Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. The high school baseball season begins this week, and it’s the sport that produces the most future pro athletes in Southern California. While everyone thinks they are a scout and thousands of dollars are spent on private coaches, travel ball and showcases seeking any kind of edge, the bottom line is whether a player can produce results against quality competition. And throwing 90 mph without throwing strikes means nothing to the programs that win.
Baseball begins
St. John Bosco High teammates celebrate with a dogpile on the field after winning the regional baseball title last season.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Baseball is the sport in Southern California where you think the best team can win a championship but doesn’t because there’s always another team with equally good pitching Corona was the certain team last season to win it all (just like the Dodgers), but St. John Bosco beat the Panthers in the playoff semifinals and won the Southern Section Division 1 championship.
Now St. John Bosco is the Corona of 2026: Everyone’s No. 1 team to start the season because of numerous returnees, including the Clark twins, James and Miles; closer Jack Champlin; top hitters Jaden Jackson and Noah Everly; plus the addition of a healthy pitcher, Julian Garcia, who was supposed to be the No. 1 thrower last season until an injury.
Just like Corona, however, St. John Bosco is no sure thing because there’s lots of teams with the kind of standout pitching to beat the Braves in a one-game playoff situation.
The Mission League alone has so many pitchers throwing 90 mph and above that if you don’t have a radar gun at a game, you look out of place. Harvard-Westlake, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Sierra Canyon and Loyola all have formidable pitchers capable of winning big games against top opponents.
St. John Bosco faces immediate challengers in the Trinity League, led by Orange Lutheran, which has another team filled with all-star players, including 6-foot-8 pitcher Gary Morse and Huntington Beach infielder transfer CJ Weinstein. Texas commit Brady Murrietta will be a four-year standout. The Lancers can tell anyone that being ranked No. 1 hardly guarantees success in the postseason. They haven’t been able to win a section title despite lots of great teams.
Royal has a group of pitchers with big arms ready to see where they stand. Who’s going to inflict a loss on Huntington Beach junior Jared Grindlinger? Striker Pence of Corona Santiago has been clocked throwing 101 mph.
Cypress, El Dorado, JSerra, Santa Margarita, Mater Dei, Aquinas, La Mirada, Arcadia, Norco, Gahr and Huntington Beach have no fear of taking on the big boys this season.
As far as pro prospects, outfielder Blake Bowen of JSerra, outfielder Anthony Murphy of Corona, infielder Trey Ebel of Corona and infielder Brody Schumacher of Santa Margarita are among the top players to watch.
And prepare for one of the most talented group of players from the class of 2029, led by the hero of the El Segundo Little League World Series team, Louis Lappe, who makes his freshman debut for Harvard-Westlake.
Here’s a profile of Lappe and two of his fellow class of 2029 teammates.
Here’s a preseason all-star team.
Here’s the preseason top 25 rankings by The Times.
Boys basketball
OJ Popoola of Palisades has made major contributions after transferring with his twin brother from Detroit.
(Nick Koza)
The City Section Open Division semifinals are set for Saturday at L.A. Southwest College. Palisades will face San Pedro at 6 p.m. and Cleveland will take on Fairfax at 4 p.m.
Fairfax upset No. 3-seeded Birmingham. San Pedro eliminated Coliseum League champion Washington Prep. San Pedro has the kind of veteran team that might be able to stay with the top-seeded Dolphins for a little bit if its zone is working.
The top seeds are mostly holding in Division I. The semifinals will have No. 3 Venice at No. 2 Chatsworth and No. 5 L.A. Jordan at No. 1 Granada Hills.
In Division II, No. 10-seeded Marquez is making noise behind football standout Elyjah Staples, upsetting No. 2 Eagle Rock 57-50. Marquez will be at Sylmar in the semifinals. King/Drew coach Lloyd Webster has his team in semifinals after a 52-50 win over Downtown Magnets. He also was smiling because his son, Josahn, scored 22 points for Rolling Hills Prep in its win over Orange Lutheran in Southern Section Division 1.
La Mirada got a breakthrough win in the Southern Section Open Division. Here’s the report. On Tuesday, Corona Centennial is playing at Redondo Union to determine No. 1 in its pool and ditto for Harvard-Westlake at Santa Margarita.
Blair upset top-seeded Bonita in Division 4. Blair is coached by Derrick Taylor, who’s won championships at Taft and St. John Bosco. Here’s the report.
Mater Dei and JSerra continue to dominate in Division 2 and Division 1, respectively. JSerra will face a challenge in the quarterfinals on Tuesday from Rolling Hills Prep at North Torrance. Rolling Hills Prep inflicted a loss to Orange Lutheran last week.
Girls basketball
One of the best coaching jobs this season has been turned in by Birmingham’s Victor Koopongsakorn. The Patriots are 27-3 and seeded No. 2 in the City Section Open Division despite being a young team with few returnees. Next up is a semifinal game against Hamilton on Saturday. The other semifinal has top-seeded Westchester facing Venice. Three of the four remaining teams are from the Western League.
In the Southern Section Open Division, there’s no sign any opponent is going to threaten Ontario Christian, Etiwanda or Sierra Canyon among the 12 teams in pool play. All three are preparing to inevitable meetings in the next two weeks.
Oak Park came through with a 67-44 win over Corona Centennial to make itself the likely No. 4 team to challenge the big three. Karisma Flores had 17 points and Ava Rogerson 15.
Two veteran coaches, Charlie Solomon of Brentwood and Kevin Kiernan of Troy, faceed with their teams on Saturday in Division 1. Troy won 61-48. Kiernan is the winningest coach in California history. He came out of retirement to return for a second stint at Troy. Mei-Ling Perry had 19 points and nine rebounds to advance Troy to the quarterfinals. Kelsey Sugar had 20 points for Brentwood.
Softball
Garden Grove Pacifica continues to take pride in all of its former players playing college softball. The list is at 16 for this season. As they say, “Once a Mariner, always a Mariner.”
Norco, the defending Southern Section Division 1 champions, is expected to be the preseason No. 1 with the return of pitcher Coral Williams. The Cougars open the season Tuesday at home against Aquinas.
Defending City Open Division champion Granada Hills has to find a pitching replacement for Addison Moorman, but has lots of hitters, including Zoe Justman, who batted .442, and Elysse Diaz, who hit .470. The Highlanders will try once again to prepare for City competition by playing Southern Section teams in nonleague and tournament games.
Wrestling
Birmingham’s Henry Aslikyan, seen here last year, became a four-time City Section champion on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Henry Aslikyan of Birmingham capped off a remarkable four-year run in City Section wrestling by winning his fourth City individual title. This time it was at 120 pounds, sending him on to the state championships. He has won two state titles but the 120-pound division will be the toughest in state with three returning state champions competing.
Here’s the link to complete City results.
Here’s the link to Southern Section results.
Soccer
El Camino Real, South East, Marquez and Palisades are the four teams that have made it to the City Section Open Division boys soccer semifinals. On Thursday, top-seeded El Camino Real will host Palisades and No. 2 South East will host Marquez.
On Wednesday in City Open Division girls semifinals, No. 1 Cleveland plays host to Palisades and Thursday, No. 6 New West Charter hosts Granada Hills.
In Southern Section Open Division boys, the quarterfinals begin Tuesday with Orange Lutheran hosting Placentia Valencia and JSerra hosting Mater Dei. In Division 1, Servite is the fourth Trinity League still alive and plays host to Santa Monica.
In Southern Section Open Division girls, Santa Margarita, Oaks Christian, Mater Dei and Redondo Union have advanced.
In Southern Section Division 1 girls, Mission League rivals Harvard-Westlake and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame will face off in Wednesday’s quarterfinals at Harvard-Westlake.
Competitive equity playoffs
The CIF governs high school sports in California.
(CIF)
There’s still coaches unhappy with the Southern Section competitive equity playoff system using computer algorithms to place teams in divisions.
The Southern Section says no system is perfect, but it’s clear the system used for basketball is flawed. How in the name of sanity (just go ask coaches) was Mater Dei placed in Division 2? They were in Division 1 all season until taking a free fall from Jan. 27 until the time the next rankings were released during seeding announcements. They happened to need an at-large berth to qualify for the playoffs and wouldn’t have earned one in Division 1, causing conspiracy theories. I don’t believe there was a conspiracy, just that the computer system got it badly wrong. Mater Dei has won its first two Division 2 playoff games by scores of 83-63 and 85-59. And look for more to come because they are a Division 1 team.
Here’s a look at the concerns.
Notes . . .
St. John Bosco has already won the transfer portal in high school football with the announcement that standout sophomore offensive tackle Elisha Mueller of Servite has arrived at the Bellflower school. Leuzinger sophomore quarterback Russell Sekona has transferred to Mater Dei. Leuzinger sophomore defensive back Pakipole Moala has transferred to Santa Margarita. Here’s the transfer portal list. . . .
Russell White has stepped down after 10 years coaching eight-man football at Flintridge Prep. He’d like to try 11-man football. White led Crespi to a Division 1 football title in 1986 playing running back and went on to star at Cal before being drafted by the Rams. . . .
Rick Garretson is the new football coach at Servite. He’s a 1974 graduate of Servite, was once a long-serving assistant coach and served as head coach at Chandler in Arizona from 2019-2024. Here’s the report.
Kicker Jacob Kreinbring of Loyola has committed to Stonybrook. . . .
Chaparral returns receivers Tycen Johnson (Arizona State commit), Michael Farinas (UCLA) and Eli Woodard (USC), all of whom get to catch passes from quarterback Dane Weber. If the line can block, maybe Corona Centennial will get some competition this fall.
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) February 11, 2026
Football coach James Stewart of La Quinta has resigned. Lucas Alexander will be the new coach. . . .
Randy Luna is the new football coach at Canoga Park. . . .
Fred Gambrell has resigned after two years as head football coach at Sunny Hills. . . .
Junior receiver Eli Woodard of Chaparral has committed to USC. . . .
Golfer Charlie Woods, the teenage son of Tiger Woods, has committed to Florida State as part of the class of 2027. . . .
Two top high school baseball tournaments for this spring have been finalized. The Boras Classic will begin April 7 at Mater Dei and JSerra. The National Classic also will be held in Orange County starting March. 30. Here’s the link.
St. John Bosco twins Ethan and Justin Coach, standout linebackers, have committed to Washington. . . .
Henry Polanco is the new girls flag football coach at Schurr. . . .
Kiyoshi Harris is the new football coach at JW North. . . .
Benjamin Siff, an assistant baseball coach at St. Margaret’s since 2016, has been named the head coach effective at the end of the 2026 season. Long-time coach Scott Wallis is leaving out of Orange County at the end of this season. . . .
Richard Masson has announced his retirement from coaching basketball. What a journey he’s had coaching boys and girls after winning more than 700 games. He was boys coach at L.A. Jordan for seven years, Carson boys coach for 22 years, Rolling Hills Prep girls coach for seven years, Carson girls coach for four years. He’s won championships and coached lots of great players. “Blessed to have had great players, assistant coaches and support system,” he said.
From the archives: LaMelo Ball
Chino Hills guard LaMelo Ball pulls up for a shot over Mater Dei’s Michael Wang and Matthew Weyand (21) in 2017.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
It’s been nine years since LaMelo Ball scored 92 points as a 15-year-old sophomore for Chino Hills in a 146-123 win over Los Osos in February of 2017, so why not look back.
The big debate was whether it was an accomplishment that should be celebrated or criticized.
“As a coach, if I see a player doing well, who am I to stop his shine?” Stephan Gilling, Chino Hills’ first-year coach, said in 2017.
“About the third quarter, my dad said, ‘Keep shooting,’” LaMelo said during a radio interview on KLAC-AM (570). “If I knew I was going to score that much, I would have shot more in the first half.”
Here’s a story looking back at that game.
Recommendations
From the Seattle Times, a story on former NBA guard Jamal Crawford coaching his son in high school.
From the Tennessee Bar Assn., a story on how the state is moving to loosening transfer rules with one free sports transfer.
From the Pleasantonweekly, a story from last December from a high school sportswriter detailing his frustration with the transfer issues in California high school sports.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on how Brentwood School’s athletic facilities are facing a challenge from the Veterans Administration.
Fram Angelusnews, a story on the turnaround at St. Bernard.
Tweets you might have missed
This week Clippers host NBA All-Star Game at Intuit Dome. Time to give kudos to Steve Ballmer. He has virtually every high school in California represented by their jersey in exhibit. Team is giving away thousands of free hoops to L.A. County residents. He’s making a difference.
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) February 9, 2026
Boys Volleyball: 2026 @CIFLACS Preseason Rankings
1. Chatsworth
2. Palisades
3. Granada Hills
4. Eagle Rock
5. Marshall
6. Carson
7. Cleveland
8. Taft
9. East Valley
10.El Camino Real
Others To Watch: Banning, Grant, Kennedy, Marquez, North Hollywood, Sylmar, University, Venice
— Rene Lopez (@renelopez19) February 9, 2026
Being in Los Angeles, 2026 baseball season is rizz. The Dodgers, UCLA, St. John Bosco, Mike Trout, Roch Cholowsky, elite freshmen like Louis Lappe and Jordan Leon. Enjoy the weather and the baseball.
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) February 9, 2026
𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍 🇺🇸
Earning their spot through the #HPP, 16 athletes will represent the U.S. at the 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗨-𝟭𝟴 𝗣𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 later this year.@USASoftballJWNT | Full release + roster: 🔗 https://t.co/kz7o3TFKct pic.twitter.com/e2uivTlRU1
— USA Softball (@USASoftball) February 5, 2026
Redondo Union coach Reggie Morris Jr. is the guest on Friday Night Live Thursday at 5 p.m. via X. Here’s a tribute clip to his father, Reggie Sr., a City Section coaching legend who was at Manual Arts. pic.twitter.com/Lr7UoRqSM3
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) February 11, 2026
Until next time….
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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