 2028 Olympic Games to boost the sport. From the Los Angeles Times, a look at how the state track championship was affected by the participation of a transgender athlete.
