Baseball: Young phenoms look the part

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Freshman shortstop Christian Lopes of Valencia and sophomore outfielder Austin Wilson of Harvard-Westlake are two of the most highly regarded young baseball prospects in the Southland, and their reputations appear justified based on their season-opening performances Friday.

Lopes lined a single on the first pitch of his high school career against Harvard-Westlake. He also added a double on a 3-2 count and played flawlessly at shortstop. Wilson contributed two singles, stole a base and threw out Lopes at the plate as he was trying to score from third on a fly ball.

Harvard-Westlake won, 1-0, on a four-hitter by senior Eric Shultz, who struck out eight and walked none.

With so many possible games to choose from, I was thrilled to see these two outstanding young prospects and a great pitching performance from a sidearmer who could be a surprise this season.

-- Eric Sondheimer