el camino

There was some excitement this week at El Camino Real High during batting practice.

JJ Saffie, the best power hitter on the baseball team, hit a ball down the line and over the left-field fence. When a teammate went to retrieve the ball, he discovered that the rear windshield of a car driven by pitcher Jackson Sellz was shattered. He took a photo and showed it to Sellz, who worried what his parents would say.

“We had a good laugh,” father Stu Sellz said.

It turns out the Sellz family has been on the opposite side of breaking windows by hitting home runs since the 1990s. Stu and brothers Scott and Brandon played at Chatsworth. Scott was the family’s best window breaker. Stu’s other son, Braden, also has broken windows.

Now Jackson and the insurance company are paying for him parking too close to the foul pole off Burbank Boulevard.

“This is the baseball god getting back at us,” Stu said.

Jackson usually parks closer to center field, but his preferred parking spot was taken before school began in the morning.

What lesson was learned?

“He now knows to get to school earlier,” Stu said.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Known for producing first-round draft picks as pitchers, Harvard-Westlake has assembled a group of hitters this season that look capable of producing lots of offense after a 15-1 season-opening five-inning win over Southlake (Texas) Carroll on Thursday at O’Malley Family Field.

Just look at the first five hitters in the lineup: Shortstop James Tronstein is headed to Vanderbilt; outfielder Ethan Price is committed to Santa Clara; center fielder Ira Rootman is a Texas commit; freshman third baseman Louis Lappe is the Little League star from El Segundo; designated hitter Jake Kim is a UCLA commit.

Freshman Louis Lappe of Harvard-Westlake got an RBI double in his first high school at-bat on a 3-and-2 count.

(Craig Weston)

Kim led the Mission League in home runs as a sophomore with seven and hit his first home run of 2026 to right field with a little help from the wind on Thursday. Rootman hit a ball so far over the left-field fence for a three-run home that it might have gone out of a big-league stadium. Lappe, in his first high school at-bat, delivered an RBI double.

“It was cool,” Lappe said. “A lot of pressure came off. I got that weight off my shoulders.”

The Wolverines have been focused on getting stronger in the weight room and no one has benefited more than Rootman, a junior who added 10 pounds and can’t wait to see how his improved strength is going make him a better hitter.

As for first impressions of Lappe, Rootman said, “I think he’s a very special kid and has so much talent it’s unbelievable.”

Justin Kirchner struck out nine in four innings. He’s a junior committed to Yale.

Boys soccer

El Camino Real 1, Palisades 0: Defending champion El Camino Real advanced to the City Section Open Division championship game with a victory in overtime. Jayden de la Cruz scored the overtime goal. El Camino Real will face the winner of Friday’s semifinal between South East and Marquez.