prep talk

The NCAA Division I college baseball playoffs begin this week, and there are several graduates from Southern California high schools representing in the college ranks.

Freshman Dylan Volantis of Texas, a Westlake High graduate, has had an All-American season, going 4-1 with a 1.99 ERA and 12 saves as a closer in the SEC.

Freshman shortstop Nate Castellon, a Calabasas grad, helped Cal Poly win the Big West tournament. He’s batting .364.

Collin Clarke (Santa Margarita) is 5-2 with a 4.59 ERA for Oregon. Trent Caraway (JSerra) has 33 RBIs for Oregon State. Colin Yeaman (Saugus) is batting .342 with 13 home runs and 55 RBIs for UC Irvine. Aiden Taurek (Foothill) is batting .336 with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs for St. Mary’s.

Derek Curiel (Orange Lutheran) is the No. 2 hitter for LSU with a .336 average and 45 RBIs. Aidan Cremarosa, who once played for Burbank Burroughs until enrolling at IMG Academy, is 6-5 with a 4.13 ERA for Fresno State.

Dean Curley (Northview) is batting .313 with 12 home runs for Tennessee. Jimmy De Anda (Mater Dei) has a .281 average for Utah Valley.

For USC, Ethan Hedges (Mater Dei) leads the team with a .343 average and has nine saves. For UCLA, freshman Easton Hawk (Granada Hills) has been a late-season closer with five saves.

The Call brothers, Chase and Phoenix, play for UC Irvine and UCLA, respectively, and could face off in the Westwood regional.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

Grant Leary of Crespi High has a future as a golfer _ and photographer.

After winning the Southern Section individual title last week with a 66, Leary went on to practice his other fun endeavor — photography. He was shooting photos for the school yearbook at Crespi’s Southern Section Division 1 baseball playoff game.

Asked to set up a photo of himself, he brought out an iron, put one of his unused tees in his mouth and posed with a smile.

Only a junior, Leary won the tournament at Temecula Creek Country Club. He went to the final hole tied. He faced a seven-foot putt for a par but wasn’t aware of its importance.

“I knew it was a very big putt,” he said. “I didn’t know if it was for a tie or the win.”

He didn’t celebrate after making it but later learned it gave him victory.

Golf was the last sport he started playing in eighth grade. His father is a golf instructor.

Next up is the regional state qualifier on Thursday at Los Serranos Golf Course.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

It’s the greatest gift to baseball players who attend schools in the City Section. Every season since 1969, except for two years during the pandemic of 2020 and 2021, the championship game has been played at Dodger Stadium.

The championships return to Dodger Stadium on Saturday. Marine League rivals Banning and Carson will face off at 10 a.m. for the Division I title, followed by El Camino Real taking on Venice at 1 p.m. for the Open Division championship. There’s free parking and tickets cost $15 for adults and $12 for students. Gates open at 9 a.m.

Three of the four semifinal games were decided on walk-off hits, showing the parity this season.

In the Open Division, El Camino Real has its top two pitchers ready to go. Devin Gonor will get the start and Luke Howe has four innings left to throw if needed. Venice has its ace, Noel Moreno (12-1) available.

As usual, handling the environment and dimensions of Dodger Stadium will be key, from catchers preventing balls in the dirt from going to the backstop to outfielders making catches in the sun.

Banning has beaten Carson two of three times this season. Carson is coming off a dramatic win in the semifinals over Taft in which Xavier Allen hit a walk-off, two-run home run in the 11th inning.

Canon King of Venice is coming off a five-for-five performance against Birmingham. El Camino Real has won nine City titles.

All the teams involved will be invited to play in the Southern California regionals that begin in two weeks.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

There are four big-time matchups Friday in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division 1 baseball playoffs. The intrigue involves which teams can win with No. 2 pitchers.

Top-seeded Corona won with ace Seth Hernandez on Tuesday but now must get past Big VIII League rival Norco on the road with Ethin Bingaman pitching against freshman standout Jordan Ayala. This is the game the Panthers might be most vulnerable.

St. John Bosco, the Trinity League champion, is playing at Villa Park in a noon matchup. Villa Park defeated Aquinas on Tuesday. Los Alamitos is playing at Santa Margarita in a matchup of teams that didn’t win league titles.

Mira Costa, with a 26-game winning streak, faces Mission League champion Crespi on the road in a 2:15 start at Hartunian Field. The Celts have No. 2 pitcher Tyler Walton ready to go.

The winners advance to Tuesday’s semifinals. …

The City Section Division III baseball championship will take place Friday at Stengel Field, with University playing Jefferson at 3 p.m. Then the Division II final has Port of Los Angeles playing Chavez at 6 p.m. …

Grant Leary of Crespi won the Southern Section individual golf title on Thursday, shooting a 66.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

When it comes to going over hurdles, DeAuna Louis of GALA is the best in the City Section. She will try to defend her City titles in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles on Thursday at the City Section track and field championships at Birmingham.

Equally important is her goal to do well at next weekend’s state championships at Buchanan High in Clovis.

She has become one of the most successful athletes in the history of the Girls Academic Leadership Academy, which is the first and only all-girls STEM school in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Running events are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. weather permitting (there’s a heat wave coming this week) …

The City Section will hold an Open Division baseball semifinal doubleheader on Tuesday at Cal State Northridge, with El Camino Real playing Birmingham at 3 p.m., followed by Venice taking on Sylmar at 6 p.m. The winners advance to Saturday’s 1 p.m. final at Dodger Stadium.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

Alyssa Lee of El Camino Real has achieved something few volleyball coaches can claim.

With El Camino Real’s boys team winning the City Section Open Division championship on Saturday after an upset over No. 1-seeded Venice, Lee has won City titles coaching El Camino Real’s boys, girls and beach volleyball teams, the Triple Crown of volleyball coaching.

“That’s very impressive,” said Granada Hills coach Tom Harp, who had Lee on his girls’ team when she graduated in 2009.

Harp, a future Hall of Fame coach in the City Section, said Lee is calm and comfortable on the bench and knows strategy well.

El Camino Real opens the state playoffs on Tuesday in Division 2 with a home game against Escondido Classical Academy.

Mira Costa is seeded No. 1 in Division 1…

The CIF Southern California tennis championships will be held Friday and Saturday at Claremont Club. Here’s the bracket…

Southern Section golf team championships are set for Monday and Tuesday. The individual championship will be Thursday. The City Section championships are Wednesday at Harding Golf Course.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

You can go ask any college football recruiter whether they’d be more impressed with a high school player who spends the majority of time in offseason seven-on-seven competitions or working on other skills in track and field? They’d always say track.

Darren Haggerty of Viewpoint High is an example of a football player who’s going to benefit from showing what he can do in track and field.

On Saturday, he pulled off career-best performances to win the Division 4 high jump at 6 feet, 6 inches and the long jump at 22-8 at the Southern Section championships at Moorpark High. He helped Viewpoint share the Division 4 title with Gardena Serra.

He was a little shocked afterward, not knowing he had it in him. He was considered Viewpoint’s best football player last fall as a sophomore, leading the team in receiving with 39 receptions for 674 yards and five touchdowns. He also had 37 tackles on defense. …

Quarterback Luke Fahey led Mission Viejo to the championship of the Millikan seven-on-seven tournament, beating San Diego Lincoln in the final. San Juan Hills won the tournament at Dana Hills and Charter Oak took its own tournament title. …

The semifinals are set for City Section Division I baseball on Wednesday at Stengel Field in Glendale. It will be No. 5 Verdugo Hills vs. No. 1 Banning at 6 p.m. and No. 11 Taft vs No. 2 Carson at 3 p.m.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

It’s a Saturday filled with high school championships for lacrosse, volleyball and track and field.

The Southern Section Division 1 boys’ lacrosse final between Loyola and Mater Dei will take place at 7 p.m. at Fred Kelly Stadium in Orange.

The City Section Open Division boys’ volleyball final between Venice and El Camino Real is at 6 p.m. at Birmingham.

The Southern Section track and field finals begin at 11 a.m. with field events at Moorpark High.

There’s also the state swimming championships at Clovis West High. …

The City Section will hold a Tuesday semifinal doubleheader in baseball for the Open Division at Cal State Northridge, with El Camino Real playing Birmingham at 3 p.m. and Venice facing Sylmar at 6 p.m.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].