Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. There’s three weeks left in the high school baseball season. The rush is on to make the City Section Open Division and Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
The battle to play in D1
A computer algorithm will decide the new Southern Section 16-team Division 1 baseball playoff bracket featuring the top 16-ranked teams.
Let’s review the leading candidates with three weeks left.
From the Trinity League, Orange Lutheran and St. John Bosco, with Servite and Santa Margarita on the bubble. From the Mission League, Harvard-Westlake, Sierra Canyon and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, with Bishop Alemany on the bubble.
From the Big VIII League, Norco and Corona look good and don’t count out Corona Santiago. I’d pick Ganesha but the computer doesn’t like teams with weak schedules, so look for Division 2 for a Division 1 team. From the Sunset League, Huntington Beach. From the Crestview League, Cypress with Villa Park on the bubble. From the Marmonte, Oaks Christian
From the Gateway, La Mirada. From the Palomares, Ayala. Royal from the Coastal Canyon will be in if it can win out. Temecula Valley is 17-4 and hanging in the running.
Picking 16 teams for Division 1 instead of 32 will obviously make Division 2 and more divisions tougher.
Making the eight-team City Secton Open Division field should be El Camino Real, Birmingham, Bell, Carson, Granada Hills, Sylmar, Poly and perhaps Banning.
Baseball
Orange Lutheran completed a 4-0 week by beating St. Mary’s 7-0 to win the Boras Classic. The Lancers have shown they have two two starting pitchers in Gary Morse and Cooper Sides, plus lots of productive relief pitchers.
Harvard-Westlake is surging in the Mission League, taking over first place after a three-game sweep of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Shorstop James Tronstein raised his season batting average to .526 on Tuesday. Here’s the report.
Burbank Burroughs pulled off a two-game sweep of Arcadia in the Pacific League for the first time since 2015. Burroughs and Crescenta Valley are each 10-0 and play on Tuesday at Stengel Field and Friday at Burroughs.
Jacob Webster of Oak Hills has broken the school’s single season record for home runs with seven.
Bell received close to a perfect game from pitcher Jayden Rojas in a 1-0 win over Roosevelt. Here’s the report.
Oakwood is 15-1. Here’s a report. The only loss was in eight innings to Brentwood last week.
Here’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.
Softball
Murrieta Mesa (20-0) and Norco (19-2) continue on a collision course to lead the way in the Southern Section softball playoffs.
Orange Lutheran (17-4, 4-0) continues to lead in the Trinity League.
Here’s last week’s top 20 rankings from The Times.
The City Section remains wide open. Granada Hills (9-9-1) is 3-0 in the West Valley League after a 6-2 win over Birmingham.
Carson (11-6, 4-0) holds down first place in the Marine League.
Track
The Calabasas 4×100 relay team (from left) of Olivia Kirk, Devyn Sproles, Malia Rainey and Marley Scoggins won at the Mt. SAC Relays on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Calabasas’ girls’ 4×100 relay team set a meet record at the Mt. SAC Relays. Here’s the report.
Dean Guzman of Moorpark took over the state lead in the high jump and set a school record with a mark of 7-0 at the Mt. SAC Relays on Saturday. He defeated defending state champion JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame who cleared 6-10.
At the Orange County Championships, Jaslene Massey of Aliso Niguel set records in the girls’ shot put (52-3 1/2) and discus (188-1). She’s committed to Oregon.
Mater Dei’s Eden Murray ran the girls’ 100 in 11.68 seconds.
Borquez jinx
Hurdler Beckham Borquez of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame lies on ground while waiting for trainer to assist after falling during 110 highs race at Arcadia Invitational.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
There must be a ghost that comes out whenever a Borquez brother runs the hurdles at the Arcadia Invitational.
Brayden Borquez, running for Harvard-Westlake, fell in the 300 hurdles while headed to victory in 2019.
Then Beckham Borquez fell in the 110 highs during the Arcadia Invitational on April 11.
Here’s a look at how Beckham is moving on.
End of an era
Randy Rosenbloom (left) used to work with former UCLA coach John Wooden for TV games.
(Randy Rosenbloom)
After 55 years based in Los Angeles, broadcaster Randy Rosenbloom is leaving for South Carolina to mostly retire and spend time with grandchildren.
He’s had quite a career from calling high school to college to pro sports to the Olympic Games.
Here’s a look back at his memories, the laughs and special moments.
Salute to Saul Pacheco
Saul Pacheco, who turns 88 in November, will soon retire after 49 years as a track and field starter.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Saul Pacheco, 87, jumped out of an airplane 36 times as a member of the 82nd Airbone Division.
One of 13 children growing up in Wilmington, he graduated from Banning High and became an assistant football coach for years under Hall of Fame coach Gene Vollnogle. He also has been a track starter for 49 years and is retiring soon.
The amazing story of his contributions.
New Hawthorne High football coach Jazmin Gamble.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Hawthorne has hired a female to be its varsity football coach. Here’s a look at how Jazmin Gamble plans to handle the scrutiny.
So long Angelo Gasca
A mass for the late Angelo Gasca, football coach at Venice, was held at St. Monica Catholic Church.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
St. Monica Catholic Church was filled with supporters for a mass honoring Venice football coach Angelo Gasca, who died on March 16. He was 65.
It was an emotional ceremony but lots of laughter, too.
“He was Venice,” said Tim Kaub, a Venice grad who became a top quarterback guru with the support of Gasca.
Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson joked, “I’m told he had a strong faith, but I didn’t see him much on Sundays.”
Sunday was for football studying, which itself was a religious experience for Gasca, who coached for some 40 years.
“He was a good guy,” a friend said.
Notes . . .
Former Granada Hills Kennedy, Angels and Dodgers outfielder Garret Anderson has died. He was 53. He led the Angels to their only World Series championship in 2002. He is a City Section Hall of Famer….
Los Alamitos has named El Segudo’s Rory Schoonmaker as its new football coach….
Scott Faer has resigned as football coach at North Hollywood. He’s moving out of the area…
Junior defensive lineman Hunter Taylor of Mira Costa announced he has committed to Army….
Robert Grayeli is no longer the boys and girls water polo coach at Los Alamitos….
Alex Nailes is the new girls basketball coach at Harvard-Westlake. He was the interim coach two seasons ago but didn’t want to apply for the permanent position then. He had a change of mind after working with the boys program as an assistant coach…
Joshua Aguilera has resigned as basketball coach at West Covina….
Former Harvard-Westlake water polo star Peter Hudnut has been selected for the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame….
The Foothill League has boys basketball coach openings at Golden Valley and Valencia and girls openings at Saugus and Golden Valley….
John Domen, an assistant coach at Yorba Linda, has been promoted to head football coach….
Junior defensive lineman Miles Schirmer of Corona Centennial has committed to Cal….
Rachel Schrote is the new girls basketball coach at Oak Park. She was an assistant last season and is a former Windward head coach….
Tony Brooks announced his retirement as basketball coach at Pasadena.
Moorpark athletic director Rob Dearborn has been voted president elect of the Southern Section. He becomes president in 2028…
Safety Myles Baker of Sierra Canyon has committed to Cal….
The Southern Section Council approved a new budget that will allow Southern Section Commissioner Mike West to hire three new employees, including an assistant commissioner in charge of transfers. In 2024, there were nearly 7,000 transfers in the Southern Section….
Wolfgang Wood has resigned after six years as basketball coach at St. Bonaventure and will become the head coach at Cathedral Catholic in San Diego….
Rand Holdren has resigned at Maranatha to become the new football coach at Village Christian. He replaces Richard Broussard. Holdren used to coach Burroughs and Broussard coached Burbank in a strange changing of the guard..
From the archives: John Williams
Former Crenshaw star John Williams received the Jim Harrick Legacy Award at the Collision All-Star Game.
(Nick Koza / For The Times)
When it comes to great basketball players in California history, former Crenshaw star John Williams is near the top of any list.
The 1984 City Section player of the year went on to play for LSU and in the NBA.
He was honored at the Collision All-Star Game with the Jim Harrick Legacy Award. He was in a wheelchair after dealing with a recent illness.
Here’s a story from 1985 by the great sportswriter Rick Reilly on Williams’ journey.
Here’s a story from 2019 when he was inducted into the Louisiana Hall of Fame.
Here’s the 1984 McDonald’s All-American Game that Williams played in at Pauley Pavilion.
Recommendations
From Sportico.com, a story on a youth sports operator being put up for sale.
From on3.com, a story on Tennessee passing new rules on high school transfers.
From MyFoxzone.com, a story on parents in Texas suing a high school for sports abuse after 20 students became ill during workouts.
From the Sacramento Bee, a story on a federal lawsuit filed by a high school football player against his former coaches.
Tweets you might have missed
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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