Players to Watch

Eric Sondheimer’s rankings and comments on the top baseball players for 2003

PITCHER

*--* Rank Player, School Yr Comment 1 Jo Jo Reyes, Riverside Sr Was 10-2 with 1.02 ERA Poly 2 Ian Kennedy, Sr Will join Reyes at USC Westminster La Quinta 3 Jared Hughes, Santa Sr Hardest thrower in Margarita Southland 4 Chuckie Tiffany, Sr Ready to dominate Charter Oak 5 Mark Trumbo, Villa Park Jr Chosen top player in Division II 6 Jason Corder, Jr Has million-dollar arm Capistrano Valley 7 Andy Beal, Peninsula Jr Was 8-1 with 0.79 ERA 8 Jeff Stimpson, Redondo Sr Bound for Stanford 9 Brandon Villalobos, Sr Rarely makes bad pitches Glendora 10 Jason Wanamaker, Sr Finished 11-1 last season Lakewood 11 Trevor Plouffe, Encino Jr Has terrific arm, terrific Crespi bat 12 Scott Sistilli, Alemany Sr Becoming a dominant pitcher 13 Justin Cassel, Sr Signed with UC Irvine Chatsworth 14 Jason Cable, Palmdale Sr Possesses elite curveball 15 Eric Hale, Sonora Sr Knows how to beat top teams 16 Jason Dominguez, Jr Ready to be an ace pitcher Chatsworth 17 Trevor Bell, Crescenta So Is he really only a Valley sophomore? 18 Zach Zinicola, Arlington Sr Signed with Arizona State 19 Vinnie Pestano, Anaheim Sr CS Fullerton signee throws Canyon 90 mph 20 Jared Clark, Valencia Jr Best two-way player in Foothill League 21 Steven Wright, Valley Sr Signed with Hawaii View 22 Manuel Gomez, Santa Ana Sr Was 10-3 with 1.82 ERA 23 Kevin Barnum, Laguna Sr Was 6-1 with 1.06 ERA Hills 24 Mark Davidson, Esperanza Sr Signed with Cal State Fullerton 25 Kenny Maiques, La Serna Sr He’s sound and ready to roll 26 Anthony Romero, Bishop Sr Was 6-0 for title team Amat 27 Tommy Hawk, Lompoc Sr CS Fullerton signee Cabrillo 28 Steve Moraga, Indio Sr Was 7-0 with 0.79 ERA 29 David Huff, Edison Sr When his curveball is on, beware 30 Francisco Molina, Sylmar Sr Made rapid winter improvement 31 J.T. Trelatsky, Agoura Jr Capable of beating anyone 32 John Henry Jacobs, Sr Frontier League MVP Calabasas 33 Joe Gault, Canyon Sr He’s 6 feet 6 and Country Canyon improving fast 34 Casey Dahlen, Peninsula Sr Signed with California 35 Rosario Garcia, Sr He’s All-City when healthy Birmingham 36 Dylan Gaughen, Simi Jr His velocity is rising Valley 37 Cole Buchanan, Corona Sr Lefty was 8-3 last year Santiago 38 Jake Renshaw, Ventura Sr He’s 220 pounds and tough FIRST BASE 1 Brennan Boesch, Sr Top hitter at Area Code Harvard-Westlake Games 2 Justin Martin, Long Sr Lefty who had 27 RBIs Beach Millikan 3 Matt Aidem, Valencia Jr A prolific hitter 4 Tim Stewart, Mater Dei Sr Signed with UC Irvine 5 Daric Barton, Marina Sr Batted .468 with seven home runs 6 Travis Williams, Venice Sr He’s 6-5 and had 44 RBIs 7 Ramon Marquez, Roosevelt Jr Batted .448 with 31 RBIs SECOND BASE 1 Taylor Holiday, Mission Sr Batted .452, signed with Viejo ASU 2 Aljay Davis, Lakewood Sr Had 42 hits as a junior 3 Aaron McGuinness, Sr Does everything well Crescenta Valley 4 Brian Chavez, Quartz Jr Doesn’t make errors or Hill many outs 5 Terry Walsh, Loyola Jr Batted .452 last year 6 Garett Green, Anaheim Jr Batted .460 in league Canyon 7 Scott Cohen, Sylmar Jr Made one error last season SHORTSTOP 1 Chris Valaika, Hart Sr Clutch hitter, fielder 2 Adam Sorgi, Capistrano Sr Signed with Stanford Valley 3 Travis Denker, Brea Sr Had 13 home runs, 35 RBIs Olinda 4 Josh Satin, Sr Hit .500 with 11 home runs Harvard-Westlake 5 Matt Ware, Quartz Hill Jr Could be No. 1 for 2004 6 Blake Crosby, Sr Doesn’t make errors Westminster La Quinta 7 Chad Lundahl, Thousand Sr Batted .448, signed with Oaks UC Irvine 8 Christian Vitters, Sr Signed with Fresno State Cypress 9 Edgar Sedano, Roosevelt Sr Two-time All-City pick 10 Justin McClure, Anaheim Sr A consistent top hitter Canyon 11 Garrett Rodriguez, Sr Made two errors last season Etiwanda 12 Kyle Barratt, Crescenta Sr Four-year starter Valley 13 Tom Peale, L.B. Millikan Jr Hit .361 as a sophomore 14 Jeff Kaplan, Dana Hills Sr Hit seven home runs 15 Ray Ravago, Alemany Sr Had seven home runs, 28 RBIs 16 Randy Molina, South Gate Jr Could be best in the City Section 17 Hector Estrella, Sr Signed with USC Northview 18 Kyle Williams, Burroughs Sr Was 19 of 21 on steals 19 Johnny Mendez, Sr Returning All-City player Wilmington Banning 20 Matt Cline, Edison Sr Ground balls are automatic outs THIRD BASE 1 Ian Stewart, Sr Had 15 home runs, 49 RBIs Westminster La Quinta 2 Cody Cipriano, Westlake Sr Marmonte League MVP 3 Jeff Flaig, El Dorado Sr If he’s injury-free, beware 4 Rick Taloa, Esperanza Sr Ready for MVP-like season 5 David Hudgins, Mission Sr Hit .412 with seven home Viejo runs 6 Tyler Morrison, Glendora Sr Returning all-leaguer 7 Daniel Lee, El Camino Sr Hit .487, was All-City Real CATCHER 1 Josh Cowles, East Valley Sr Hits with the best 2 Angel Sanchez, West Sr Tops defensively Covina 3 Cody Collet, Newbury Sr Had 39 RBIs Park 4 Konrad Thieme, Westlake Sr Made impact at Area Code Games 5 Sean Rooney, Esperanza Jr Hits and can throw 6 D.J. Lewis, San Fernando Sr Best pro prospect in City Section 7 Aaron Lowenstein, Sr Has top defensive skills Calabasas 8 J.P. Musgrave, La Salle Sr Signed with St. Mary’s 9 Zac Haines, Rio Mesa Sr Had 45 hits, 42 RBIs 10 Mike Adams, Santa Sr UC Santa Barbara signee Margarita 11 Adam Schneider, Agoura Sr Dependable hitter 12 Alex Massari, Quartz Sr Fresno State signee Hill 13 Wes Pascolla, Valencia Jr Made lots of improvement 14 Luis Parra, Birmingham Sr Will be .400 hitter 15 Cody Lovejoy, Cypress Sr He’s 6-3 and all-leaguer OUTFIELD 1 Delmon Young, Camarillo Sr No. 1 in the nation 2 Daniel Perales, Mater Sr Hit 12 home runs Dei 3 Jim Rapoport, Chaminade Sr Signed with Stanford 4 Cole Garner, Sr Artesia transfer with Westminster La Quinta skills 5 Brandon Tripp, Los Sr CS Fullerton signee Alamitos 6 Mike Kessler, Claremont Sr Excellent hitter 7 Kent Wulf, Quartz Hill Sr Hit nine home runs last season 8 Clark Hardman, Mission Sr Batted .430 Viejo 9 Taylor Grigsby, Sr Alpha League MVP Brentwood 10 Matt Lawhorn, Bishop Jr Watch his improvement Amat 11 Derrick Williams, St. Sr Another Bo Jackson? John Bosco 12 Mike Vass, Villa Park Jr Ready for breakout season 13 Devon Sheppard, Oaks Fr The next Delmon Young Christian 14 Ozzie Lewis, G.H. Jr He’s 6-4 and getting better Kennedy 15 Chris Leclair, Palm Sr Had 35 RBIs as a junior Springs

*--*