A Player for Two Seasons

Matt Valaika of Newhall Hart is making it difficult for people to determine whether he’s a baseball player playing soccer or a soccer player playing baseball.

He has scored a school-record 27 goals for Hart and has helped the Indians reach the Southern Section Division II playoffs, which start Saturday. He’s also a standout junior shortstop.

Baseball practice began Monday, but Valaika won’t be available until after he finishes soccer season.

Soccer Coach Louis Romero says Valaika “enjoys playing soccer more than baseball.”

Baseball Coach Jim Ozella counters, “I think he’s got a bright future in baseball and better opportunities.”

Added Valaika: “I think both are fun.”

Valaika’s older brother, Chris, is the starting shortstop at UC Santa Barbara, and he has two younger brothers who are dedicated baseball players.

Valaika has been receiving his share of nicknames. The baseball players call him “Pele,” “Beckham” and “Red Card.”

Romero calls him “Spicy Matt,” because “he doesn’t take a lot of heat from people.”

Said Valaika: “I got one red card and everyone freaked out.”

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USC Coach Pete Carroll is going to find out just how good a recruiter he really is when it comes to trying to persuade his son, Nate, to become a Trojan.

Nate was a junior receiver and outstanding long snapper for Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula and also plays basketball and volleyball.

Carroll is good at wooing parents, but we’ll see how he handles Nate’s mother.

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Villa Park will have to make it through the first month of the baseball season without standout junior pitcher Alex Curry, who is academically ineligible.

Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley has lost its No. 1 pitcher, Doug Blum, for the season because of a broken foot.

Corona Santiago and Santa Ana Mater Dei project as two of the top baseball teams for the coming season because each returns eight starters.

Santiago reached the Southern Section Division II semifinals last season. Mater Dei was 18-10 and returns the No. 1 double-play combination in the region in USC-bound second baseman Mike Torres and Long Beach State-bound shortstop Danny Espinosa.

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One of the best basketball coaching jobs this season has been turned in by Brad Katz of Sun Valley Poly. Despite starting three sophomores, the Parrots (18-7) won the Sunset Six League championship, their first league title since the 1985-86 season.

Katz, who served as an assistant coach to Jeff Halpern at Reseda in the 1990s, showed no hesitation in relying on sophomore point guard D.J. Gay and 6-foot-4 sophomore center Santiago Moreno, both of whom should be All-City players before they graduate.

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Get ready for an exciting track season, with the 400 meters the event to watch.

David Gettis of Los Angeles Dorsey has the fastest time in the nation among returning athletes at 46.39 seconds. The second-fastest time in California is held by a sophomore, Bryshon Nellum of Long Beach Poly, at 47.27. And not far behind is Marcel Keeling of Gardena Serra at 47.67.

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The Alvarez family of San Fernando sure knows how to produce siblings with leadership skills. Four of the five family members have been soccer captains at San Fernando.

It started with Nancy, captain of the girls’ team in 2001. Fernando was captain of the boys’ team two years ago and Cesar was last year. This year, Esteban is captain for the Tigers, seeded No. 2 in the City Section playoffs. Next year, sophomore Moises could take over the captain’s role.

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