Preseason Invitational: Day One Recap

IRVINE, CALIF. - The second annual PBR California Preseason Invitational kicked off the CIF-Southern Section season with 16 of the top teams from the section participating in a winner take all full bracket tournament. The four game tournament is an early test for the teams with an eye on the biggest prize in the sport. With some of the top teams comes some of the top players and with them come the eyeballs of MLB Scouts who were out en masse on Saturday.  

As we move into the second round of the tournament, let’s take a look back at the first round games. 

Etiwanda 3 Servite 1

Senior RHP Dylan Goff was the story for the state No. 20 Eagles going 5.1IP allowing only two hits while striking out 11 Fridars. Working mainly 86-88 with the fastball, it was the changeup at 78-79 that caused fits for Servite. Sophomore Brady Ebel chipped in with two and an RBI for the Eagles. Etiwanda moves on to the winners bracket where they’ll face off against Foothill. Valentino Lopez kept the Friars in the game by fanning three and allowing only two hits, however he couldn’t overcome the four walks allowed. Three hitters had a hit for Servite as they’ll now take on Harvard Westlake in round two. 

Foothill 2 Harvard Westlake 0

Senior RHP Andrew Parker, a CSUN signee, was dominant at times in his complete game shutout of state No. 4 Harvard Westlake. Working mainly 86-8 with the fastball it was his changeup, one of the best in the state, that was unhittable during his outing. Scattering five hits on the night (he picked off one of them), Parker allowed back-to-back hits only once in the game. The Knights offense put enough pressure on the Wolverines to force four errors en route to the win. Junior RHP Tommy Bridges labored in the first before settling down and striking seven of the last 10 batters he faced while scattering two hits and allowing a walk in his three innings of work. Junior RHP Bryce Rainer made his return to the mound after a year off and was good enough at 90-92 FB and 75-79 CB to keep his team in it as they headed to the final inning. 

Corona 3 El Dorado 0

Junior LHP/1B Ethan Schiefelbein had his fingerprints all over this game for state No. 5 Corona. The UCLA commit looked very strong on the mound in his two innings where he struck out four allowing no hits and walking one. He also added an RBI single and a run scored. Sam Burgess added a two RBI single to give the Panthers all the cushion they’d need. Senior LHP and UCSD commit, Nathan Huy, gave the Golden Hawks a chance working his three pitch mix of FB (85-88), CB (73-76), and CH 77-78. The offense for El Dorado was held to two hits in the game. Corona moves on to face off against state No. 2 Huntington Beach while El Dorado will face Ayala in round two. 

Huntington Beach 10 Ayala 2

State No. 2 Huntington Beach got their offense started in the third inning led by a Aidan Espinoza double and didn’t look back. Espinoza would go on to finish 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Senior Colby Turner added a double and a single along with three RBI of his own one on a sacrifice. That was more than enough offense for senior RHP Carson Lane who was nasty, striking out 10 over four dominant innings. From the second out in the first through the last out in the third, Lane struck out eight-of-nine batters he faced while surrendering only a single to the second-to-last batter in the third. The UNLV signee. worked 89-91 FB, 71-72 CB, 77-78 CH throughout his outing. Senior Marcus Galvan, Ethan Nunez, and Jake Lemoine each had hits for Ayala. 

FULL BRACKET HERE

Gahr 8 Yucaipa 2

Gahr used a six run sixth inning to blow the game open and run away with an 8-2 win over state No. 23 Yucaipa. Seniors Kyle Panganiban (CSUN) and Angel Cortez (USD) paced the offense with two hits and an RBI apiece. Michael Lee and Chris Rodriguez each had two hits apiece and Alanhi Salcedo had a pair of RBI. Senior Noah Andrunas (UCR) went 4.2 innings with seven strikeouts, 2 walks and four scattered hits for Gahr. Uncommitted senior Isaiah Walz led the offense for Yucaipa going 3-for-3 with two runs scored including his leadoff homerun on the second pitch of the game. Wes Hickey and Trevor Busby each added a pair of hits while three others added one hit apiece. Uncommitted senior Josh Hickey was the tough luck loser going 5.2IP scattering 8 hits, striking out 8, and walking only one. He was charged with five runs though none were earned. Gahr moves on to face Norco in the winner's bracket second round game. Yucaipa moves on to face Cypress in the second round. 

Norco 6 Cypress 3

Senior INF/OF Grant Gray (UCLA) paced the Norco offense with a pair of hits, two runs scored, and two RBI along with a walk for the Cougars. Cameron Kim, Cole Hansen, Steve Jones, Logan Ortega, and Jason Arriola each contributed a hit as well. Senior Ryan Jenkins went three innings on the mound for Norco allowing one hit, two earned runs, while striking out seven and giving up seven walks. For Cypress, senior Matthew Morrell and junior Bradley Parsonage each had a pair of hits while three others contributed a hit each. Morrell also got the start on the mound for the Centurions, going three innings allowing four earned runs on six hits while striking out four. 

OLu 4 Redondo 1

This was a tight game where a couple of wild pitches and passed balls proved to be the difference. Both starters in ASU commit Ross Clark (OLU) and Columbia commit Tomas Lopez (Redondo) went 4 strong innings each giving up 1R. Ross Clark got into some jams but was able to work out of it with a high percentage of secondary offerings. Clark got up to 88 with the FB, sat 85-87 and paired that FB with a CB at 75-78 and CH at 80-81 he showed solid feel for throughout. Besides a small passed ball blemish in the 1st Tomas Lopez got through 4 clean innings with a FB he ran up to 92 while mixing in a sweeping slider (76-79) and tumbling split (74-76) that kept OLU hitters off balanced. In the 5th however, OLU tacked on 3 runs starting with a Josiah Hartshorn sac fly and 2 more on wild pitches. Senior Texas commit Evan Miranda was the pitcher of record going 2 scoreless relief innings and sophomore Stanford commit Colt Peterson earned the 1-2-3 save attacking hitters with a 89-90 FB and a 76-77 slurvy breaking ball. 

Aquinas 13 Loyola 0

A 6-run first inning got things rolling for Aquinas which included two 2RBI hits by Nate Christman and Chase Davidson and they never looked back the rest of the game as they scored 5 more in the 3rd and 2 more in the 4th. Loyola had the chance to capitalize with a bases loaded no-out opportunity in the top of the 1st but Senior UCR commit Josh Torres got out of it with a strikeout and an inning ending double play and was able to dominate the rest of the way through. He earned the mercy rule CG shutout allowing 2H and striking out 8. He showed a solid 3-pitch that kept Loyola hitters guessing. He ran his FB up to 88 sitting it 84-87 while mixing in a larger breaking CB at 70-73 and a diving CH at 74-75 that both generated whiffs. Aquinas meets OLU in their 2nd round matchup on Tuesday.