SGV/Whittier Prep Sports Zone: BASEBALL Preview - South Hills/Northview (Free Preview)
Huskies project to having one of the best pitching staffs in the area while Northview figures to battle with Covina for the Valle Vista League title.
Elias Reyes, South Hills (Escarcega)
South Hills High School
Coach: Darren Murphy
Previous Season Record: 19-9
Number of Returning Players: 6
Number of All-League Players Returning: 0
Number of Returning Infielders: 2
Number of Returning Outfielders: 0
Number of Starting Pitchers: 3
Number of Returning Relief Pitchers: 3
Key Infielders Returning
Carson Baker 5'8 160 2b, SS, P
Diego Villarreal 5'8 150 SS
Key Starting Pitchers Returning
Christian Santoyo 5'11 170 Pitcher. Sophomore. Nice season last year as Freshman.
Elias Reyes 5'11 180 Pitcher. LMU Commit. Senior
Joseph Moreno 6'3 170. Senior. LHP. Undecided. 4 year Varsity Player.
Key Relief Pitching Returning
Justin Romero 6'4 230 Junior Pitcher.
Carson Baker 5'8 170 Junior Pitcher.
Top Newcoming Players/Transfers
Zack Escalera Senior 5'10 170 P, CF. From Charter Oak
Victor Merlos Junior 5'10 200 Catcher. From Amat last year.
Gabe Guerrero Junior 5'10 170 1b, P. From Amat.
Nico Munoz Junior 6'3 200 P, 3b, 1b. Glynn Academy, Georgia.
PREP BASEBALL REPORT RANKINGS
Class of 2025
Daniel Camou (#138 - Cal Poly); Joseph Moreno (#170 - UC Santa Barbara); Elias Reyes (Loyola Marymount)
Class of 2026
Justin Romero (#110, Uncommitted), Carson Baker (#184, Uncommitted)
Class of 2027
Paxton Czubek (#96, Uncommitted)
2024 Schedule
Comments from Coach Murphy: “We have a great pitching staff with depth, and we play good defense most of the time. Our hitting will determine whether we are good or really good, so we are waiting for that to come around as our most teams this time of year. New league this year with lots of parity. I see us right there competing for league championship.”
2024 SGV/Whittier Baseball Insider Report
Elias Reyes vs. La Mirada: (With Video) “This was an impressive performance by a pitcher that you can make a case for as the top pitching prospect in the area for his graduating class. Against a lineup that included several UCLA commits, Reyes pounded the strike zone with an FB at 86-88, topping at 89. Excellent changeup at 79-81 and slider/curveball at 75-77. Of the 85 pitches that he threw, 52 of them were strikes.
1st Inning: Four different times, Reyes hits 88 on our speed radar and looks great against a stout La Mirada lineup. The changeup is 78-81, which it will be for the rest of the outing and SL/CB is 73, 74, 75. Retires the side in the first inning.
2nd Inning: Hits 86 three times with the FB then tops out at 89. Then it’s all 86-87 for the heater for the remaining part of the inning. Throwing the changeup several times at 78-79. Strikes out the side to end the inning.
3rd Inning: 86-88 on the FB, SL-CB 70-73, retires top three hitters 1-2-3.
4th Inning: Has to work a bit harder here and the FB registers 84-86 which means stamina is becoming an issue. The same metrics for his CU and CB/Sl. Allows a run and that’s it.
5th inning: Last inning of work, and he once again tops out at 85 on the FB but strikes out a hitter and allows another earned run. All in all, a tremendous pitching effort.”
5IP, 5H. 3R, 2ER, 2W, 6K
Justin Romero vs. Corona Santiago: (With Video) “Before this outing, Perfect Game had a 2022 evaluation of him with an FB from 74-78 but he “worked both sides of the plate well.”
Two years and his FB is much more live as he had him at 83-86 on his FB with a changeup at 72-74 and Slider/Curveball from 69-71. The issue on this day was his control and he missed his spots several times in the game. You can tell that he has a huge upside and there is no doubt that he’ll be offered at some point within the next two years. One thing to keep in mind, this is a big good-looking kid.
2IP, 4H, 4R, 3ER, 3W, 3K
1st Inning: Started the game with an 86 MPH fastball then topped 87 MPH twice in the inning. Change up was 73-74 and the slider/curveball was in the 70-71. Had to work hard in the first inning and gave up three runs on three hits.
2nd Inning: Worked his FB to 86 MPH while ranging from 82-84 SL-CB 67-69, CU 72-74. Gave up one run in the inning.
3rd Inning: Faced only one hitter with FB 80, 83, 83, 84, SL at 70, CU at 76.
Christian Santoyo vs. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame: (With Video) “This was the second time that we got to see this kid perform and despite giving up three runs in two innings, under the hood – we liked this performance a lot. First off, for coach Darren Murphy to put this kid in the game against a team like Sherman Oaks Notre Dame shows the excitement the coaching staff has for him. In his first inning of work, which saw him retire the side with an error committed by the infield, his fastball was 82-83 MPH with a slider at 71-72, topping at 75. It was a bit of a rough inning in the 6th as he allowed three runs on five hits, but there are not many pitchers in the area that can contain ND’s explosive offense. FB was once against between 82-83, with a top at 84. SL/CB at 71-73. This confirms the numbers that we had on him in our first look (which speaks volumes for the Pocket Radar that we are using). This would not be the last time we would see this pitcher in this week’s report.”
CRYSTAL BALL: South Hills has always been a stalwart in the East SGV and that won’t change in 2025. You can make a strong argument that they have the strongest starting pitching staff in the area with three collegiate type of arms. We were the only publication in the area that got to see Loyola Marymount commit Reyes against La Mirada last year and he was excellent. Interested to see what his numbers are. Romero has an excellent three-pitch combination and were interested to see if his velocity is up from last year. The player that has out attention is sophomore Santoyo. The most exciting sophomore in the area without any debate. Huskies enter a new league with San Dimas, so those games become must attend events. As will always be the case - the Huskies will be just fine in 2025.
AJ Flores, Northview (Escarcega)
Northview High School
Coach: Danny Roddy
Previous Season Record: 5-17
Number of Returning Players: 18
Number of All-League Players Returning: 4
Number of Returning Infielders: 4
Number of Returning Outfielders: 3
Number of Starting Pitchers: 4
Number of Returning Relief Pitchers: 4
Key Infielders Returning
Joey Ramos, SS, 12, 5'10, 160...1st Team All-League 2024
Seth Robles, 2B/OF, 11, 5'8 150
Key Outfielders Returning
Adrian Rodriguez, OF, 12, 5'8, 160....hit .330 in 2024
Key Starting Pitchers Returning
AJ Flores, P, 12, 6'5 210, 2nd Team All-League 2024
Evan Bustamante, P, 11, 6'4 205, 2nd Team All-League 2024
Key Relief Pitching Returning
Camren Lobo, 12, 6'0 180
Jon Hernandez, 12, 6'0, 170 (did not pitch in 2024 due to injury)
Timo Salinas, 12, 6'1, 170 (did not pitch in 2024 due to injury)
Daylen Nieblas, 12, 5'10, 160
Top Newcoming Players/Transfers
Michael Mendoza (10, Transfer/catcher),
Fernando Casas (9), Ezekial Martinez (9)
Jayden Chagollan (9),
Bobby Granados (10)
Jake Aguilar (10)
Comments from Coach Roddy: "Coming off a 2024 season filled with youth and inexperience, we return Everyone. Pitching will be our strength and defense will be solid. Offense is slowly coming. If it arrives, Northview will be a very competitive team in 2025.”
2024 Schedule
2024 SGV/Whittier Baseball Insider Report
AJ Flores vs. Montebello: “This was a pleasant surprise. We had heard very little about this hurler but right from the start, he caught our attention immediately. He hit 88 MPH on his fastball four times in the first inning. At the end of the day FB ranged from 83-87. His changeup was consistently between 73-74 and will be a work in progress. We would love for him to work on a consistent slider/curveball. But this is another big, solid, good-looking prospect.
1st Inning: What a 1st inning for Flores as he hit 88MPH 4x and then settled to 83-87 on his FB. The two times that he threw a CU that was 73, 74. Struck out the side in the inning.
2nd Inning: He decided to work on his cutter and was 78-80 on the gun with a changeup in the mid-60s. Did throw a FB at 82 in the inning.
3rd Inning: It was back to the FB as we had him between 84-87 with a 73 and 78 CU.
4th Inning: Got a bit tired but hit 86 MPH on his FB several times with CU between 71-74. For the second time in the inning, he struck out the side.”
4IP, 2H, 0R, 4W, 8K
CRYSTAL BALL: Northview stays in Valle Vista and appears to be one of the teams to beat, along with Charter Oak and Covina. We are very interested in seeing the development in Flores. He is a stout pitcher and has a lot of talent. He impressed us in his performance early in 2024 against Montebello. Coach Roddy has a team that gained a lot of experience last season, which will come in handy in 2025. It’s key to note that they don’t have to deal with San Dimas - so that has to be considered a win. The matchups against rival Covina will be fascinating to watch. Let’s see how the Vikings perform early in 2025, but we are projecting a nice upside trend for this team in 2025.
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