Baseball Preview: Flintridge Prep returns as champions with higher expectations
Ahead of his first season as the Flintridge Prep baseball coach in 2013, Guillermo Gonzalez set a precedent with the first of many bold predictions.
Taking over a Rebels squad that had failed to even make the CIF playoffs the season prior, Gonzalez said he believed his team could win the Prep League title.
It did.
Now, ahead of the 2016 season’s genesis, Gonzalez pilots a Flintridge Prep team that is the reigning CIF Southern Section Division VI champion and the skipper has another bold statement.
“This is probably the best team Prep’s had in a while,” Gonzalez said.
Considering the 2015 Flintridge Prep team won the program’s first-ever CIF championship and the aforementioned 2013 team advanced to the CIF semifinals for the first time since 1960, it would appear big things are in store for the Rebels.
The Rebels were the last area team standing on the diamond in 2015, a season to remember for certain, as Burroughs High advanced to the second round of the Division II tournament after wrestling away the Pacific League title from Crescenta Valley, which made it all the way to the Division II semifinals, the program’s furthest ascent since 1998.
Alas, Gonzalez’ Rebels seem to be one of the few teams within the area that boasts a bevy of returning starters, while questions abound elsewhere, particularly on the local scene with Crescenta Valley dealing with plenty of turnover, Glendale and St. Francis still building, Hoover welcoming a new coach and St. Monica Academy debuting on the scene with hopes of progress and an eye on the playoffs.
Flintridge Prep returns eight of nine usual starters from last year’s team, which overcame a 0-7 start to the season that ended with a 17-12 mark and four one-run wins in a five-game playoff run that culminated with a 3-2, eight-inning championship win over St. Anthony.
Of course, no matter the level of talent at his disposal, Gonzalez knows his team will see the best that the opposition has to offer as a defending champion.
“It’s a challenge to work that much harder because we know we’ll have a target on our back,” said Gonzalez, who also assures that despite winning a title, there are no swelled heads in the dugout. “These guys are humble still, they’re still working hard.”
Leading the charge on the mound will be senior Robbie Leslie, an All-Area returner who had four wins during the playoffs. Leslie was part of a one-two punch that included All-Area honoree Richard Pan, now a senior who will be at third base and on the mound again.
Junior Aidan Schraeder, a sophomore utility, and senior All-Area catcher Cole Pilar are likely to lead the offense, and Hamilton Evans, a senior third baseman, is back to provide leadership and more punch at the dish.
One possibly huge addition is senior Andrew Tsangeos, a standout quarterback for the school’s football team and likewise an excellent basketball player. He’ll play first base.
However, Tsangeos and junior Kendall Kikkawa have been with the basketball team while it’s made its deep CIF playoff run, just as Evans, returning starter Jack Enzminger and Schraeder are part of the soccer team’s surprising playoff journey.
“It kind of pushed us back a little,” said Gonzalez, the reigning All-Area Baseball Coach of the Year.
But, obviously, expectations are sky high and one particular goal is a Prep League title, something last year’s CIF champs didn’t grab away from Pasadena Poly and former Rebels skipper “Buzz” Cook.
“That’s something we’re working really hard to track down,” Gonzalez said. “Poly is still the key.”
Crescenta Valley’s three-year streak of Pacific League titles came to an end in 2015, but the Falcons still posted a sterling 25-6 record that included a CIF semifinal run ended by Mission Viejo, the eventual division titlist.
But plenty has been lost from the squad, including two-time All-Area Baseball Player of the Year Brian Gadsby. Of the seven All-Area selections for the Falcons last season, only two will be on the field to start the season: senior first baseman Adrian Damla and senior shortstop Ryan Lynch.
Junior catcher Kewin Ledesma will be back at some point, but is out six to eight weeks with an arm injury, and senior pitcher Eric Ma transferred to Village Christian.
“We went to the quarters [in 2014] and then the semis. That’s two really good years back to back and we’re just gonna have to find our way [this season],” Falcons Coach Phil Torres said. “We’re young on the mound and we’re inexperienced in some positions.”
Junior second baseman Nico Arredondo is also back in the starting lineup and will need to step up into a more prominent role. As the season starts, underclassmen Trevor Beer and Will Smiley will lead the pitching staff.
As for league, Torres predicts it will be a close battle until the end with usual suspects Arcadia, Burbank and defending champion Burroughs in the mix with upstart Glendale a player as well. No doubt playing a role in the final standings will be the league’s change to home-and-home series week by week.
“I think there will be a lot closer scores than in years past,” Torres said. “But, I have so much to worry about with our guys, I haven’t even looked at the other teams in league yet.”
St. Francis will embark on its second season under the Terry Phillips coaching umbrella.
The Golden Knights, who noticeably featured an up-tempo attitude in the dugout and approach on the basepaths last season, went 12-17 with a 3-9 mark in the always arduous Mission League. Both were improvements on the previous season.
“I feel we have righted the ship, now it’s just about learning to sail,” Phillips said. “We still haven’t been .500 in [four] years. Yes, I want to win a Mission League title and get back to the playoffs and all that, but we’re also OK with the process of continuing to grow.”
St. Francis, according to maxpreps.com, had 70 team stolen bases a season ago and Phillips wants and believes his team can create even more havoc this season.
“There’s three or four guys who will steal 20 this year if they do what they’re supposed to do,” Phillips said. “It’s about leadership and doing what we’re supposed to do.”
Junior center fielder Brandon Lewis has matured into a bona fide college prospect and fearsome hitter, Phillips said, and will be joined in the heart of the order by senior shortstop Grant Victor and senior first baseman/pitcher Jason Ajamian.
Senior outfielder Liam Sellers is a transfer from San Dimas and utility Noah Keeney is one of three transfers from rival Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, the reigning league champion.
On the mound, Phillips has a lot of options, though there’s no particular ace or workhorse.
“We’re just gonna have to pitch our guts out,” said Phillips, who will look for big contributions from the arms of seniors Will Huston, Paul Mendoza and Michael Calmette, as well as junior Evan Tontini, as he has as many as a dozen arms to call on. “There’s not a whole lot of difference between No. 1 and No. 12.”
Phillips is confident the program is headed in the right direction, but the immediate future sees him excited about his freshman and sophomore ranks and hopeful that his upperclassmen are ready to lay the foundation.
“It could go a whole lot of different ways,” Phillips said.
Glendale finished 7-18 last season, with seven losses by three runs or less, and took sixth in the Pacific League with a pair of close losses to league champion Burroughs and wins over Burbank and Crescenta Valley.
Overall, there was a feeling of progress made in just about every facet.
As the program looks to grow, it is still very young, perhaps younger than it has been as Nitros Coach Alan Eberhart said there was a bigger freshman turnout than in recent memory. The team could feature seven to 10 underclassmen with five or six freshmen.
“We’ve got nine guys who can catch it and throw it. The problem is they’re very young,” Eberhart said. “I’m encouraged by the fact that we have a good talented group of kids.
“I’m encouraged to see how they develop.”
Improved fundamentals, patience and overcoming a lack of depth are likely to be the team’s biggest keys. Not helping matters is the loss of three players who were poised to return, including Connor Rodriguez, who transferred to Village Christian.
However, Eberhart welcomes back senior Orlando Diez, who will be the team’s ace and starting shortstop.
“When he was healthy [last year], he was good. He’s gonna be our No. 1,” Eberhart said. “He can beat anybody.”
Others expected to be key contributors are junior first baseman Andrew Tinoco, senior outfielder Keyvan Duran, senior third baseman David Piedra, junior middle infielder Bryce Wong and senior pitcher Anthony Schanen. Freshman Trent Lousararian could also make an instant impact.
“These are our guys for the first time,” said Eberhart, who’s in his third season as Nitros skipper. “They understand what I want them to do.
“It’s just, can they continue developing?”
Over at Hoover, Mickey Moreno has taken over the coaching reins left vacant by the resignation of Brian Esquival, whose Tornadoes went 7-17 a season ago and finished seventh in the Pacific League.
Moreno’s squad is one that’s just 12 players deep with only one senior.
“We’re young, but I’m really happy with the progress,” he said. “We have a lot of guys coming back and buying in and that’s good for the future.”
Moreno knows numbers will be an issue, but is confident he has a dozen ballplayers that will give him what is needed.
“I need to get everything out of them this year,” Moreno said. “They have to start with another kind of attitude to work hard knowing we need them.
“They’re buying into the program and they know they have job responsibilities.”
Junior third baseman JP Gallegos and junior center fielder Jordan Martinez are expected to be at the heart of the order leading the offense, while sophomore second baseman Steven Gonzalez brings athleticism to the table and junior shortstop Dustin Wilson is one of the team’s hardest workers.
While building the program is the top priority, Moreno is confident his team will compete.
“I think we can make the playoffs this year,” he said. “I think we’ll be right in the mix in the middle of the pack fighting for a playoff spot.”
Joining the local scene, St. Monica Academy is in its first year on campus in Montrose.
Coach Phil Gleason’s Crusaders are coming off an 11-6 year in which they won the International League title and advanced to the Division VII playoffs, where they lost a 1-0 first-round nailbiter to Academy of Excellence.
St. Monica’s nucleus will be senior shortstop/pitcher Matt Golbranson, the team’s only senior, junior catcher Jack Golbranson, sophomore pitcher/shortstop Beau Barry and junior pitcher/third baseman Riley Gosnell.
“We’re really young, but I think we’ll be competitive. I’m optimistic,” Gleason said. “Building a program would be [the] No. 1 [goal]. I’d like to see us take a step forward as a program and get back to CIF.”
