Prep Rally: There’s a new No. 1, and a Dodgers coach should be proud

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. It’s close to the midway point in high school baseball season, so let’s take a look at trends, achievements, surprises and those living up to expectations.

Midseason look

There’s a new No. 1 team this week in The Times’ top 25 rankings. And don’t expect it to change. Corona (9-1) added the Ebel brothers last week, Brady and Trey (sons of Dodgers coach Dino Ebel), and suddenly the lineup scored 22 runs. If any team can beat the Panthers the rest of the way, it will be big news.

Harvard-Westlake has found a way to go 13-1-1 even though its No. 1 pitcher, Thomas Bridges, has been sidelined by an injury. Talk about pitching depth. Bryce Rainer has been delivering with his bat and as a closer.

Boston Bateman of Camarillo is proving to be tough to hit. In 29 innings, he has given up one hit. He has 61 strikeouts and 21 walks.

Mikey Murr of West Ranch hit for the cycle last week while going four for four.

San Dimas (12-2) is on a 10-game winning streak and moving up in the Southern Section Division 1 rankings.

Calabasas (8-4) is one feisty team, having taken two of three games last week from previously unbeaten Westlake. Senior shortstop Nate Castellon is terrific at the plate and in the field.

San Juan Hills has recorded nine shutouts as a team while going 13-1. Junior Anthony Rasic keeps showing improvement.

Hart is 15-3 and on a 10-game winning streak for retiring coach Jim Ozella.

The Trinity League got very interesting after Santa Margarita took two of three games from Orange Lutheran. Santa Margarita (4-2) and JSerra (4-2) hold down first place, with the Lancers (3-3) in third.

Birmingham (9-3) has never won a West Valley League title under coach Matt Mowry, who has won five City titles. The Patriots have started 4-0 in league play thanks to pitcher Mike Figueroa.

Noah Stead from Westlake has hit five home runs this season.

Chaminade (11-4) is the surprise second-place team in the Mission League going into a two-game series with Harvard-Westlake this week. Vinny Van der Wel has been delivering clutch hits and contributing as a relief pitcher.

AJ Beltre is having a big season hitting for Maranatha, which is also relying on junior pitcher Zach Strickland.

Dom Cadiz comes through

The player who has come out of seemingly nowhere in the early baseball season is junior first baseman Dom Cadiz of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. He already has three walk-off hits in Mission League play, including a home run last week against Bishop Alemany. He’s batting .320 with three home runs this season.

He was a junior varsity player as a sophomore and freshman team player in his first season. Coach Tom Dill said Cadiz has been living up to expectations.

“He’s come up and done a great job,” Dill said. “We expect them to be ready when it’s their turn to be on varsity, and he’s done that. There’s no way someone misses out on him.”

Dill also announced he has made Nick LaFace his co-head coach this season after 31 years as head coach. They’ve split responsibilities.

The Duncan Marsten story

Duncan Marsten of Harvard-Westlake.

(Nick Koza)

With every pitch, Duncan Marsten looks like a kid in an ice cream store waiting to pick his favorite flavor. You see the excitement on his face. You feel his adrenaline rush as a 95-mph fastball reaches the catcher’s mitt. His roar from the mound after a strikeout will make you smile. This is a teenager having the most fun he can have and no one is going to stop him.

“I live and die with this sport,” the Harvard-Westlake High ace right-hander said. “It’s my drive and passion with every pitch and every swing.”

Even when an umpire went to the mound to ask him to settle down, it didn’t disrupt him. You have to understand his story and why he no longer takes any baseball moment for granted.

The Duncan Marsten story.

Freshman phenom

Demare Dezeurn (middle) wins the 60-meter dash in a national freshman record 6.72 seconds at the 2024 California Winter Track & Field Championships.

(Jeff Turner)

Seven weeks ago, 15-year-old Demare Dezeurn of Bishop Alemany High sprinted into the history books by setting a national freshman record of 6.72 seconds in the 60-meter dash at the California Winter Track & Field Championships at Arcadia High. On April 6, he will return to the site of that head-turning performance to compete in the 56th annual Arcadia Invitational.

Dezeurn’s 60-meter effort Feb. 3 was eight-thousandths of a second faster than Harvard-bound Granada Hills senior Jordan Coleman and broke the meet record of 6.76 set by Damien junior Zach Shinnick in 2016. He gave a taste of what was to come by clocking 6.83 at the Winter Championships qualifier in Simi Valley in January. He ran 6.78 seconds to place fourth in the 60-meter race at the Nike Indoor Nationals in New York City on March 10 and six days later produced a 10.47-second wind-legal 100 meters in the Maurice Greene Invitational at Oaks Christian High.

Here’s a profile of Alemany’s freshman phenom.

Madison Easter of Buena set a meet record at the Simi Valley Invitational with a time of 24.38 in the 200 girls race.

Isaiah McCorvey of Lancaster won the boys 3200 in 9:25.19. Adonyss Currie of Quartz Hill took the 100 in 10.57 and the 200 in 21.17.

Freshman Kingston Celefie of Calabasas won the 400 in 48.36 and the 100 in 10.65. He’s a star in the making and also plays football.

Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura ran the girls’ 800 in 2:03.48 at Azusa Pacific. Kevin Sandoval of Glendora had the top 800 boys time of 1:54.94.

Athletes are preparing for the Arcadia Invitational, which takes place April 6 at Arcadia High.

Softball

Garden Grove Pacifica is 13-0 and ranked No. 1 in the Southern California softball rankings. Annika Sogsti leads the team in batting with a .667 average that includes 17 hits.

Oaks Christian (11-2) is on an eight-game winning streak. Ilove’a Brittingham has hit 10 home runs.

Brianne Weiss of Orange Lutheran threw her fifth career no-hitter, striking out 14 against Rosary.

Volleyball

Loyola students are energized among the 2,500 fans who showed up for Loyola vs. Mira Costa volleyball on Friday night.

(Craig Weston)

Close to 2,500 came to Mira Costa High on Friday night to watch the volleyball match between the No. 1-ranked Mustangs and rival Loyola. The Cubs prevailed in four sets behind All-American Sean Kelly, who had 30 kills.

Here’s a look at why the event shows what high school sports is all about.

Notes . . .

Kevin Pearson has resigned as football coach at Warren to spend more time with his family. He was highly successful during 22 years Cathedral, then spent five years at Warren. His overall record is 241-78. . . .

Aurora Elder of Sage Hill has committed to Idaho State for women’s basketball. . . .

Chris Melton is the new basketball coach at Ocean View. . . .

Pete Moye is the new football coach at Arroyo. . . .

Hart High will have a new mascot this fall. Gone will be the Indians, replaced by the Hawks. . . .

Trent Perry of Harvard-Westlake has been named the Gatorade state player of the year in basketball. . . .

Austin Sanders of Santa Margarita has committed to East Texas Baptist for baseball. . . .

Soccer player Isis Salazar of Ocean View has committed to Cal State Bakersfield. . . .

Sierra Canyon athletic director Rock Pillsbury as accepted the AD position at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla. Football coach Jon Ellinghouse will replace him. . . .

The Southern Section announced its academic awards for each each school. Here’s the link. . . .

Nick Sainato is the new basketball coach at El Toro.

From the archives: Austin Overn

Austin Overn, a three-sport standout at Foothill, is making a big impact on the field this season.

(Michael Owen Baker / Los Angeles Times; Courtesy of Austin Overn)

The triple machine from Foothill High, Austin Overn, is at it again playing baseball for USC. He was an elite 100 meters runner in high school, a wide receiver in football, played basketball and was the star center fielder. He initially tried to play football and baseball at USC but now you get to see his speed only on the baseball diamond. And it’s something to behold as he rounds the bases getting triple after triple.

He has three triples this season and four home runs. Last season, he had 14 triples and four home runs. He’s draft eligible this summer.

Here’s a 2022 story about Overn’s athleticism in high school.

Recommendations

From the Seattle Times, a story on girls falling in love with wrestling.

From the San Jose Mercury News, a story on turf wars in one school district and whether to replace with grass.

From Calonews.com, a story on the fight for Lincoln High to have a synthetic sports field.

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