SGV/Whittier Prep Sports Zone: Reporters Notebook
Baseball, track and basketball coaching news are part of this story.
Time to clear out the area notebook for the week…
* Bishop Amat baseball coach Joe Hoggatt might be the envy of some baseball coaches in the area. Some of the teams have one talented pitcher, and very few have two. Bishop Amat, however, has three quality pitchers on its staff for the 2023 season.
"I don't think of them as my number one, two, or three pitchers," Hoggatt said. "There are more like 1A, 1B, 1C. We like them a lot and have big expectations for them."
There is highly profiled pitcher Sean Suriyaniel. The senior is 1-1 on the year with an ERA of 1.91. Then there is Aaron Sandin, who has been very impressive in his starts, which included a win over Edison (5IP, 1ER, 4K), and a tough luck 1-0 loss to Garden Grove Pacifica (6IP, 3H, 1R, 3K). The third pitcher is Cal State Los Angeles commit Moises Escobedo, who sparkled in the Lancers' 7-0 win over St. Paul. The right-handed hurler tossed a complete-game five-hitter and struck out six. Coupled with a couple of top-shelf effort in a 2-0 win over Capistrano Valley Christian (7IP, 3H, 15K), you can understand why Hoggatt has a big smile on his face.
Throw in Izaac Muniz, one of the highly regarded freshman pitchers in the area, and you being to understand why Amat fans are a little giddy these days.
"We just got to get the offense squared around and be a little bit more consistent with it," Hoggatt said. "The great thing is that we are developing some depth and we'll need it as the season progresses."
Bishop Amat has a key Del Rey League game on Friday against La Salle at Arcadia County Park.
Four members of the California High school softball team Jessica Gurule, Nicole Amaral, Miranda McKiernan and Ashley Hernandez, all medal at a track and field event at the school over the weekend. (Cal High Softball- Instagram)
* We are seeing a nice trend of athletes being dual-sport athletes in the same calendar season. At Sonora HS, Yoka Oke, one of the top basketball players in Orange County, also played (and started) on the boys' soccer team as a forward. We have a similar situation at California High School.
Three players from the softball team; Ashley Hernandez (Boise State commit), Jessica Gurule, Nicole Amaral, and Miranda McKiernan all medaled at last week's track and field event at Cal-Hi. Amaral and McKiernan participated in the shot put and discus, Gurule and Hernandez medaled in the long jump. Hernandez also runs in the 100 meters.
* It was a busy week at Cal High School. Not only did the school host two big baseball and softball games last week against La Serna (losing both), but they also hosted the annual Condor Invitational and Distance Carnival.
In the 4x800 in the boys division, California looked sharp in winning the event in 8:20.49 with Granada Hills (8:38.63) taking second and Diamond Ranch checking in third (8:59.05). Great Oak runners dominated two of the three events (800, 3200) with Placentia/Valencia's Yishai Rodriguez winning 1600 (4:45.89) with El Rancho's David Morales (4:48.96) taking the silver medal.
In the girls 800 meters, Rowland's Gogo Zhou (2:39.17) easily captured the event with La Serna's Emily Paredes taking second (2:41.30). Western Christian's Marissa Mehir crushed the field in the 1600 meters with a big win while stopping the clock in 5:27.61. Sonora's Joselyn Ortega-Carcamo took third (5:50.74). Granada Hills' Zaida Velasquez narrowly held off Devlyn Torza of Great Oak to win the 3200 in 11:33.53. California's Marley Rebollendo-Ynostros took fourth place (11:37.67).
The first big track and field event of the season takes place this Saturday at Redondo High School with the Redondo Track Festival.
JJ Spaun and members of the San Dimas HS Golf Team pose in front of bench dedicated to the late school golf course Doug Shultz. (Jack Nance, San Dimas HS)
* Imagine being a golfer on the San Dimas High School Golf Team. Several weeks ago, San Dimas grad and current PGA Tour professional JJ Spaun made an appearance on campus to dedicate a bench in honor of the late coach Doug Shultz. After taking time to speak with the team and signing autographs, Spaun surprised the team by taking them to his sponsorship headquarters and had them personally fitted with a full set of golf clubs.
* Speaking of San Dimas, last week Joe Hanson was announced as the new girls volleyball coach. He will be replacing longtime coach Diane Chiappone, who stepped down at the end of the regular season.
* The second area boys basketball coaches opening was made official last week when Troy Beverly and West Covina decided to part ways. West Covina went 11-17 in 2023 and 9-17 in 2022. Cantwell Sacred Heart was the first school to have a coaches basketball opening. West Covina is also looking for a new girls varsity soccer coach.
* There has been no news at Arroyo High School since they announced that Chuck Leonardis has stepped down as the school's football coach. The job was posted on the CIFSS website in late February.
* An interesting job that has also been posted on the CIFSS website is an assistant girls varsity basketball coach at St. Paul HS. Robert Miller, the school principal, is still listed as the head coach. St. Paul is home to one of the top sophomore girls basketball players in the area in Gloria Barrera.
* Speaking of basketball, the Southern California Basketball Coaches Association (SCIBCA) will be hosting Boys California Live'23 in Orange County on June 16-18, 2023. There will also be a girls event (Girls California Live '23) that will be held at Roebbelen Center in Roseville on the weekend of June 15-17.
The landmark event has the support of the NFHS and CIF and will be run much like the Section 7 event that takes place in Arizona over the summer. The schools that will be part of the event include Irvine, Tustin, Beckman, Estancia, and Woodbridge.
The co-directors of the inaugural event will be Chris Nordstrom of St. Margaret's and former Damien coach and current St. John Bosco coach Matt Dunn. Here is the link to more information from our friends at calhisports.com.