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High School  | General  | 12/27/2019

Year in Review: High School

Vincent Cervino     
Photo: Bobby Witt Jr (Colleyville Heritage baseball)

Year in Review: PG Events | College | MLB Draft

PG HS Players of the Year | National HS Top 50


Florida Burn Go Back-to-Back

The Florida Burn once again pulled off the stunners in Jupiter this October as the program won their second consecutive WWBA World Championship title. The Burn program has solidified themselves as one of the best teams in the country and a number of their well-regarded players come from the top programs in the Tampa area.

Local powerhouses such as Calvary Christian, Venice Senior and Alonso makeup this roster and that includes the tournament MVP Mac Guscette (Venice) and perhaps the biggest hit of the tournament in Vince Smith’s (Calvary) walk-off home run in the semifinals. A number of Tampa area programs will be watched closely next high school season and the Burn gave the world a sneak peak into how competitive the scene is in Tampa baseball.

PG HS Showdown Continues in Hoover

In an event that continues to be a must-see show for spectators, evaluators and pro scouts, the PG HS Showdown was spectacular again in 2019 with the event calling the Hoover Met Complex home for the first time. IMG Academy secured the championship in the Blue bracket while Loganville and Buford were named co-champs of the Red bracket.

The Blue bracket featured a wildly impressive game between then No. 1 IMG and Blessed Trinity, a mainstay in the rankings for the past couple of years who were also ranked within the top five at the time of the Showdown. IMG was loaded with talent that included three Day 1 picks on their roster in Brennan Malone (1st, Diamondbacks), Rece Hinds (2nd, Reds), and Kendall Williams (2nd, Blue Jays). Blessed Trinity was led by the No. 3 overall pick in CJ Abrams (Padres) who certainly had a strong showing of his own.

The rest of the bracket was loaded with talent and the Academies portion of the Showdown featured a loud performance by eventual Indians first-round pick Daniel Espino. There were even glimpses at the upcoming draft classes in strong showings by eventual PG All-Americans Blaze Jordan and Will Sanders. The HS Showdown is one of the premier events during the spring and the 2020 edition of the tournament should be the best yet.

JSerra Defends Boras Classic Title

The crown jewel of the West, the Boras Classic has become a top event for draft prospects and quality high school teams throughout both California and the Southwest. JSerra once again captured the Southern portion of the bracket in late March while they went on to defeat Archbishop Mitty later on in the spring to be crowned California champions once again.

The Lions were not short on talent led by the up-the-middle duo of Michael Curialle and Cody Schrier while underclassmen Luke Jewett and Gage Jump look to be impact arms in the 2021 class. The talent was once again loud, highlighted by draft picks such as Joseph Naranjo (3rd round, Indians), Cody Freeman (4th, Rangers) and Garrett Frechette (5th, Giants). The 2020 class was also well-represented during the week with a number of high-level talents for this upcoming draft led by La Mirada flamethrower Jared Jones, PG’s National Two-Way Player of the Year.

Three-Peat for OLu in Cary

The Orange Lutheran Lancers completed an unprecedented feat by winning their third consecutive championship at the National High School Invitational this April. Coach Eric Borba’s squad always performs on the big stage and 2019 was no exception as this was one of the more complete Orange Lutheran teams in recent memory.

Armed with talent across the board, the offense was paced by PG All-American Garrett Frechette, Jasiah Dixon and eventual tournament MVP Caden Connor. The pitching was stout as ever led by underclassmen Max Rajcic and Christian Rodriguez while Evan Adolphus was arguably throwing some of the most important innings for the team.

In addition to the Lancers, IMG Academy put its draft talent on display while other big names such as the Delbarton duo of Jack Leiter and Anthony Volpe (1st, Yankees) also showed out in big ways. Riley Greene (1st, Tigers) also had a big weekend for Hagerty High while the 2020 class was well-represented with the aforementioned Jones along with perhaps the most talented duo heading into next season in Harvard-Westlake’s Pete Crow-Armstrong and Drew Bowser.

Two Texas Sluggers Pace MLB Draft

The story of the spring in the Lone Star State was the duel between Colleyville Heritage’s Bobby Witt Jr and Lake Travis’ Brett Baty, as both players put up unbelievable stats during the spring. Both prospects were eventual first-round selections – Witt to the Royals at No. 2 overall and Baty to the Mets at No. 13 – while the gaudy numbers were thrilling to keep up with on a week-to-week basis. Witt eventually edged out Baty to be named Perfect Game’s National High School Player of the Year.

Both players finished well above .500 in terms of batting average with double-digit home runs and deep playoff runs to boot. Witt and Colleyville Heritage were one of the premier teams throughout the season and finished with a state championship and the No. 4 ranking in the final edition of the HS Top 50. Both Witt and Baty were electric players to watch in the spring and there’s a good chance they’ll be on TV screens everywhere in a couple of years, hopefully competing against each other once again.

Cypress Survives SoCal Gauntlet

The No. 1 team in the final edition of the HS Top 50 was Cypress (Calif.) who captured the CIF Southern Section title and had to go through some impressive teams to do so. They had to go through previously ranked schools and regional powers such as Orange Lutheran, Huntington Beach, Yucaipa, La Mirada, and Ayala which is a grueling schedule, especially for postseason play.

Two-way player Cameron Repetti was absolute nails for the Centurions, pitching very well and hitting in the middle of the order throughout the state playoffs. Cypress also got notable contributions from the senior class as well as from freshman and 2018 14u PG Select Festival participant Luke Davis.

The rest of the top 10 rounded out as follows: No. 2 Argyle (Texas), No. 3 IMG Academy (Fla.), No. 4 Colleyville Heritage (Texas), No. 5 Blanchard (Okla.), No. 6 De La Salle (Calif.), No. 7 DeSoto Central (Miss.), No. 8 Alfred M. Barbe (La.), No. 9 Parkview (Ga.) and No. 10 Farragut (Tenn.).

Preseason Top 10 in Hindsight

The Preseason HS Top 10 got a lot right as only two teams named in the top 10 to start the season finished unranked with four of the top 10 claiming state championships. Argyle (Texas) was the preseason No. 1 and only lost one game, along with a tie, to finish as the national runner-up for 2019. IMG Academy (Fla.) started at No. 2 and dropped all the way to No. 3 with a dominant season, however they do not compete for a state championship.

No. 4 Orange Lutheran (Calif.), No. 5 Blessed Trinity (Ga.) and No. 8 Calvary Christian Academy (Fla.) all slipped up in the state playoffs but made it deep enough and played competitively enough to remain in the Top 50 on the final iteration. No. 6 Valley Christian Schools (Calif.) and No. 7 Westmoore (Okla.) both finished unranked; No. 9 DeSoto Central (Miss.) and No. 10 (Delbarton) were both able to remain in the final Top 15 as they captured state championships in the process.
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