Baseball Preview: Crescenta Valley provides different look, same goals
There might be some quality story lines over the next several months pertaining to the area baseball teams.
The six squads are taking to the diamond — when it isn’t raining — with the hope of contending for a league championship or showing improvement since the completion of last season.
Crescenta Valley and St. Monica won league titles last season, Flintridge Prep qualified for the playoffs, while St. Francis, Glendale and Hoover continued to reshape their programs.
St. Monica will be in a new league and Glendale will have a new coach.
Here is a closer look at the teams.
CRESCENTA VALLEY
Things will look a bit different for the Falcons, who lost several standout players to graduation after winning the Pacific League championship and advancing to the CIF Southern Section Division II quarterfinals, falling to champion Yucaipa.
Crescenta Valley (25-5, 14-0 in league) saw standout pitcher Trevor Beer, who was named the All-Area Baseball Player of the Year the past two seasons, move on to UC Santa Barbara after going 11-2 with a 0.80 earned-run average. They also lost Brian Erickson (batted .402) to graduation.
However, the Falcons appear to have all the pieces in place in their quest to win the league title for a fourth straight season.
“It’s hard to replace people like Trevor and Brian because you could always count on them and they brought a lot of experience,” said Crescenta Valley coach Phil Torres, the reigning All-Area Baseball Coach of the Year. “The challenge now is to find that next group of players to help us continue going in the right direction.
“We feel like we have a good bunch of players who are ready to step up and contribute.”
Crescenta Valley will turn to a core that includes senior catcher Brian Ghattas (.338 batting average in 2018), junior pitcher/infielder Will Grimm (9-1, 1.75 ERA), junior infielder Vincent Parrott (32 runs) and junior outfielder Isaac Sung (10 runs batted in). The quartet picked up All-Area honors last season.
“We are a bit inexperienced, but we have some quality players,” Torres said. “Arcadia will be the favorite to win league, plus Burroughs, Burbank and Pasadena figure to be pretty good. We have to worry about ourselves.”
ST. MONICA ACADEMY
St. Monica put together another good season in 2018, winning the Independence League championship for the fourth consecutive year. The Crusaders (10-4, 6-0) lost to Dominguez in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division VII playoffs.
St. Monica, which moves to the Heritage League, will have a steady nucleus in place that features senior infielder/pitcher Mark Golbranson, junior pitcher John Short, junior pitcher/infielder Ernie Grimm and sophomore pitcher/infielder Tommy Golbranson. Mark Golbranson (.414 batting average) and Short (.408) picked up All-Area nods last season.
“It will definitely be interesting to see how we do in a new league,” St. Monica coach Phil Gleason said. “I’m optimistic about the new season because we have a good core and I think that will help us hold our own.
“I think we have a group that’s very easy to motivate and they’ll rise to the challenge.”
FLINTRIDGE PREP
A new chapter begins for Flintridge Prep. For the first time since winning the CIF Southern Section Division VI championship in 2015, the Rebels won’t have a player on the diamond from that squad.
Still, there’s reason for coach Guillermo Gonzalez to stay positive.
“You just try to keep building your program and see what happens,” said Gonzalez, whose team finished 14-9, 6-6 in the Prep League last season for third place and lost to Highland in the first round of the Division V playoffs. “We’re going to be pretty young, but things are looking good.
“We try to build with who we have and we think we can contend for the league championship. We have the players, but we just don’t have the depth.”
The Rebels will rely on senior pitcher Thomas Kosakowski, junior infielder Ben Grable, junior outfielder Max Gitlin and freshman outfielder/pitcher Spencer Seid to pave the way. Grable (.368 batting average) was named to the All-Area team last season.
ST. FRANCIS
There’s plenty of excitement for the Golden Knights, who look to have a nice blend of talent.
The Golden Knights finished 9-20, 4-14 in the competitive Mission League for sixth place last season and missed the postseason. Since then, the Golden Knights have stockpiled some talent with the goal of making a move upward in a league that includes traditional powerhouses Harvard-Westlake, Chaminade, Alemany and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
“We are going to play a very competitive schedule that will get us ready for league,” St. Francis coach Aaron Dorlarque. “We know our league will be loaded with talent, especially the junior class, and we have some good players as well.
“We’re only going to have three seniors. I think we’ll be pretty loaded on offense and we’ll play good defense. We might be a little light on pitching, but we do have guys capable of throwing strikes.”
St. Francis will be led by senior infielder Doyle Kane, junior infielders Mikey Kane and Matt Odom, junior catcher Brendan Durfee and sophomore infielder Tommy Italia. Doyle Kane hit .318 and was bestowed with All-Area recognition last season.
GLENDALE
Some goals have been outlined by coach Marcus Whithorne, who replaces Kevin Chan.
Whithorne, who served as an assistant at Royal last season, takes over a squad that went 5-19-1, 2-12 in league for seventh place in the eight-team Pacific League and didn’t qualify for the playoffs.
“I’m already encouraged with what I’ve seen,” Whithorne said. “I’ve seen a commitment from our players and that’s an important step toward building a program.
“We have a talented group of juniors and seniors. It’s about responding if something doesn’t go your way, like a strike-three call or an error. We’ll try to step up and play the spoiler role in league.”
Glendale will turn to senior infielder Darian Jenks, senior outfielder Michael Tichenor, senior pitcher Trent Lousararian and junior pitcher Thomas Kovarik.
HOOVER
With a crop of mostly sophomores and juniors, Hoover coach Don DiPetta believes the Tornadoes have matured.
Perhaps that will translate in to some more victories for Hoover, which finished 1-24, 0-14 in league for last place in the Pacific League in 2018.
DiPetta is betting the Tornadoes will show marked improvement this season.
“It’s been challenging for a lot of our players,” DiPetta said. “We’ve been pretty young the last couple of years and now we have some players who can step up and lead the way.
“I think this can be our best year, both offensively and defensively, and that will put us in position to stay with a lot of teams.”
Hoover will count on junior infielder Matthew Jovel, junior catcher Ransom Gallegos, junior pitcher Preston Rodriguez and sophomore infielder/catcher Luis Fernandez to lead the attack.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
