Teams ready to play ball
The high school baseball season gets underway on Saturday, and 10 local teams are opening the season with doubleheaders.
The top program is Huntington Beach, ranked No. 5 in the country by PerfectGame.org. The Oilers are at Aliso Niguel, with the first game starting at 10 a.m., followed by the second game at 1 p.m.
The Oilers boast a lot of talent with the likes of USC-bound first baseman Nick Pratto and UCLA-bound pitcher Hagen Danner. The seniors are Baseball America Preseason High School All-Americans.
The first test for the Oilers will come on March 4, when they play host to Orange Lutheran, ranked No. 1 in the nation. Huntington Beach was the top-ranked team going into last season, and it wound up exiting in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs, falling at home to the Lancers, 4-3, in eight innings.
Below are the rest of Saturday’s doubleheader openers involving schools in the area:
Sage Hill, the defending CIF Southern Section Division 6 champion, plays host to Riverside Rubidoux at 10 a.m. Players to watch are senior pitcher Brett Super and sophomore speedster Edward Pelc.
Marina, which won the Sunset League last year, is at home against Pacifica at 10 a.m. Toby Hess, former coach at Long Beach Poly, enters his first season in charge of the Vikings. Cory Lewis, a sophomore, is one of the top first baseman in Orange County.
Edison is at Capistrano Valley at 11 a.m. Vince Inman, a senior, is the ace for the Chargers.
Newport Harbor plays at Esperanza at 10 a.m. Cade Seabold returns for the Sailors after hitting .507 as a junior last year.
Fountain Valley is at home against El Modena at 11 a.m. Vince Mazzone was a first-team All-Sunset League catcher as a junior last year.
Laguna Beach, which won the CIF Southern Section Division 4 title last season, is at Laguna Hills at 10 a.m. Blake Burzell, a Duke commit, won’t have a late start like last season because of a long basketball playoff run. Basketball ended in the second round this season.
Estancia plays at Covina Gladstone at 10 a.m. Colin Gardner made the Orange Coast League first team as a junior last year.
Costa Mesa is at home against Cerritos at 10 a.m. Dylan Schafer, a senior outfielder, is the Mustangs’ top player.
Ocean View is at home against Western at 10 a.m. The Seahawks have won the Golden West League the past two years.
Los Amigos starts the season with Saddleback on Tuesday, while Corona del Mar and Brethren Christian open on March 2.
The Sea Kings are at home against Laguna Beach on the first day of the Newport Elks Tournament. JT Schwartz, a junior shortstop committed to UCLA, and Preston Hartsell, a junior outfielder committed to USC, lead CdM.
The Warriors are at home against Magnolia. Brethren Christian’s George Miller, who made the Academy League first team last year, returns for his senior season.
Huntington Beach, Sage Hill and Brethren Christian are on the CIF Southern Section preseason watch list, the Oilers in Division 1, the Lightning in Division 3 and the Warriors in Division 7.
CdM offers and transfers
There is a lot of news with CdM’s football program.
TaeVeon Le, a junior wide receiver, received an offer from Iowa State, and junior linebacker Clyde Moore has an offer from Hawaii, said CdM Coach Dan O’Shea.
Two players who played at University last season as juniors have also transferred to CdM.
Brothers Alex and Julian Pourdanesh, whose father, Shar Pourdanesh played in the NFL, are now at CdM, O’Shea said. Alex, an all-around threat, made the All-Pacific Coast League first team as a junior last season, while Julian, a lineman, was on the second team.
Alex did a lot for the Trojans. He ran the ball, caught the ball, tackled whoever had the ball and punted the ball.
Alex rushed 88 times for 643 yards and five touchdowns, and had 24 receptions for 359 yards and three touchdowns.
As a linebacker on defense, Alex finished with 37 tackles, 2.5 sacks, one interception, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.
He averaged 39.3 yards per punt.
Edison, CdM in CIF soccer quarters
The Edison and CdM boys’ soccer teams advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinals in their respective CIF Southern Section divisions.
In Division 1, the Chargers (20-4-1) play host to No. 2-seeded Redlands East Valley (21-0-1) at 5 p.m.
The Sea Kings (15-3-5) play on the road against No. 1-seeded Godinez (21-1) in a Division 2 quarterfinal match at Santa Ana Valley High at 5 p.m.
The Grizzlies are the top-ranked team in the state by TopDrawerSoccer.com.
Twitter: @ByDCP
