Players to Watch

Eric Sondheimer’s rankings and comments on the top baseball players for 2004:

*--* FIRST BASE Rk Name, School Yr Comment 1 Lucas Duda, Sr. Power hitter headed to USC Arlington 2 Mike Carp, Lakewood Sr. Returning Moore League MVP 3 Drew Saberhagen, Sr. Top two-way player Calabasas 4 Tyler Waddell, Sr. California signee Peninsula 5 Matt Morris, Sr. Ready to drive in runs Anaheim Canyon 6 Michael Notaro, Sr. Had excellent summer Westlake 7 Kevin Wason, La Jr. Three-year starter Quinta 8 Chris Auten, Oaks Jr. He’s 6-5 and hits left-handed Christian SECOND BASE 1 Danny Espinosa, Jr. Tremendous fielder Mater Dei 2 Kevin Macdonald, So. Hit .408 as a freshman Palm Desert 3 Aljay Davis, Sr. Had 45 hits Lakewood 4 Willie Cabrera, Sr. Healthy and ready to shine Chatsworth 5 Mike Gilmartin, Jr. Excellent fielder and hitter Crespi 6 Brett Scyphers, Sr. Doesn’t make errors Camarillo THIRD BASE 1 Brandon Laird, La Jr. Leads the class of 2005 Quinta 2 Josh Bradbury, Sr. Hit 10 home runs Corona del Mar 3 Brian Chavez, Sr. Fresno State signee Quartz Hill 4 Aaron Wible, Sr. A three-time all-leaguer Riverside Poly 5 Doug Reinhardt, Sr. USC signee Santa Margarita 6 Ramon Marquez, Sr. Returning All-City pick Roosevelt 7 Cody Decker, Santa Jr. 14 home runs as a sophomore Monica 8 Kyle Pond, North Sr. Had 12 home runs last season Torrance 9 Ben Ornelas, Lompoc Sr. Cal State Fullerton signee 10 Raul Landeros, Bell Sr. Possesses excellent skills 11 Sean Camacho, Crespi So. Player on the rise SHORTSTOP 1 Trevor Plouffe, Sr. One day he’ll be in the majors Crespi 2 Matt Ware, Quartz Sr. Signed with UCLA Hill 3 Randy Molina, South Sr. Signed with Stanford Gate 4 Andrew Romine, Sr. Signed with Arizona State Trabuco Hills 5 Matt Cusick, Santa Sr. Signed with USC Margarita 6 Matt Lopez, Palm Jr. Could be No. 1 in 2005 Desert 7 David Fonseca, Jr. An exceptional fielder Thousand Oaks 8 Trevor Bell, Jr. If he’s healthy, beware Crescenta Valley 9 Eaton Rincon, Sr. Batted .431 Arlington 10 Todd Sandell, Sr. Had 35 RBIs Camarillo 11 Kevin Hansen, Sr. Four-year starter hit .465 Glendora 12 Dylan Cohen, Jr. Good athlete with improving Palisades skills 13 Garett Green, Sr. Had 27 RBIs Anaheim Canyon 14 Mike Torres, Mater Jr. Monarchs love his potential Dei 15 Drew Vassil, Jr. Ended summer with four hits Cleveland vs. Plouffe 16 Tom Peale, Millikan Sr. A solid, consistent player 17 Justin Sellers, Jr. Starter since freshman year Marina 18 Dale Gamo, Sr. Golden West League MVP Westminster 19 Billy Pinkerton, Jr. Has lots of ability Arcadia CATCHER 1 Landon Hernandez, Jr. Led U.S. youth team to gold Desert Chapel medal 2 Mark Reed, Bonita Sr. Signed with Long Beach State 3 Gilbert Buenrostro, Sr. Hit 18 home runs Arroyo Grande 4 Tony Asaro, West Jr. Has good arm, size, strength Torrance 5 Sean Dovel, La Sr. Signed with Loyola Marymount Mirada 6 Cody Dee, Moorpark Jr. Top catcher in Marmonte League 7 Chris Morinello, Sr. Had 34 RBIs Anaheim Canyon 8 Brian Ward, Marina Sr. Three-year starter 9 Felipe Aguilar, Sr. Led team to City final Carson 10 Tyson Hawley, El Jr. Hit .424 as a sophomore Segundo 11 Hank Conger, So. Switch hitter with great Huntington Beach potential 12 David DeLeon, Santa Sr. Three-year all-leaguer Ana 13 Josh Thomas, Sr. All-leaguer Righetti 14 Sammy Donabedian, Jr. Hitting standout in winter ball El Camino Real 15 Jordan Alcantar, Jr. 32 RBIs as a sophomore Venice 16 Casey Arbiso, Buena Sr. Signed with Cal State Fullerton Park 17 Brett Mendoza, Jr. Solid hitter, receiver Peninsula 18 Robert Stock, Agoura Fr. Everyone says he’s impact player PITCHER 1 Phil Hughes, Sr. Hardest thrower in Southland Foothill 2 Mark Trumbo, Villa Sr. Be happy to score any runs off Park him 3 Jared Clark, Sr. He’s the talk of winter ball Valencia 4 James Scott, Cajon Sr. Lefty with big-time skills 5 Brad Meyers, Servite Sr. He’s 6-6 and intimidating 6 Nick Casanova, Sr. Ended season in dominant form Anaheim Canyon 7 Andy Beal, Peninsula Sr. He’s healthy and in top form 8 Collin Balester, Sr. Throws 90 mph and is 6-5 Huntington Beach 9 Adam Olbrychowski, Sr. If he throws strikes, watch out Cleveland 10 Brandon Parillo, Sr. Could be most influential Marina transfer student 11 Anthony Encinas, Sr. 89 strikeouts in 72 innings Santa Fe 12 Danny Johnson, Sr. Was 9-2 as a junior Lakewood 13 Steve Pujol, San Jr. Lefty made All-City as Fernando sophomore 14 Kevin Stedman, Sr. Throws hard and throws strikes Capistano Valley 15 Brendan Lafferty, Sr. California signee Riverside Poly 16 Tommy Palica, Edison Jr. Lefty should be one of best in Sunset League 17 Shane Minor, Sr. He’s 6-5 and full of potential Millikan 18 Chuckie Fick, Sr. Fresno State signee Newbury Park 19 Kevin Duke, Rancho Sr. Arizona signee Cucamonga 20 Casey Haerther, So. Challenger to Plouffe in Chaminade Mission League 21 Dan Montanez, Sr. Had 1.87 ERA Arlington 22 Steve Taylor, San Sr. Strong arm, strong will to win Pedro 23 Matt Miller, Orange Sr. Was 6-2 with 1.58 ERA Lutheran 24 John Dunn, West Sr. Returning All-Southern Section Torrance pick 25 Brooks Walling, Sr. He’s 6-5 and wins big games Marina 26 Todd Macklin, Sr. Had 1.90 ERA Corona del Mar 27 Cory Arbiso, Buena Sr. Cal State Fullerton signee Park 28 Casey Larson, Paso Sr. Three-year starter Robles 29 Ryan Tucker, Temple Jr. Had 102 strikeouts in 75 City innings 30 Steve Grove, Sr. Was 7-2 with 2.42 ERA Mission Viejo 31 Osaar Rashan, Garey Jr. All-around athlete who throws hard 32 Chris Tillman, So. He’s 6-4 and ready to win Fountain Valley 33 Robert Dickmann, Jr. Lefty who doesn’t back down Notre Dame OUTFIELD 1 Jason Corder, Sr. No. 1 power hitter in Southland Capistrano Valley 2 Jason Dominguez, Sr. Candidate for City player of Chatsworth the year 3 Chris Jones, Sr. Signed with Texas A&M; Mission Viejo 4 Matt Aidem, Valencia Sr. Batted .581 with 61 hits 5 Chad Boyd, El Sr. Has become terrific hitter Camino Real 6 Jose Hernandez, Sr. Long Beach State signee Servite 7 Ozzie Lewis, G.H. Sr. Has size, speed, strength Kennedy 8 Brandon Schnebly, Sr. Had six home runs El Dorado 9 Donald Brown, Sr. Had 40 hits, 46 RBIs Camarillo 10 Jason Breckley, Sr. Can be top two-way performer Moorpark 11 James Hass, West Jr. He’s 6-3 and fast Torrance 12 Terry Walsh, Loyola Sr. Knows how to hit 13 Steve Fraser, Sr. Best athlete on top-25 team Millikan 14 Dylan Gaughen, Simi Sr. UNLV signee Valley 15 Bryan Petersen, Sr. Hit home run at Dodger Stadium Chatsworth 16 Daniel Flores, Sr. Ocean League MVP Torrance 17 Mike Vass, Villa Sr. Nevada signee Park 18 Ruben Noriega, Jr. Developing hitter Wilmington Banning 19 Ollie Linton, Crespi Sr. Signed with UC Irvine 20 Steve Susdorf, Hart Sr. Fresno State signee 21 Brian Stevens, Buena Sr. Cal State Fullerton signee 22 D’Arby Myers, So. Young talent with hitting Culver City skills 23 Chris Cassidy, Jr. Ready for All-Southern Section Claremont season 24 Phillip Van Doren, Sr. Hit .446 and made all-league La Mirada 25 Joe Dickerson, Jr. Excellent fielder, improving Esperanza hitter 26 Gabe Cohen, So. Proved as a freshman he can hit Harvard-Westlake 27 Matt Lawhorn, Sr. San Diego signee Bishop Amat 28 Dane Ferguson, Sr. Tremendous arm, glove Villa Park

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