Baseball: Pat Valaika to become sixth former Hart player in MLB this season

Former Newhall Hart and UCLA shortstop Pat Valaika is being called up by the Colorado Rockies, becoming the sixth former Hart player to have played in the majors this season, Hart Coach Jim Ozella said Monday.

No high school in America is believed to have had as many players from the same school on teams this season.

The others are Trevor Brown of the San Francisco Giants; Mike Montgomery of the Chicago Cubs; Trevor Bauer of the Cleveland Indians; James Shields of the Chicago White Sox, and Tyler Glasnow of the Pittsburgh Pirates (he’s back in the minors).

Ozella has a sign near the scoreboard listing former players in the majors. He’s going to need to change it again to account for Valaika, whose brother, Chris, played for the Reds. Valaika was a starter on UCLA’s NCAA championship team in 2013.

“That’s an unbelievable accomplishment by that kid,” Ozella said.

Ozella joked earlier this season that a painter is on call 24/7 to update the sign. It had to be updated when Glasnow made his MLB debut this season. Now it’s Valaika’s turn.

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