2024 Preseason Preview: Martin Luther King
February 7, 2024
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The 2024 California high school baseball season is quickly approaching and, as usual, excitement is abound throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across California.
Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in their respective CIF Section Championship Game, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams across the state as we preview individual teams across California. We will take you right up to first pitch this season with these team previews, eventually releasing our Preseason Power 25 rankings that’ll carry us into the opening week of action and the Third Annual Prep Baseball California Spring Invitational.
Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across California. Each week we will be releasing our Power 25, Players of the Week, Diamond Notes, Podcasts and much more.
Our 2024 preseason coverage continues today.
High School: Martin Luther King Wolves
Head Coach: Justin Solis
CIF Section: CIF-SS, Division 2
Conference League: Big 8
2023 Record: 11-16-1
Team X Handle: @mlkbaseball
Team Strengths: Talented youth
No. of Returning Starters: 3
No. of Returning Pitchers: 2
Areas of Improvement: Injuries from last year are now healthy
COMMITTED PLAYERS
+ ‘24 RHP Garrett Green - St. Scholastica - 6'0 160 lbs.
+ ‘24 RHP Lincoln Bergman - Quincy University 6'3 180 lbs.
+ ‘26 OF Blake Bowen - Oregon State - 6'2 205 lbs.
TOP UNCOMMITTED SENIORS
+ ‘24 1B/RHP Gavin Warner - 6'0 200 lbs.
TOP UNCOMMITTED JUNIORS
+ ‘25 SS Mario Cuadros - 5'8 150 lbs.
+ ‘25 C Isaac Fanoga - 6'0 180 lbs.
+ ‘25 INF/RHP Jarren Noah Haros - 6'0 185 lbs.
TOP UNDERCLASS FOLLOWS
Class of 2026
+ ‘26 INF/RHP Jason Jones - 6'0 130 lbs.
+ ‘26 1B/OF Kai Salinas - 6'1 185 lbs.
Class of 2027
+ ‘27 C James Mejia - 5'6 140 lbs.
TEAM OUTLOOK
Offensively, underclassman and Oregon State commit ‘26 Blake Bowen will be one of the main pieces in the Wolves’ lineup. Last year, Bowen logged a batting average of .250, finishing with 12 RBIs and he will look to build off of that as he heads into his sophomore season. Another main piece in the offense is expected to be reigning First-Team All-League selection ‘25 Mario Cuadros, who returns a team high .356 batting average and also 19 runs scored, too. ‘25 Isaac Fanoga and ‘26 Kai Salinas are two other prospects to note regarding the Wolves’ offense.
A pair of committed arms are expected to lead the Wolves on the mound in ‘24 Garrett Green and ‘24 Lincoln Bergman. Two-ways, ‘24 Gavin Warner, ‘25 Jarren Noah Harros, and ‘26 Jason Jones are all expected to make contributions on both sides of the ball this season too. While it is unclear exactly how ‘27 James Mejia will contribute at the varsity level, Coach Solis did mention him as a freshman to note from the King High School system.
Coach Justin Solis’s Expectations: “Compete for a playoff spot in the Big 8”