Baseball Preview: Beer, Crescenta Valley look for league title returns
Just like every season, Crescenta Valley High’s baseball team will be seen as a top contender in the Pacific League.
And Trevor Beer, the reigning All-Area Baseball Player of the Year and a legit left-handed ace, is back.
The reality for the Falcons, though, is that even with the area’s best player back there is hardly any other experienced Falcons back with him.
“We’re really young in some spots, so it’s going to be rough early,” Falcons longtime coach Phil Torres prognosticated. “We’ll see if they figure it out.”
Indeed, as the diamond is now abuzz with a fresh season, Crescenta Valley will return looking to defend its league title as will St. Monica Academy, while Flintridge Prep is the other local to have earned a playoff berth and St. Francis, Hoover and Glendale will aim to improve and build their programs up.
Crescenta Valley’s 2017 campaign was an outstanding one – all but the last two games anyway.
The Falcons went 25-3, but their last two games were losses with a defeat to archrival Arcadia in the league finale ending an attempt at a perfect league season on the final day before a 3-2 loss to Capistrano Valley in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs.
A host of All-Area talents have graduated, such as Scott Vinceri, Nico Arredando and Drew Atherton, among others. And Will Smiley, another All-Area selection, will not return for his senior season.
“We had a lot of very good players leave,” Torres said.
Beer is back, though, after a sensational season in which he posted a 9-1 record with a 0.76 earned-run average across 73 innings with 101 strikeouts to 16 walks.
“He’s going to show you some more poise this year,” said Torres, whose team is aiming to return to the Division II playoffs where it was left after realignment. “He’s got his competitive fire under control more this year, which is also good.
“He’s also gonna hit.”
After that, sophomore Will Grimm, who will play first base and likely pitch, is really the only true returning starter besides Beer. Senior outfielder Brian Erickson and sophomore infielder Vince Parrott will join Grimm and Beer as the heart of the lineup.
Senior Ty Langford will likely need to play a big role in the pitching staff as will senior Luke Hempel, while sophomore Isaac Sung looks to be an asset in center field.
“Trevor’s gonna give us a chance every other day,” Torres said, “but you can’t win a whole lot if you only win every other day.”
Despite the question marks, the program’s goals are the season – winning league for a third straight season and a CIF playoff run.
“That’s what you play for,” said Torres, who believes Arcadia is likely the favorite going into the season to win the Pacific. “We’re gonna keep working every day and the guys will figure it out.”
In the first season for coach Aaron Dorlarque, the Golden Knights went 9-20 with a 6-12 mark in the Mission League, the most wins for the program in league since 2011.
Maintaining that progress and building a winning mantra are the goals at hand.
“When you step into a program that I’ll say has lacked consistency, it’s the hardest job for a coach to change the culture,” said Dorlarque, who’s the fifth St. Francis skipper since the 2011 season. “But I thought last year the leadership of the team, I think [All-Area selection] Brandon Lewis, really helped the coaching staff.”
So the question that looms most might very well be leadership over talent.
“We have a lot of talent this year,” Dorlarque said. “If we get good leadership from our seniors and play consistently, we should do well.”
Senior pitcher and clean-up hitter Aaron Treloar will play a huge role for the Golden Knights, as will senior shortstop and leadoff hitter Christian Muro, a returning All-Area pick who hit .289 with 27 runs and 13 stolen bases. Others who will likely be significant contributors are senior pitcher Hayden Byrnes, senior pitcher Chris Stamos, sophomore pitcher and middle-of-the-lineup batter Tanner Tomko and freshman left-handed pitcher Jack Duncan.
“If we pitch like we’re capable, we should be in every game,” said Dorlarque, whose team is in Division III.
Flintridge Prep was dealt the double-whammy of rebuilding after a mass talent graduation and making a huge move up from Division VI, where it had won a division championship in 2015, to Division IV, where it lost in the first round to Arroyo Grande, 10-5.
The Rebels went 14-8-1 and finished third in the Prep League a season ago and will look to improve despite the loss of All-Area mainstays Danny Chiarodit and Kendall Kikkawa.
Another major problem for Prep will be its roster size, as skipper Guillermo Gonzalez will have just 11 players as the program tries to maintain its junior varsity team, which will also carry only 11 players.
“The good thing is we have eight guys who can pitch,” Gonzalez said.
And two of those guys are seniors Nick Davis and Aidan Schraeder, who Gonzalez expects to have excellent seasons.
“This year we really have two great arms and we think they can lead us to big things,” said Gonzalez, whose team is now back down in Division V.
Despite the low numbers, Gonzalez’ expectations remain the same.
“That’s always our goal, win league and make a deep playoff run,” he said.
Another key returner is junior shortstop Max Rosenfeld, who will hit in the third spot.
As for the league favorite, Gonzalez believes perennial power Pasadena Poly will be a huge favorite.
“It’s Poly,” he said. “They have everybody coming back. They should be loaded. But if our guys come out and play their best, we should be able to give them a run for their money.”
With more than half his 18-player team part of the school’s boys’ basketball playoff run, St. Monica Academy skipper Phil Gleason still needs to get a good look at his Crusaders, who are coming off an 11-4 season that included an Independence League title
“It’s basically a construction year,” said Gleason, whose team will remain in Division VII, where it lost in the first round of the playoffs to St. Bernard last season. “We’re basically trying to revamp the program.”
Senior Beau Barry, a closer and catcher, will lead a young squad that has a half-dozen players with no baseball experience. Barry was an All-Area selection last season with a .435 batting average, 20 runs and 22 RBI. Junior Mark Golbranson, a pitcher and shortstop, will lead off with freshman brother Tony Golbranson, an infielder, looking to knock him in from the No. 3 spot.
Basketball standout Charlie Boles, a junior pitcher, is likely to hit clean-up and junior Nick Nievas and sophomore Ernie Grimm should also be contributors as rebuilding for Gleason doesn’t exclude defending a league title and making the playoffs.
“I think we’re gonna do well, though. I have a lot of kids with great attitudes,” Gleason said. “I’m really looking to see us growing as a squad and with us being able to retain our title.”
Don DiPetta returns for a second season at the helm of Hoover (Division VI) following a 5-16 campaign in which a 2-12 Pacific League showing came on the strength of two wins over rival Glendale.
But DiPetta has now had an offseason and practices with his Tornadoes, a luxury he did not have a year ago when he was hired on to helm the program in January.
“Honestly, this year is much different than last year. I showed up last year in January to a program in shambles,” said DiPetta, who had to deal a short time before the season with inherited equipment and field problems. “I was basically just a disciplinarian. … This year I actually get a chance to coach.
“I expect it to be a much tougher road through Hoover this year.”
Hoover baseball is just the varsity program this season with DiPetta expecting 32-33 players with only two seniors. However, he started six freshmen last season and all of them are back, led by Isaac Zamarripa (infielder, clean-up hitter), Matthew Jovel (first baseman, No. 3 hitter), Ransom Gallegos (No. 5 hitter) and Raymond Cejudo (infielder). Senior Nathien Rivera is also set to be a key player.
Senior Arthur Alvarado is set to be the Tornadoes’ No. 1 pitcher, leading a staff that DiPetta said is the biggest question mark with an onus on throwing strikes and relying on a defense that the coach believes will be his strength, while the hitting should also be “much-improved.”
“I expect to win and I tell them that every day,” DiPetta said.
For Glendale (Division VI), improvement is the goal and the expectation following as season in which the Nitros posted a very unflattering 2-21-1 record.
“Last year it was definitely a learning experience for a lot of guys,” Chan said. “We had a lot of first-year varsity guys.
“I think we’re definitely going to be a lot better than we were last year.”
A junior-heavy squad will be led by junior pitcher Trent Lousararian, the team’s No. 1 starter and a hard-luck loser plenty of times a season ago, senior Daven Eidem, a middle infielder who will hit in the heart of the lineup, junior Darian Jenks, a shortstop and leadoff hitter, and sophomore Thomas Kovarik, a sophomore who will be the No. 2 starter.
“We’re looking good,” Chan said. “I’m definitely excited for this season.”
Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon
