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What We Saw: Week Five

March 20, 2023
Matt Monk/PBR CA Staff

New Episode LIVE now! - At The Yard Podcast

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The Week Five Power 25 rankings update saw some shuffling in the Top 10 along with multiple new entrants. After the games last week, there are sure to be more changes to the upcoming Week Six Power Rankings given the upsets, the comebacks, and the teams that continue to climb the rankings with what could be magical seasons as we approach the mid-way point in some sections. 

Our team was out in full force across the state of California to provide the best coverage of high school baseball available. What we saw will feature some of the top games covered by our team in addition to a recap of some formidable matchups throughout last week. You can catch up on how the Power 25 fared last week as a whole in our Weekly Review.

In this edition of What We Saw for Week Five of the CIF high school baseball season we got eyes on top teams, top uncommitted players, and teams climbing up rankings. 

Be sure to follow PBR California on Twitter and Instagram for videos/notes throughout the year.

What We Saw

POWER 25

No. 2 Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) vs No. 3 Harvard Westlake

These two top-five-ranked teams faced off in an anticipated three-game league series and Notre Dame came out on top in all three games. They won game one by a score of 2-1 off the back of the hitting of ‘23 OF Ryan Limerick (Cal) and ‘23 1B Madden Ocko (Fordham) in the first inning.

The pitching side was dominant with ‘23 RHP Justin Lee (UCLA) going six innings while only giving up three baserunners and one run while striking out eight. 

‘24 Levi Sterling (Texas) entered for the seventh and closed the door. 

 While he got the loss, ‘24 RHP Thomas Bridges (TCU) was dominant past the first inning.

Harvard Westlake’s one run came off the bat of ‘24 RHP/INF Bryce Rainer (Texas) with a one-run home run to his pull side off of the parking garage.

In game two Notre Dame had a late-game comeback putting up four runs in the last three innings to edge them over by a score of 6-3. The Series finale wrapped up on Friday with a 9-4 win in favor of Notre Dame bringing their record to 11-1 and knocking Harvard Westlake to 7-6.

No. 5 Santa Margarita vs. No. 10 JSerra

Santa Margarita stayed hot this week, taking two games of three against JSerra. Their play against top-ranked competition has seen them climb the rankings and more is in store after winning the series against the former state No. 1 right after sweeping the former No. 3 Orange Lutheran.

No. 7 Valley Christian (San Jose) vs Sacred Heart

‘24 OF Tatum Marsh (Stanford) hit a massive grand slam to put Valley Christian up for good 6-4.

 ‘23 SS PJ Moutzouridis (Cal Poly SLO) flashed leather in Valley Christian’s first league game.

‘25 LHP Quinten Marsh (Stanford) came in to close, striking out two in his inning of work to secure the league win. 

No. 14 St. Francis vs Bellarmine

This game was all Bellarmine as they upset St. Francis 5-1. Bellarmine had two bombs on the day, one coming from ‘24 OF Calem Filipek (Uncommitted) who launched a two-run bomb cementing the final score

St. Francis got one back off the bat of ‘23 OF Derek Giles (Uncommitted).

Besides the solo home run, St. Francis stood no chance against ‘24 RHP Wade Mountz (Arkanasas). Striking out 10+ in his dominant performance.

 

No. 4 De La Salle vs No. 17 Whitney

De La Salle was upset against Whitney after they failed to comeback after going down 6-0 after the fourth inning. De La Salle scratched back within one but were unable to draw even. On Whitney, ‘23 OF/INF Tyler Allen (Uncommitted), ‘24 MIF Jax Gimenez (Uncommitted), and ‘23 3B/1B Jonathan Vavak (Uncommitted) all turned in multiple hit performances. 

For De La Salle, ‘23 OF Tanner Griffith (Saint Mary’s) and ‘23 C/1B Connor Harrison (Uncommitted) both turned in good performances, Griffith had four hits and Harrison had three.

No. 7 Valley Christian (San Jose) vs No. 14 St. Francis (Mountain View)

Valley Christian beat St. Francis 6-1 with strong hitting performances from ‘24 OF Tatum Marsh (Stanford), ‘25 C/3B Jordan Ortiz (Uncommitted), and ‘23 OF Carmelo Rivera (Uncommitted).

‘23 RHP Michael Castaneda (Northern Kentucky) tossed a strong five innings of one-run ball and ‘25 OF/LHP Quinten Marsh (Stanford) closed out the game with two innings.

Elsewhere in California

The PBR team saw a great display from unranked teams this week from all over the state of California, let's take a closer look. 

No. 6 Corona had a walk-off win against league opponents Roosevelt with ‘24 OF Jaylen White (Uncommitted) driving in the winning run.

‘26 OF Anthony Murphy was all over the bases, going 2-2, with a sac fly and a walk in the seventh inning, scoring the winning run.

 

Santa Fe Christian vs Rancho Buena Vista

Santa Fe Christian had a great game as ‘23 MIF Dane Lee (Uncommitted) blasted a bomb and ‘24 OF Jack Haferkamp (UCSB) had a multihit game including a double. On the pitching side, ‘23 LHP Sage Sturgeon (Cal Lutheran) shoved for six innings with eight strikeouts while giving up only one run.

In Northern California, we saw some great talent on display from Valley Christian but also unranked teams who are popping up on radars.

Redwood vs San Marin

A highly anticipated MCAL matchup took place as Redwood played San Marin. Redwood ended up winning but high-impact moments, great hitting, and pitching were there for all spectators. San Marin gave up no earned runs but ended up losing 4-2.

‘23 1B Josh Martin (Uncommitted) gave San Marin a lead in the fifth inning with a two-out double.

After a four-run rally by Redwood, ‘24 C Cole Chamberlain (Texas) attempted to keep San Marin in the game with a two-out hit.

 Chamberlain also showed his chops behind the dish, gunning a player from behind the dish earlier in the game

‘24 3B/RHP Rex Solle (Uncommitted) closed the door, getting the final out after ‘23 LHP Rory Minty () was one out short of a complete game.

Solle showed out on the mound again, tossing a complete game 1 with 11 strikeouts and one run against MCAL opponents Tamalpais.

UPCOMING EVENTS

SHOWCASE STATE DATE LOCATION
Rising Stars ID: Inland Empire CA 04/16 Santiago High School
Rising Stars ID: Bay Area CA 04/23 College of San Mateo
SoCal Rising Stars Game CA 05/21 Cerritos College 
CA FUTURE GAMES TRYOUT CA 06/03 Fullerton College
NorCal ProCase CA 06/04 Chabot College - Hayward
SoCal-NV-AZ-ProCase CA 06/04 University of Southern California - Dedeaux Field
NorCal Rising Stars Game CA 06/06 Islanders Field (morning)
Team CA Future Games ID CA 06/06 Islanders Field (afternoon/early evening)
Bay Area State Gamess Open ID CA 06/14 College of San Mateo
OC State Games Open ID CA 07/11 Hart Park


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