San Diego Scout Notebook: 3/4 - 3/16
March 18, 2024
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SAN DIEGO, CALIF. - Rain and schedule changes affected San Diego and the entire state. Multiple games were bounced to Saturday (3/9), and fields were switched or games postponed altogether. Because of that and our Spring Invitational final on Friday (3/8), we couldn’t make it out to as many games as we wanted. This results in this notebook spanning two weeks where we saw seven games that had an astounding combined 12 home runs.
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No. 12 Patrick Henry vs. Torrey Pines
Torrey Pines shut out our #3 in San Diego on Monday by a score of 6-0, handing Patrick Henry its first loss. Strong pitching, defense and hitting from Torrey Pines got the job done.
‘24 RHP/INF Peyton Rodgers - Rodgers tossed a strong outing, going six innings only allowing 2 hits and no walks, and striking out six. Fluid and repeatable motion with fast arm speed. The slider comes out of the hand very well. It could be described as a sweeper with lateral and vertical movement. It was used effectively against both RHH and LHH. The Fastball played well at the top of the zone and played well with the slider coming out of the same slot. He also helped the offensive effort with three hits, and two hard singles up the middle cashing in on two RBIs. It’s a simple approach with good bat-to-ball.
‘25 OF Aidan Stroot - Stroot got a fastball in the zone and crushed a home run to deep LCF. This broke the 0-0 tie in the fourth inning. This ball got out in a hurry and was a game-changer for Torrey Pines.
‘26 C Dolen Maher - Maher went 1-3 with a clean line drive to RF. Simple and fluid motion, guiding the barrel to the ball. Tight swing axis with good hand speed, Maher will continue to be a top ‘26 catcher coming out of San Diego.
‘26 OF Alex Mestman - Mestman continues to be a consistent contributor to the PH offense. He brings a contact-first approach and has shown an easy way to get the barrel on the ball. Another big part of his game is his speed, translating on the basepaths and holding down centerfield. In game, he knocked a single on a slider left in the zone and subsequently stole second base.
No. 7 La Costa Canyon vs. No. 6 Cathedral Catholic
This was a primetime matchup for San Diego high school baseball. The game took place on 3/9 at Cathedral Catholic and was a pitching duel featuring two D1 arms.
‘24 RHP Trey Telfer (Indiana) - Telfer was out on the mound and competed for five innings. He may have not had his best stuff, but he still held a WHIP of 1.0. He finished the day throwing 76 pitches, striking out four. His fastball was at 88-90 mph with a slider (77 mph) with subtle lateral movement, a good diving curveball (70 mph) that was used as a chase pitch down and an arm-side fading changeup (83 mph).
‘24 RHP Stunner Gonzalez (LSU) - Gonzalez may have also not had his best stuff or velocity but like Telfer, he battled for five scoreless innings. Gonzalez gave up two hits and five walks on 82 pitches while striking out five. The curveball (74 mph) moves extremely well and was spotted throughout and below the zone. The fastball was at 87-90 mph topping at 91. The changeup (80-82 mph) had fading movement to the arm side and kept batters out in front with a similar arm release angle.
‘24 C Michael Podstreleny (UC Irvine) - It was my first time seeing Podstreleny behind the plate and he did not disappoint. Besides navigating through a shutout, Podstreleny back-picked a runner and threw out a runner attempting to steal second base. In the sixth inning, he started it off with a double into LCF and eventually came around to score in the 3-run spot that won Cathedral Catholic the game.
‘26 SS Alex Harrington (Stanford) - The #1 player in California in the 2026 class came through big for Cathedral Catholic in the previously mentioned sixth inning. He drove in the second run with a hard groundball through the six-hole. Patient and balanced in the box, keep the weight off the front foot before contact and adjust well to offspeed.
Point Loma vs. La Jolla Country Day
‘25 INF Branden Keeling - Keeling extended PL’s lead in the T4 before a six spot from LJCD in the bottom of the inning. He did this via a home run to centerfield, just getting over the fence. Good rhythmic toe tap and compact swing.
‘25 OF Jackson Norum - Norum has continued to impress with his strong start to the season. Each time we have seen him it has been hard line drive and ground ball contact with good athleticism and defense in the field. There’s plenty of strength in the swing that translates into the hard-hit balls. In Wednesday’s contest, it was more of the same, a hard groundball off another D1 arm. On the season he has six hits in 20 at bats.
‘24 SS Jack Circuit (BYU) - Circuit launched a no-doubt grand slam over the wall in RCF. He caught a pitch at the top of the zone and was on time. Present lift in the swing with some power, 2 HRs and 2 doubles on the season so far.
Eastlake vs. Granite Hills
This was a great matchup between two really good teams in San Diego. It was a high-octane shootout with big-time clutch contributions on both sides. There ended up being 24 total hits with the game ending via walkoff in the bottom of the seventh inning with a score of 8-7.
‘25 INF Tommy Entrekin (Cal Baptist) - Entrekin started off the game loud for Granite Hills, pulling a ball out in RCF to lead off the first inning for Granite Hills. They continued to tack on two more in the first. When Entrekin came back up to the plate he roped a double to LCF. Strong contact in multiple at-bats, quick trigger from his load. Seems to fall out of the box as a result of rolling on his front foot from his weight transfer.
‘25 SS Brenden Lewis (Arizona St.) - Lewis went 2-4 with two singles and the walk-off sac-fly in the bottom of the seventh inning. In his first at-bat, he got the barrel to the outer edge of the zone to square up a fastball back up the middle. His other hit came on a curveball from a LHP, reaching out and getting it through the left side of the infield. He moves well on the basepaths and is coordinated in the field.
‘25 INF Kalani Jauregui (SDSU) - Jauregui drove in Eastlake's first run on a laced double in the LCF gap. He got a fastball in the zone and jumped on it. Got the barrel on plane fast and efficiently from the load with good lift.
‘25 OF Parker Vance (TCU) - The TCU commit was 2-4 on the day with a single through the right side of the infield and a loud double that one hopped the fence in LCF. Fast hands and bat speed that punished a FB left in the middle of the zone.
‘25 OF Angel Laya (Oregon) - Laya went 2-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. A relaxed and calm stance that generates plenty of pop with a whippy load and release. He demonstrated good barrel control and lift taking a center cut fastball off the wall in CF.
Calexico vs. Maranatha Christian
There was a total of five home runs in this game. Maranatha does have some short fences but with tall nets and the fact that 4/5 of the HRs were well over the nets it's safe to say that they’d get out at most fields.
‘24 Andres Ontiveros - Ontiveros opened Calexico’s first inning by punishing a hanging breaking ball. This ball was long gone. He showcased a calm and relaxed presence in the box and didn’t try and over-pull the ball. He sat back, let his frame and strength do the work and delivered a barrel. He repeated the action with another hanging curveball to give him two home runs on the day.
‘26 RHP/OF Jose Ortega - Ortega was a big standout at the SoCal Preseason All-State: Underclass in January. He stood out because of his ridiculous hitting performance and high-upside pitching. In this game, he didn’t get much to hit with two walks and facing a lot of offspeed but the 101+ exit velos with a 94.8 mph average will certainly translate. On the mound, Ortega started off at 84-85 mph before settling in at 82-84 mph for his extended start. It’s a highly flexible and whipping arm action coming at a deceptive 3/4 slot with plenty of arm side up. When used correctly it can trick hitters when thrown in on the hands or on the outer edge. Add a sweeping slider (73-76 mph) with insane horizontal movement and its a deadly combo to RHH. He ran into some issues leaving SL over the plate but the development of a CH/SPL to deploy against LHH and more experience will make Ortega a premium two-way. The bat has shown the flashes that it’s already there and with time the whole product can drastically improve for the ‘26.
‘24 C/3B Zeke Smith - Smith had by far the best day at the plate, 4-4 with two home runs, two singles and six RBIs. He leveled the game with a line drive single to LF in the first inning, showing good hands and adjustments to handle an inside fastball. He took front foot SL that hung over the plate and got it more out in front to get it clear of the LF wall for a 3-run home run. He left the yard for his second time getting a knee-high fastball out over the LF wall.
‘24 1B/LHP Levi Ham (PLNU) - Ham launched a home run deep over the RF wall off a hanging SL. Easy patience and weight control with his front foot down and delivered a massive shot. Ham also got onto the mound, running his fastball up to 87 mph from the left side.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Showcase | State | Date | Location |
Rising Stars ID: San Diego | CA | 03/24 | Eastlake High School |
Rising Stars ID: Corona | CA | 03/30 | Corona High School |
Rising Stars ID: VTA County | CA | 04/21 | Thousand Oaks High School |
SoCal Rising Stars Game | CA | 05/12 | Mater Dei High School |
FUTURE GAMES TRYOUT: Orange County | CA | 06/01 | Fullerton College |
FUTURE GAMES TRYOUT: Ventura County | CA | 06/09 | Westmont College |
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- CA Uncommitted Spotlight: '26 LHP Brayden Charness 8/07/24
- CA Uncommitted Spotlight: '26 RHP/1B Jacob Oropeza 8/06/24
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