He’s King of the Hill in San Pedro

If everything proceeds according to the likely scenario, Matt Kretzschmar of San Pedro figures to be the pitcher standing in the way of Chatsworth’s finishing unbeaten and winning a second consecutive national championship in high school baseball

Kretzschmar, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound senior right-hander, didn’t even play last season, unless you call Wiffle ball a sport. He was home-schooled so he could make up units denied him when he transferred from a small private school after his freshman year.

Now he’s throwing 91-mph fastballs, has a 10-0 record and 2.01 earned-run average, and is the ace of a San Pedro team that has won 23 consecutive games. The Pirates (28-3) should be the No. 2-seeded team behind Chatsworth (31-0) when City Section playoff pairings are determined Monday.

For Kretzschmar to get his chance to face Chatsworth, it probably will have to come in the City final on June 8 at Dodger Stadium.

“It would be interesting,” he said. “There’s a lot of buzz going around about San Pedro and Chatsworth, and I think I can compete. It would prove how much I’ve come from last year.”

San Pedro Coach Grady Sain said Kretzschmar has become a legitimate strikeout pitcher.

“His velocity is overpowering,” Sain said. “We want him to come after guys, and that’s what he’s done.”

Friends on the team were disappointed Kretzschmar couldn’t play last season, but it was his choice to work on academics so he’d be able to graduate next month with his senior classmates.

He didn’t resume pitching until showing up for a summer open tryout organized by the Milwaukee Brewers. That’s when he learned he was throwing better than 90 mph.

“I didn’t even know I threw that hard,” he said. “I had my girlfriend sitting in the stands, and she was watching the radar gun. I was surprised.”

Kretzschmar was invited to the Area Code games in Long Beach and began to draw interest from scouts.

“I think I can prove myself at whatever competition level comes,” he said. “I did well at the Area Code games, and that’s the best high school players around. And I’m pretty confident I can hang in there with anybody.”

The first day of the June amateur draft is June 7, one day before the City final. San Pedro players are already talking about meeting Chatsworth, but their coach has a warning.

“To be thinking about Chatsworth right now is irrelevant,” Sain said. “You have to get to Dodger Stadium first.”

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There are many talented baseball players probably disappointed that they haven’t received a scholarship offer from an NCAA Division I-A school, but there are other options. Look what happened to Mike Frost of Northridge.

Four years ago, Frost was a top pitcher for North Hollywood Campbell Hall. San Francisco offered him a partial scholarship. UCLA wanted him to walk on.

Frost, though, was just maturing into his body and wanted to play immediately. He accepted a scholarship to Trinity University, an NCAA Division III school in San Antonio. It turned out to be a brilliant decision.

Frost, 22 and now 6 feet 3, was chosen pitcher of the year in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. This season, he’s 10-1 with a 2.04 ERA. In one game, he struck out 18 batters.

He has 26 career victories and is a four-time all-conference player. He plans to graduate in June and has a job lined up with the United Nations if pro baseball doesn’t give him a shot.

“I got a great opportunity to play. I’ve gotten a great education,” Frost said.

He might even get drafted next month, even though his fastball tops out at 85 mph. He has 90 strikeouts in 75 innings, proving he knows how to pitch.

“I hit my spots and throw it to where a batter can’t hit it,” he said.

He could be the answer to the trivia question: Who had the best college career among the players from the 1994 Northridge Little League team that made it to the championship game in Williamsport, Pa.?

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.