2022 Team Previews: JSerra Lions

The Road to the California State Games begins with the 2022 California high school baseball season. With the season just around the corner, our Staff has begun putting out team previews from all around the state getting you prepare for another year of exciting coverage.

Today we focus on the JSerra Lions who are bringing another strong team to the table this spring where they have talent up and down the roster. They hope to meet the high expectations they have year in and year out. 

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Team:

JSerra Catholic Lions

Head Coach (years at school)

Brett Kay 16th

Twitter Handle

@JSerraLionsBB

CIF Section & Division

CIF_SS DIV.1

Conference/League Name

Trinity

Last Year’s Record

30-7

14-1 (League) 

2021 Playoff Run

Lost in CIF D1 FInals to HW. Beat Liberty, OLU, Ayala for CIF D1 SO Cal Regional Championship

# of Returning Starters

2

# of Returning Pitchers

7

Team Expectations

I think the expectation is always high here. The team albeit a large one in regards to roster size is deep on the mound and deep with position players.  Still have a ton to learn but the sophomores that were on Varsity last year that got to learn, is now their time. We are talented and have what I think is a positive culture within the squad. 

Team Strengths

We can pitch. We have 17 arms on the mound. Too many, but they all have their ability to get outs for us. Might even go to the 1 guy an inning route and see how that could work. But it will start with Horn/Gough/Champion. LaMaison is out with an injury right now, but big things are coming from Reimers, Purcell, Hollis, Smaldino. Really like the depth and pieces there. Names that have had huge Fall/Winters for us are Jayden Graves & Casey Coady. While they won't overwhelm the market, they will play a huge role for us in getting innings. 

Areas of Improvement

Experience. Going to need Fujiwara to play a big role early as he prepares to play SS. Lamb, Chang, Smaldino, Bourne, Hollis, Caruso are going to play big factors in our prep and go. These guys all saw what it means to be great, and now they need to take the torch. We feel we are going in that direction for sure. The league is at an all time high with potentially (3) teams in the top 10 in the nation. Caraway/Mendez coming out once the sit out period is done will cause some havoc in the lineup and defensively. I really like our squad. Should be fun. Giddy up. 

College Commitments

David Horn-Vanderbilt
Tristan LaMaison-USD
Tyler Gough-OSU
Andrew Lamb-USC
Trent Caraway-OSU
Jonathan Mendez-UCSB
JJ Hollis-UCSB
Dom Smaldino-Cal

Top 22s

David Horn - RHP/1B: 6'4 210 - Vandy Commit - Our horse. Our best bat. High character and our leader. Everything runs through DH. 

Owen Fuller - 2B: 5'9 185 - Our grinder. 3 Year Varsity starter. I would take a team of Owen's. Let's also call him the glue of our unit. Can do many things in our lineup. 

Ricky Rodenberg - Utility 6'2 190 - Physical bat. Position change to 1st when Smaldino is on mound and will see time in the OF. We need his bat in our lineup. 

Tyler Gough - RHP 6'2 195-OSU commit. Electric stuff. Will be our #2 after Horn. 3 Pitch mix and nasty. Think he is going to help push us to hopefully another great year. 

Tristan LaMaison - RHP 6'1 175 -USD Commit - 4 Year Varsity guy. We love this kid. Holds the staff together as a starter or coming out of the pen. Will return in March after a bout with his back. Nothing fazes him. He has been there and done that. 

Top 23s

Andrew Lamb - Utility - 6'1 185 - Ready to breakout. Going to need him to play a multi faceted role with the Lions. USC commit. 

Brandon Chang-Utility - 6'0 185 - Another '23 that needs to break out. Will use him as a C and OF the most and be a guy to serve in a giant capacity as he can do a lot of things. 

Trent Caraway - 6-'2 195-SS/3B/RHP - Physical beast on the diamond. Does damage in a lot of ways. Think he might be one of top position players in our league if not So Cal. Of course from small sample size so far. 

JJ Hollis - 6'4 RHP/SS/3B - Primed for a big year. Pitched in some big games for us last year and will see an expanded role in both realms. Need the offense to help carry the load. The Hollis brothers are big impact guys here at JSerra and it starts with JJ shouldering a big load. 

Ben Reimers - 6'2 190 RHP/OF - Another big arm for us. Like Hollis, there are a lot of expectations of him both on the mound and offensively. Has had a big Winter. Shouldn't be long before he is a committed kid. 

Brodie Purcell - 6'2 185 RHP - Making the big move to be a guy for us. Big innings last year and will only get better this year. Big stuff for a '23. 

Dominic Smaldino - 6'5 210 1B/RHP - Cal Commit. Been waiting for what he has done all Fall and Winter and that is to be a force for us. On the mound it is a 3 pitch mix with some good angle. And offensively he will bat 3rd-5th as the bat plays a huge role for us with his power and ability to hit to all fields. 

Lou Fujiwara - 5'10 165 SS/2B - The Wizard. Might be the best defender at that position with the things he can do. He will start at SS and take the reins for at least the first 14 games. The bat plays and our offense will run through him as he can do it all. Special kid and talent for his size. 

Jonathan Mendez - 6'1 190 SS/3B - UCSB commit. Another solid defender. The bat has made significant strides since fall. Winter he has shown power and ability to hit to all fields. 

Jake Bourne - 6'0 160 OF - Gonna play a lot of CF this year. Knows the offense and fits the system. Had a big summer and fall. 

Top 24s

Matt Champion - RHP/3B - LSU Commit: Ready to be the dude. Lots of stigma behind the name and backing it up in every way. Fuel behind his stuff. 

Charles Caruso-C/OF-All he does is hit and find ways to not take him out of lineup. Chuck is a phenomenal kid and will be in rotate throughout the lineup and the C/OF position. Hit .441 in Fall and Winter. Cannot say enough good things about him. 

Top 25s

Tyler Dunning - SS 6'1 170 - Mix of Strumpf/Schrier. Not ready yet though but getting good reps with Varsity. UCLA/Stanford Offers. Next in line. 

Josh Hollis - RHP 6'2 175 - Future ACE: Will be next in line to take the reins. Going to be a Dude.