Castaic High School’s historic run ended in triumph, officially ending a spectacular season for baseball in the Santa Clarita Valley.
West Ranch High School and Trinity Classical Academy also made deep playoff pushes, and nearly every team in the area made strides for their program.
The off-season has brought on the all-league honors and several all-CIF honors.
Here’s a roundup of the rainy but exciting 2023 SCV baseball season:
Castaic, the new sheriff in town
The party in Castaic just won’t stop. The CIF and SoCal Regional champs were honored in the all-CIF selections on Wednesday. Senior Joji Sakata was named Player of the Year while skipper Darrell Davis was named Coach of the Year. Seniors Kyler Freude and Aaron Gonzalez join Sakata as selections on the Foothill League first team and all-CIF.
Castaic capped off its season on Saturday, with a 7-6 walk-off win over the previously undefeated Ganesha. The Coyotes outscored their opponents by a mile during their playoff run and went nearly two months without a non-league loss.
The team will graduate a loaded senior class highlighted by Matthew Airhart, Jacob Bond, David Cailatto and Brody Lusk.
Sakata will head to Saint Peters, Gonzalez is set to join a plethora of local athletes at Cal State Monterey Bay and Diego Spross will play at Embry Riddle Aeronautical. Several other seniors are still weighing options for their collegiate paths.
Davis is excited for year three of his program’s varsity tenure. Junior Tyler Hawn leads a dangerous group returning to the team next season. Juniors Anthony Luna, Jack Teoli, Ivan Estrada and pitcher James Lafferty will be big names returning to Castaic.
It’s already back to work for Castaic as the team joined the Valley Invitational Baseball League for the summer. The Coyotes have brought in the first two pennants for the school in any sport and will aim to repeat in the postseason while also aiming to bring home a Foothill League championship in 2024.
Trinity finishes fantastic season
The Trinity Knights’ season was full of headlines. After an 0-3 start with just seven runs in that span, the Knights caught fire. Trinity won its next 18 games in a row, including two playoff victories.
The Knights defended their Heritage League title and finished undefeated in league play.
Trinity’s season ended in the CIF Division 6 quarterfinals, where the team fell to the Bloomington Bruins. The Knights’ bats started hot and chased Bruins starter Andrew Tejeda off the mound in the second inning. However, Trinity couldn’t get back into rhythm against Andrew Martin in relief, and compiled just one hit against the reliever.
Rocco Izzo, Gabe Chavez, Anderson Howell and Luke Backes all collected hits for Trinity. The four also recently earned all-league honors in the Heritage League.
Sophomore John Carlson gave it everything he had and held the Knights’ lead during his 5.2-inning, one-hit and nine-strikeout performance.
Carlson was named Heritage League Offensive Player of the Year while teammate Noah Visconti was named Defensive Player of the Year. Visconti was also named in the Division 6 all-CIF selections.
Visconti led a group of six Knights hitting above .400 with 28 hits, a .452 average and only striking out four times all year. The sophomore also went 7-0 on the mound with a 1.51 ERA.
Carlson completed the season 6-0 on the bump, leading the team with 79 strikeouts. He also led the offense with 10 doubles and batted .419.
The Knights will graduate five seniors, all vital to Trinity’s success this season. However, the program remains on the rise with Carlson and Visconti headlining a big group of returners for 2024.
West Ranch reaches CIF quarterfinals
The Wildcats took a leap in 2023. West Ranch High School’s season reached the CIF quarterfinals, where the Cats fell by just one run to the eventual CIF Division 2 runner-up South Hills.
West Ranch compiled a 22-8 record, their most wins in four years.
Senior Ty DePerno led West Ranch with 35 hits and four homers this season, earning him all-league and all-CIF honors.
The team will graduate another class full of collegiate athletes. DePerno will continue his career at Navy, Bret Potter and Shane Buchbinder are committed to Lewis & Clark College, Matt Lloyd and Ryan Shalkevich will both head to The Master’s University and Drew Greenberg heads up to Ohlone.
Junior Aiden Buntich will return in 2024 along with Mikey Murr, Nolan Stoll and Landon Hu. Buntich led all Wildcats with a .394 batting average while the other three all hit over .320 on the year.
While most of the relievers will graduate, the team will also return its stacked starters on the hill. CSUN commit Jackson Banuelos and USC commit Ben Cushnie both will return to West Ranch for their senior years, along with promising junior-to-be Hunter Manning.
Valencia retakes Foothill League crown
The Foothill League baseball awards didn’t raise many eyebrows this season. Ricky Ojeda being named Pitcher of the Year, while Lance Mittelman picked up a Player of the Year award, was to the surprise of few. The pair’s success this season was integral to Valencia High School retaking the Foothill League crown for the first time in four years.
Ojeda, a UC Irvine commit, finished the season 8-2, with an 0.53 ERA, 89 strikeouts and a perfect game against Taft.
Mittelman didn’t miss much at the plate. The San Francisco University commit batted .452 with 12 doubles. Mittelman also shined on the mound, going 4-1 with a 1.97 ERA over six starts.
Valencia shined at the plate as usual, with standout years from seniors Zach Andrews, Evan Jaquez and Abe Shelofsky. All three picked up all-league honors for the Vikes.
Second-year skipper Brad Meza now joins an exclusive club, as he has now won Foothill League titles as both a player and coach.
Valencia will also send off Matthew Sherwood to Pacific Lutheran baseball, Phil Jeong to Cal Lutheran and Jacob Mallut to Salem. The Vikings will graduate a stellar class of 12 seniors but retain plenty of weapons. Aiden Voyles, Will Verlaque and Noah Jaquez will all return for 2024.
Hart falls just short of monumental upset
The Hart High School Indians were just one run away from upsetting the No. 1 Notre Dame Knights. The star pitching duo of Troy Cooper and Chris Downs gave their all and held the Knights to their lowest-scoring output of the season.
Hart just couldn’t find any rhythm at the plate and fell, 1-0. Coach Jim Ozella led the youngest team he’s ever had into the Division 1 playoffs and nearly shocked the baseball world.
The team now graduates a small but talented senior class. The senior Downs will continue to play at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he’ll be joined by Cooper in 2025. First baseman and lefty pitcher Sean Elsee is committed to Occidental while Mikey Rogozik will continue his baseball career at La Verne.
The Indians have a lot to look forward to in 2024. Michigan commit Brayden Jefferis and catcher Ryan De La Maza will return for their senior seasons. The two have been vital to the Hart offense and will lead the 2024 team flooded with returners.
Jefferis picked up his third straight first-team all-league award, while Cooper also took home first-team honors. Downs, Rogozik and junior Cole Nguyen were also named in the all-league honors.
Golden Valley makes huge strides
The Grizzlies had a revitalizing season for the program and were a surprising snub from the CIF Division 6 playoffs. Golden Valley High School met the criteria for an at-large bid but just missed the cut to extend its season into May.
The squad nearly went over .500, completing the year 14-14, its first non-losing season in 13 years.
The Grizzlies ended the year ranked 18th in MaxPreps’ Division 6 rankings. The team’s strength of schedule rating of 6.1 was the third highest in the top 25, and this is after the postseason, with playoff teams extending that rating.
Head coach Adrian Rios will send another set of seniors into collegiate play as shortstop Wyatt Crosby heads to Cal Lutheran and Sam Estrella is committed to Arizona Christian. Crosby was the catalyst all year, batting .430, while Estrella also finished hot at .310.
Key returners in 2024 will be Ace Jack Steidl alongside Brayden Brewer and Tyler Tait, returning for their senior seasons.
Rios has the program on the rise and hopes contending for a Foothill League title is on the horizon.
Saugus already working for 2024
2023 didn’t go the way the Centurions imagined but it’s already miles behind the team.
Saugus High School missed the playoffs for the first time in six years but is already retooling in the VIBL over summer.
The Cents will graduate another big senior class, highlighted by Zach Plasschaert, Erik Polanco, Justin Rankin and TJ Cataldi. Plasschaert will continue to play at Arizona, while Polanco heads to Angelo State. Rankin, Plasschaert and Cataldi led the team with 22 hits while Cataldi had a stellar athletic senior year, leading Saugus from the mound, at the plate and on the gridiron as the Centurion quarterback.
Head coach Carl Grissom has some exciting young players returning as Saugus will look to keep its year away from the playoffs as a quick hiatus. 2024 seniors Jason Zepeda, Luke Lemmond and Derek Hughes will likely take leadership roles with Saugus next year while current freshman Matt Carta and Parker Allman have long varsity careers ahead of them.
Canyon program on the rise
The Cowboys took some lumps this year but were hardly down and out, as 13 of the team’s 23 losses were by four runs or less.
Senior Pablo Rodriguez capped off his incredible four-year varsity career with a strong year at the plate, in the outfield and on the mound. Rodriguez led the team in strikeouts on the mound while batting .311 just behind the team-high Elijah Valentin, who batted .364. Canyon High School will also graduate Jacob Mourthi and Austin Hernandez, two other formidable hitters, but the future is still looking bright for first-year head coach Zachary Newman.
Rodriguez has consistently shined athletically and academically, and will continue both paths at Yale. Valentin will be a big pickup for Santa Barbara City College.
Newman was the third coach in four years for the program and will prepare to continue elevating the team in 2024.
The Cowboys will return talented hitters in Tsukasa Ozaki, Daniel Montero and Benny Santos. Ozaki led the team with a .312 batting average in 2023 league play. Two-way stars Warren Goenner and freshman Brody Bayliss will also return, filling some big holes for Newman.
The Fab-nine hit and shine at SCCS
Santa Clarita Christian School baseball had an incredible season, all things considered. The Cardinals’ team of nine players, with no seniors, ended the year 9-9-1, and went undefeated until mid-March. The team completed its best season in six years and has the chance to build something special.
Four players hit above .360 at the plate, including sophomore Wyatt Waldron Jr., who finished the year batting .492. The team will return all nine players, with quality bats from Wyatt Shields, Cayden Rappleye and Noah Orefice.
Coach Wyatt Waldron Sr. will lead the team again in 2024, in hopes for another positive season with hopefully a player turnout in double digits.
All-League Selections
Foothill League Player of the Year: Lance Mittelman, senior, Valencia
Foothill League Pitcher of the Year: Ricky Ojeda, senior, Valencia
First Team
Pablo Rodriguez, senior, Canyon
Kyler Freude, senior, Castaic
Joji Sakata, senior, Castaic
Aaron Gonzalez, senior, Castaic
Wyatt Crosby, senior, Golden Valley
Brayden Jefferis, junior, Hart
Troy Cooper, junior, Hart
Zach Plasschaert, senior, Saugus
Evan Jaquez, senior, Valencia
Aidan Buntich, junior, West Ranch
Ty DePerno, senior, West Ranch
Second Team
Elijah Valentin, senior, Canyon
Tyler Hawn, junior, Castaic
Jesse Alcaraz Jr., senior, Golden Valley
Chris Downs, senior, Hart
Mike Rogozik, senior, Hart
Justin Rankin, senior, Saugus
Matthew Sherwood, senior, Valencia
Zach Andrews, senior, Valencia
Abe Shelofsky, senior, Valencia
Ben Cushnie, junior, West Ranch
Matthew Lloyd, senior, West Ranch
Honorable Mention
Austin Hernandez, senior, Canyon
Jacob Bond, senior, Castaic
Jack Steidl, junior, Golden Valley
Cole Nguyen, junior, Hart
Trevor Dockery, senior, Saugus
Noah Jaquez, sophomore, Valencia
Bret Potter, senior, West Ranch
Heritage League Offensive Player of the Year: John Carlson, sophomore, Trinity
Heritage League Defensive Player of the Year: Noah Visconti, sophomore, Trinity
Heritage League First Team
Brandon Chase, senior, Trinity
Rocco Izzo, senior, Trinity
Gabe Chavez, senior, Trinity
Sam Robertson, senior, Trinity
Second Team
Lucas Backes, sophomore, Trinity
Anderson Howell, senior, Trinity
Andrew Kelly, sophomore, Trinity
Wyatt Waldron, sophomore, SCCS
All-CIF
Division 2 All-CIF
Ty DePerno, senior, West Ranch
Division 6 Player of the Year – Joji Sakata, senior, Castaic
Division 6 All-CIF
Aaron Gonzalez, senior, Castaic
Kyler Freude, senior, Castaic,
Noah Visconti, sophomore, Trinity
