Letter-Perfect Day at Bishop Amat

They’ll be passing out pens today at La Puente Bishop Amat High, where five players from the Lancers’ nationally ranked baseball team will sign letters of intent. They include pitcher Adam Simon (UCLA), shortstop Mike Lange (Santa Clara), second baseman David Pierson (St. Mary’s), first baseman Mark Esparza (San Diego State) and catcher Jordan Swaydan (San Diego State).

Today is the first day of a seven-day period when high school seniors can sign with colleges except for football, men’s water polo and women’s soccer.

West Hills Chaminade has four baseball players signing today--pitchers Bobby Paschal (USC) and Sean Clark (Arizona State), third baseman Cody Haerther (UC Irvine) and shortstop Andrew Yaffe (Cal State Stanislaus). Loyola pitcher Andy Graham will sign with UC Santa Barbara and South Hills shortstop David Uribes will sign with Pepperdine.

In men’s volleyball, UCLA has gained perhaps the No. 1 prospect in the nation in 6-foot-9 Pat Nihipali from Manhattan Beach Mira Costa. He committed Tuesday, choosing the Bruins over USC, Cal State Northridge and Long Beach State. Teammate Gio Altamura will sign with Ohio State.

In men’s basketball, UCLA is expected to sign 6-foot-8 Matt McKinney of Santa Ynez and 6-10 Michael Fey of Olympia, Wash. Fey signed last year with the Bruins but wasn’t cleared academically. Evan Burns, a 6-8 forward from L.A. Fairfax, has committed to UCLA but won’t sign until he passes the SAT. USC will sign two players from Ventura College, 7-0 Jonathan Oliver and 6-10 Jack Wolfinger.

Harbor City Narbonne could have five players sign for women’s basketball. Willnett Crockett, a 6-3 center, has committed to Connecticut. Lisa Willis, a 5-10 guard, will sign with UCLA. Amber Fouse, a 5-8 guard, will sign with San Diego State. Amber Pruitt, a 6-0 forward, is likely to sign with Cal State Fullerton, with 5-8 Lisa Turner choosing Morgan State.

Other big-name girls’ basketball recruits scheduled to sign today are Lynwood’s Janice Bright with Nebraska, Pasadena Muir’s Tye’sha Fluker with Tennessee, Corona Centennial’s Michelle Strawberry with San Diego State, Santa Ynez’s Meghan Gnekow with USC, Ventura Buena’s Courtney LaVere with Notre Dame and Moreno Valley’s Emma Tautolo with UCLA. Also, point guard Charmaine Jones of Rolling Hills Prep will sign with Washington State.

Westchester will have three players sign with men’s basketball teams: Hassan Adams with Arizona, Brandon Bowman with Georgetown and Ashanti Cook with New Mexico. Timothy Drisdom of Downey Calvary Chapel will sign with Utah.

In softball, infielder Jaclyn Holden of Saugus will sign with North Carolina.