Column: Prep predictions for 2015, from the bold to the blunt
It’s time to peer into my crystal ball and see what 2015 has in store for high school athletes, coaches and fans:
•Kolby Allard of San Clemente, the best left-handed pitcher in Southern California not named Clayton Kershaw, will strike out 18, throw a no-hitter and celebrate by riding the waves on his surfboard off San Clemente Pier.
•The best track and field competition in the spring will be in the shot put, where Matt Katnik of Bellflower St. John Bosco, Malik McMorris of Santa Ana Mater Dei, Aaron Haigler of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Nathan Bultman of Valencia West Ranch will push each other to reach 70 feet.
•Michael Norman, a junior 400-meter runner at Vista Murrieta, will break 46 seconds, causing a stampede of college coaches to offer him a scholarship.
•After batting .642 with eight home runs as a junior, Florida-bound softball player Amanda Lorenz of Moorpark will be so intimidating in the batter’s box that she’ll set a record for intentional walks.
•Former Bishop Amat closer David Berg will be an All-American for UCLA and pitch in so many games that pitchers across the country will ask their coaches to teach them how to throw sidearm.
•Chase Strumpf of San Juan Capistrano JSerra will hit a home run so far that the person who retrieves it will live outside the 949 area code.
•So many quarterbacks will transfer over the next two months that a new website will be created: RentAQB.com.
•Chris Betts of Long Beach Wilson will hit three home runs in one game.
•Kobe Paras of L.A. Cathedral will have so many dunks that Dunkin’ Donuts will start to sponsor Phantom basketball games.
•The NBA will decide to sponsor an all-star game matching the sons of former NBA players against their aging fathers, who think they still have game: Windward’s Shareef O’Neal vs. Shaquille; El Camino Real’s Brandon Russell vs. Bryon; Fairfax’s Lindsey Drew vs. Larry; Palisades’ Ron Artest III vs. Metta World Peace; Mater Dei’s M.J. Cage vs. Michael.
•Bennie Boatwright of Sun Valley Village Christian will make 10 three-pointers in one basketball game.
•Lonzo Ball of Chino Hills will hand out 15 assists, mostly to brother LiAngelo, who will buy his older brother a steak dinner to celebrate.
•Quarterback K.J. Costello of Santa Margarita will pass for seven touchdowns in a game.
•The two best freshman baseball players will be 6-foot-3 infielder Jaden Fein of Simi Valley Royal and center fielder Brice Turang of Corona Santiago.
•Calabasas quarterback Tristan Gebbia will emerge as one of the best junior passers in California.
•EA Sports will decide to have a Madden 15 for high school football featuring Bishop Amat’s duo of Tyler Vaughns and Trevon Sidney on the cover.
•Chatsworth will win the City Division I baseball championship at Dodger Stadium, causing Coach Tom Meusborn to lose his composure and join the dog pile in front of home plate.
•Catcher Dalton Blumenfeld of Los Angeles Hamilton will have eight runs batted in during one game, then play a concert on his guitar to celebrate.
•Valerie Higgins of West Hills Chaminade will make 15 steals in a basketball game.
•The top five football teams will be, in order, Corona Centennial, St. John Bosco, Gardena Serra, Bishop Amat, Narbonne.
•Harvard-Westlake second baseman Ezra Steinberg will go on a 20-game hitting streak.
•Former Mater Dei third baseman Ryan McMahon will make his major league debut for the Colorado Rockies.
Twitter: LATSondheimer
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