ESCARCEGA ON PREPS: A FINAL LOOK BACK AT THE 2022 BASEBALL SEASON
A look back at one of the more fascinating seasons in a long time.
If you followed the just concluded baseball season with any slight bit of interest, you would have noticed that it appeared that pitching was once again the dominant narrative. Every week it seemed as if a pitcher was tossing a no-hitter. Consider the evidence.
La Serna’s Nick Williams pitched two no-hitters for the Lancers in 2022. (Photo: La Serna HS Baseball)
La Serna’s Nick Williams pitched two no-hitters this season.
South Hills’ Sterling Patick tossed a no-hitter on March 1st in a 1-0 win over Covina.
Flintridge Prep’s Max Grunngraber threw a no-hitter in the Wolves’ 3-0 win over Alhambra on March 31st.
Whittier Christian’s Toby Kwon tossed a no-hitter on April 12th in a 14-0 win over Heritage Christian
The next day, Flintridge Prep’s Spencer Seid threw his second no-hitter of the season in a 10-0 victory over Rio Hondo Prep.
Pasadena Poly’s Adam Arther followed that up with a no-hitter on April 15 in a 5-0 win over Providence.
Temple City’s Jaykob Duhamel threw a no-hitter on April 28th in the Rams’ 2-0 Rio Hondo League win over San Marino.
“I used to pick up about 25-30 balls over the fence after (batting practice) back in the day and now I see about five balls leaving the yard. So, it’s a noticeable difference.” — South Hills Baseball coach Darren Murphy.
That’s NINE no-hitters in two months. Throw in countless one-hitters, two-hitters, and three-hitters and you come away with the obvious conclusion that area pitchers are more than one step ahead of the hitters these days.
“I know for our team, we were far less offensive this year, but I think that is just the normal trend,” - Arcadia Baseball coach Nick Lemas
So, the obvious question is, “How do you explain the change in the narrative?”
We reached out to several area coaches for answers and, as you would expect, the answers varied.
“I used to pick up about 25-30 balls over the fence after (batting practice) back in the day and now I see about five balls leaving the yard,” South Hills baseball coach Darren Murphy said. “So, it’s a noticeable difference.”
Arcadia’s Nick Lemas has also noticed the trend, but he doesn’t think it’s all about pitching. “I know for our team, we were far less offensive this year, but I think that is just the normal trend,” Lemas said. “I feel like hitting is already pretty tough. With an emphasis on individual training, kids are getting bigger stronger, and throwing harder... If there was a big difference in offensive production, I would point to that.”
Murphy does agree about the subject of individual positional development. “Most of these pitchers got really good guys they see and have learned to really pitch,” Murphy said. “Pitching is their position now. You’re not seeing the shortstop/pitcher as much anymore, so (pitchers) are working more at their craft.”
Bonita coach Ryan Marcos, who navigated the Bearcats to a Palomares League title this season, also points out that it’s not just pitching that has influenced many of these no-hitters.
“Defensive players must be making plays and hitter's weaknesses are being exposed,” Marcos said. “It those weaknesses that are being attacked along with pitcher needs to be efficient not to tire or reach pitch limit.”
And if you think that it’s going to change next season, don’t count on it. A screener of the 2022 pitching stat leaders on Maxpreps.com, from teams that turned in stats, turned up the following underclass pitchers that are returning next season:
Eric Jeon (2023, La Mirada): 7-1, 0.58 ERA
Garrett Patterson (2023, Bonita): 5-0, 0.60 ERA
Ian Hoffstetter (2023, Arcadia): 10-1, 0.82 ERA
Mato Gallegos (2023, La Canada): 5-0, 0.93 ERA
Sean Gonzalez (2023, Diamond Bar): 5-5, 0.98 ERA
Julian Barajas (2023, Arroyo): 6-4, 1.04 ERA
Wes Pendleton (2024, Marshall): 3-3, 1.06 ERA
Kody King (2024, San Dimas): 3-2, 1.13 ERA
Throw in South Hills’ Patick, along with freshmen phenom’s Zach Strickland from Maranatha and La Mirada’s Paul Dominguez and it’s hard to envision the narrative changing next season.
Memo to hitters in the area: start hitting the cage.
PATICK, KHANSARINIA, AND STRICKLAND TOP PREP BASEBALL REPORT AREA RANKINGS
Prep Baseball Report has been a resource that this author has used consistently to find out the top players in Southern California. A quick check of the rankings shows the following players and where they ranked within the SGV and in Southern California:
Class of 2023
Sterling Patick, (South Hills, #34, P, UC Santa Barbara)
Marcos Rosales, (South Hills, #58 SS, Cal State Fullerton)
Garrett McGuigan (Maranatha, #71, P, California)
Eric Jeon (La Mirada, #78, P, Columbia)
Alejandro Diaz (La Mirada, #127, SS, Long Beach State)
Christian Grino (Damien, #128, OF, Univ. San Diego)
Class of 2024
Kasen Khansarinia (San Dimas #6, OF/SS/P, UCLA)
Noah Malone (South Hills, #25, SS, LSU)
Paul Vasquez (South Hills, #29, OF, Oregon State)
Landon White (San Dimas, #33, 3B, Arizona State)
Rocco Regan (San Dimas #60 2B, Long Beach State)
Class of 2025
Zach Strickland (Maranatha, #3, P, UCLA)
Aiden Aguayo (Whittier, #16, SS, Uncommitted)
There will be some changes to this list as we navigate through the summer club season as the last time this list was updated was in late March.
FIVE BURNING QUESTIONS FOR THE OFFSEASON
1. What is your way to early top-5 rankings for next season?
This is way too early, and I have changed my tune since I put the question out there the day after the baseball season concluded.
1. Maranatha – This is the biggest change of view in my mind since I tweeted out my first answer. This team is LOADED for next year. First, let’s start off that they have one of the elite pitchers in the area in Zach Strickland. I was impressed when I saw him throw against Torrance in a CIF Southern Section semifinal. He has a great command of his pitches and every person that I’ve talked to within the program tells me that he is better than Dawson Netz (who was a two-time Pasadena Star-News Player of the Year and I considered one of the greatest high school pitchers I’ve ever seen). They also have another outstanding pitcher in Cal commit Garrett McGuigan, Dylan Zdunek (imposing figure at 6-foot 3-inches), and much more. You can count on Matt Shupper to put together an incredibly competitive nonleague schedule to counterbalance the competition level within the Olympic League. The big question is whether they’ll be in Div. 2 or moved up to Div. 1 with the CIF-SS.
2. La Mirada – One thing that you can count on in life is death, taxes, and La Mirada competing for a sectional title. Coach Jimmy Zurn will once again have an outstanding team returning in 2023 and it all starts with returning pitcher Eric Jeon. He was magnificent all season long and is a steal for Columbia. And Zurn has mega-high expectations for freshmen Paul Dominguez (he started in a playoff game against Harvard-Westlake). One thing to keep in mind with this team, they won’t be playing on campus next year as the athletic complex will be getting a major overhaul. You can book them as the solid favorites to win the Suburban League and be a major contender for a sectional title.
3. San Dimas – The noise was loud in 2021, it picked up significantly in 2022, and now the time has arrived for the Saints to make a serious run for a sectional title. Kasen Khansarinia headlines a roster that was built to make a significant run in the postseason. If you question Khansarinia’s talent, all you had to watch his performance against Arcadia in a first-round Div. 1 matchup to know that he is authentic. Remember, UCLA baseball coach John Savage doesn’t make any mistakes when he throws out offers early in a player's career. When you add in the names of Landon White, Rocco Regan, and others, you can understand the excitement of those within the program. Expectations will be running extraordinarily high.
4. South Hills – For those that are not aware, South Hills defeated Northview, Covina, and West Covina and that is quite an achievement in the talent-rich east region of the valley. UC Santa Barbara commit Sterling Patick returns along with the shortstop Marcos Rosales, who in the opinion of this observer, is the best shortstop in the area, and super sophomore Paul Vasquez. You can pencil the Huskies as the huge favorites to win the Hacienda League in 2023 and, if the bats start coming around, a legitimate contender for a possible Div. 2 title.
5. Bishop Amat - This was tough as you can insert Northview, Charter Oak, Monrovia, La Salle, and several other teams and no one would disagree. Here’s what I like about the Lancers, they have a quality returning pitcher in Sean Suriyaniel, and a solid infielder in Cameron Casado and Jordan Pasillas. You can always count on coach Joe Hoggatt to develop his talent and be a major player for a Del Rey League title. The Lancers will be on my radar when the season starts.
2. Which teams will be making a huge jump in divisions when CIF-SS releases the divisions in the fall?
Well, the first team will be Baldwin Park. The Braves took advantage of playing in Div. 7 and captured all the candy with a sectional title. Much like La Habra in 2021, Baldwin Park took advantage of being in the right place at the right time. La Habra was moved up from Div. 6 to Div. 3 in 2022 and we can easily see Baldwin Park being inserted into Div. 4 in 2023. For those within Baldwin Park that say it’s not fair for the Braves to make a jump like this, just understand that is how the game is played these days. And don’t look for anything to change. CIF-SS officials want to see coaches report their scores consistently during the season before they would consider using the same methodology of aligning divisions based on current season performances.
I don’t see any other huge changes, but it’s going to be interesting to see if Arcadia remains in Div. 1 or drops to Div. 2. With Etiwanda winning a Div. 2 title this year, that improves the Apaches' chances of dropping into Div. 2. Expect Maranatha to return to Div. 1 after a deep postseason run in 2022. Other than that, I don’t see a lot of change in 2023. But CIF-SS always throws in a wrench or two when the divisions are released.
3. Who is your surprise team to watch in 2023?
La Salle. First off, stability returns to the dugout with the return of Andy Nieto for his second year at the helm. The return of A.J Beltre Jr, the son of Dodger great A.J. Beltre along with sophomore standout pitcher Kevin Lima should have Lancer fans excited in 2023. One other thing; don’t be surprised if you see a transfer or two arrive on the Pasadena-based campus. Nieto has always had an eye out for the La Salle job and now that he has taken over, you can be sure that the La Salle will be a major player within the Pasadena area for years to come.
4. What are you hearing about the St. Francis job?
As is always the case, St. Francis officials are keeping their cards close to the vest, but one area figure that we have confirmed that has thrown his name into the hat is Mike Parisi. A longtime coach within the area, Parisi was recently an assistant coach at South Hills. One thing about Parisi, he will work ridiculously hard to get local players into his program. He has great connections within the area and can easily attract some of the top talents to the La Canada-based campus. The major drawback is that the Golden Knights compete in the mega-competitive Mission League and will have to fight tooth and nail to earn an automatic playoff berth. We’ll be following this story closely and look for St. Francis officials to name its coach by late July.
5. With the deteriorating situation with parents and umpires, what changes are needed so that the situation can be rectified?
This one is easy, and I will also be using this question for my softball column. In my opinion, it’s time for school officials to close off the stands behind the plate and place fans past the first and third base dugouts and/or in the outfield.
With the stands so close to home plate, it's easy for parents to get all over the umpires and say the wrong thing. It happened in the San Dimas vs. Arcadia baseball game along with countless other games throughout the season.
You see this happening in softball as most parents watch the game from behind the outfield fences and, if the Temple City vs. St. Anthony’s game was any indication from personal experience, it reduces the verbal confrontations that are taking place from behind home plate.
The only people that would be allowed in the “bleachers” would be school officials and media members. Another advantage is that it would allow umpires to leave without having to have any possible physical contact with parents. I know that this is harsh, but it is getting extraordinarily old to see parents treat high school games as if it’s game 7 of the World Series. This move is not perfect, but it is needed to help keep umpires working games these days.
One more thing...
You may not be aware of this, but there is another problem in getting younger adults to umpire baseball and softball games. This was brought to my attention by a state CIF official several weeks ago.
It appears as if schools are not paying umpires on a timely basis. Umpires are forced to wait as long as four weeks before getting their check for their services. I could not believe it and called a veteran umpire within the Foothill Citrus Association (that works games in the East SGV and some of the Inland Empire) to see if this is true.
He told me that unfortunately, it was. One of the schools that are the culprit is Workman High School. Umpires have said that they just now received their checks for working games in April and May. This is very unacceptable.
Athletic and school officials need to understand this. When someone works for Door Dash, Uber, and/or Lyft, when they perform a job of delivering food or taking a passenger to the requested destination, they get paid on the spot. No questions asked. Umpires, officials, and referees need to be paid in the same fashion.
It’s not that hard to use new infrastructure for athletic directors and school districts to cut checks out and get umpires paid BEFORE their game is played. I can assure you that if an umpire is paid before a game, he will have a much better attitude towards the game that he is officiating.
It’s time for school officials to step up or else there will be a time in which cancellation of games because of lack of umpires will be the norm rather than the exception for something that they can easily handle.
Have a great offseason!