Prep Rally: NFL draft should feature many local former high school stars
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. The NFL draft begins on Thursday, and it’s going to be an exciting time for several Southern California products.
The pride of Crenshaw
Photographer Robert S. Helfman captured photos of Daiyan Henley when he was a ball boy for Crenshaw High. He’d go on to be the Cougars’ starting quarterback, sign with Nevada and end up playing linebacker for Washington State. Now he’s ready to be taken in this week’s NFL draft.
“I’m very proud of him,” Crenshaw coach Robert Garrett said.
Henley was a ball boy from the time he was 8 years old. His athleticism made him a valuable high school player, so Garrett made him the quarterback.
“He had the mentality,” Garrett said. “He just wanted to play. In football, it doesn’t matter where they move you. It’s the opportunity to play. He has a great attitude.”
The first round on Thursday figures to see former local quarterbacks Bryce Young (Mater Dei) and CJ Stroud (Rancho Cucamonga) go off the board fast.
Where Henley goes remains to be seen. Henley’s quickness and instincts should be intriguing for clubs looking for versatile defensive players.
“Everybody likes him,” Garrett said in his 100% endorsement of Henley’s character and work ethic.
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Baseball
The Southern Section high school baseball playoffs begin next week. It’s a huge final week of the regular season for teams wanting to make the playoffs or win a league championship.
Gahr and La Mirada have been the top two teams in the new Gateway League all season and now they get to decide the league title with a three-game series beginning Tuesday at Gahr, followed by Wednesday at John Glenn and Friday at Gahr.
JSerra and Orange Lutheran were supposed to be the top two teams in the Trinity League. Instead, their three-game series this week could decide an automatic playoff berth, with the loser sweating it out to see if there are any at-large spots in Division 1. They are in a three-way tie for second with Mater Dei, which is seeking its first playoff spot since 2017.
Crespi and Harvard-Westlake play a three-game “parking lot” series to decide second place in the Mission League, starting Monday at O’Malley Field, Tuesday at Crespi’s Hartunian Field and Thursday at O’Malley. The fields are a short walk from each other in the Encino sports complex and share the same parking lot.
Cypress and Garden Grove Pacifica, the top two teams in the Empire League, have a two-game series starting Tuesday at Pacifica and ending Thursday at Cypress.
Arcadia and Crescenta Valley, both unbeaten in the Pacific League, have their annual two-game night series, with Arcadia hosting Tuesday and Crecenta Valley hosting Friday night at Stengel Field. Both games are 7 p.m.
Etiwanda and Damien will decide the Baseline League title with a three-game series that begins Monday at Damien, followed by Wednesday at Etiwanda and Friday at Damien.
The Marmonte League title will be on the line with Calabasas and Oaks Christiian meeting in a three-game series that begins on Monday at Oaks Christian.
One big development is the rise of Duncan Marsten for Harvard-Westlake. He missed last season after elbow surgery. He returned this season and came through with his best performance last week, striking out 12 in five innings with his fastball reaching 94 mph. It has enabled the Wolverines to move Bryce Rainer to the closer role. The Wolverines have won 10 consecutive games.
Cider Cannon of Maranatha hit five home runs last week. Conor Sunderland of Fullerton went five for five in a game and hit his sixth home run. He has 34 hits. Senior Nico Terenzi of Crescenta Valley is 9-1 this season after being dropped down to a three-quarters delivery style.
Here’s a story on Bonita coming through with Justin Santiago on the mound.
Here’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.
Honoring Ryan Times
For just a moment, when the players took the field, Loyola High left third base empty.
That was Ryan Times’ position. The beaming boy who said, according to teammate and best friend Griffin Salerno, any stranger was simply “someone he wasn’t friends with yet.” The fierce competitor who drew a forlorn smile from coach Keith Ramsey, remembering Times’ eagerness to bounce up on the mound in an 9-0 loss. That was Times’ spot when he was a Cub, a past tense that still feels impossible to shell-shocked friends and teammates, and Loyola wanted its community to just feel how much he meant.
So in warmups before Tuesday’s first inning against Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, they left third base empty. Shortstop Adam Magpoc jogged out to the dirt, a few yards away, and the void hit him.
He turned away from the infield for a moment, the emotions too much, knowing the kid he’d played next to for seven years in travel ball and high school was gone. He cried a bit.
Then he turned around and picked his head up.
“Because I know,” Magpoc said, “that’s what [Ryan] stood for.”
Times was struck by a train and died. He was 18.
Here’s how his former teammates and parents tried to honor him.
Speedster from Palisades
Small, compact and lightning fast, Amari Yolas of Palisades High is a three-sport standout defying stereotypes and proving athleticism works for any sport.
In football, he was receiver and cornerback who scored 12 touchdowns and made 33 solo tackles. In baseball, he’s a star center fielder batting .492 and hasn’t been caught stealing in 22 attempts. He also can pitch, with a fastball that approaches 90 mph. In track and field, he has run a 10.61-second 100 meters.
The balancing act he has pulled off was on display when he played a morning baseball game against Narbonne, collecting two hits, then ran the 100 meters at the South Bay championships in the evening, winning in 10.75 seconds.
Here’s a profile on the Cal State Northridge baseball recruit.
Softball
It was No. 1 vs. No. 2 on the softball diamond last week and No. 2 won. No. 1 Los Alamitos was beaten by No. 2 Huntington Beach 3-2. The two teams have a rematch on Monday. Zoe Prystrajko, a Stanford commit, struck out 15. Liah Lummus broke a 2-2 tie with a home run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Marshall coach Orquidea Labrador secured her 400th softball coaching victory in her 28th season.
Chino Hills shortstop Samatha Bland hit for the cycle in a win over Rancho Cucamonga, getting a home run, triple, double and single.
Sophomore Addison Moorman of Granada Hills struck out 15 in a 2-0 win over Birmingham.
Here’s the top 20 softball rankings from last week.
Track
League finals will be held this week in the Southern Section, with one of the best on Thursday at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, the Mission League finals.
Chase Farrell, a junior receiver at Oaks Christian, showed he’s getting faster and faster. He ran a 10.38 wind-legal 100 meters at the Ventura County championships, the second fastest time in the state and a school record. His teammate, freshman Deshonne Redeaux, ran 10.50.
Aaron Sahlman of Newbury Park ran 4:00.30 for a mile at a pro race at the Oregon Relays.
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Championship schedule
The City Section continues to finalize sites for its spring sports championships, with several still not confirmed but getting close.
The competitive cheer championships will be held April 29 at Lake Balboa Birmingham in two sessions on the football field.
The tennis finals will be May 2 and 4 at Balboa Park.
The lacrosse finals are May 3 at Palisades.
The swimming prelims and finals will be held May 6 at Valley College.
The volleyball championships will be held May 12 at Sotomayor Arts and Sciences Magnet and May 13 at Cal State Northridge.
The track and field prelims will be May 11 at Birmingham and the finals, soon to be finalized, will be May 18 at El Camino College.
The golf championships will be May 17 at Harding Golf Course.
The softball championships will be May 19 at Birmingham and May 20 at a site to be announced, with Cal State Dominguez Hills in the running.
The baseball championships will be May 26 at Stengel Field in Glendale and May 27 at Dodger Stadium.
Rick Herrington on the mend
Only a movie scriptwriter could come up with a scenario of a football coach, who works at a high school named Hart, needing a new heart to save his life.
It happened for Rick Herrington, the head coach at Newhall Hart who underwent heart transplant surgery a week ago at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and has been making progress since, according to his brother, Dean, who is the head coach at St. Francis.
“He’s a little drowsy,” Dean said Tuesday night. “He can talk. It’s going to be a long recovery but he’s ready to get after it.”
Rick, 63, had been hospitalized since early March while waiting for a donor match.
“People down at UCLA are awesome,” said brother Mike, the former head coach at Hart who has been handling the program in Rick’s absence. “Knock on wood, things are good. Hopefully he gets all his strength and gets better day by day.”
The Herringtons are a legendary family in the Santa Clarita Valley. They coached together at Hart when Mike was head coach, with Rick the defensive coordinator and Dean calling plays.
Rick loves to play golf, but Dean isn’t going to show any sympathy when they’re back on the course. Asked if Rick will be beating him, Dean said, “Ah, no.”
Going bold
Seeking only its third head football coach in 43 years, venerable, staid Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High called an audible in December.
Instead of making the hiring equivalent of a plunge between the tackles, Knights athletic director Alec Moss went deep.
He went young. He went bold.
With the blessing of an advisory committee of administrators, faculty, parents and alumni, Moss hired Evan Yabu, architect of a stunning turnaround at his alma mater, Thousand Oaks High, yet someone outside the proud, loyal and sometimes hidebound Notre Dame tribe.
A look at what Notre Dame is getting as spring practices begin.
Volleyball
The Southern Section boys’ volleyball playoff pairings were released Saturday. There’s pool play in Division 1 with lots of intriguing matchups. Loyola received the No. 1 seed and Newport Harbor No. 2.
Here’s the link to complete pairings. The championshps are May 13 at Cerritos College.
Loyola won the Redondo Union tournament championship on Saturday, defeating Mira Costa in the final. Here’s the report.
It was a big moment for Hart volleyball last week. The Indians went unbeaten in the Foothill League and won the league title for the first time in 30 years.
Newport Harbor is picking up momentum after winning the Karch Kiraly tournament in Santa Barbara. Luca Curci was named tournament MVP. L.A. University won the Sylmar tournament.
Taft won the City Section girls’ beach volleyball team title. Here’s the report.
Lacrosse
Santa Margarita won the Trinity League girls’ lacrosse championship with a 16-12 win over Mater Dei. Santa Margarita also upset No. 1 Mater Dei in boys’ lacrosse 12-11.
Redondo Union and Mira Costa resumed their lacrosse rivalry last week. Luca Evans was on had to report.
Sophomore Julia Guidry of Marlborough scored her 100th career goal in a match against Newport Harbor.
Golf
After weeks of rain, golfers are getting into shape preparing for the big tournaments of May.
Loyola showed off its form by winning the Mission League championship with a school-record 13-under-par at Soule Park in Ojai.
Will Redmon led the way with a 68, followed by freshman Carter Gaede with a 69.
The Southern Section individual regionals will take place May 8-9-10 at Bear Creek, Los Serranos and Los Robles.
The team championships are May 15 at Cross Creek, River Ridge, Sterling Hills, Los Serranos, Western Hills, Meadowlark and El Prado.
The Southern California individual finals are May 18 at Vineyard Course.
The regional state championships are May 24 at Los Serranos with the state finals May 31 at Poppy Hills.
Notes . . .
Pitcher JM Harduvel of Mater Dei has committed to Cal. . . .
Junior left-handed pitcher Ben Cushnie of West Ranch has committed to USC. . . .
The Southern Section Council voted to support the creation of team state championships for boys and girls tennis for 2023-24. . . .
Kat Thyer is the new girls’ volleyball coach at Campbell Hall. . . .
Sophomore pitcher Angel Cervantes of Warren has committed to UCLA. . . .
The Boras Classic championship baseball game scheduled for April 29 at Santa Clara University has been canceled. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame was scheduled to play Cardinal Newman but Notre Dame would have exceeded the 28-game regular-season limit and will forfeit. . . .
Pasadena La Salle has an opening for boys’ basketball coach after Brandon Lincoln stepped down. . . .
Defensive lineman T.A. Cunningham, who went to court to play football for Los Alamitos, has checked out of the school and moved to Florida.
Carlos Castillo is the new boys’ basketball coach at Corona Santiago. . . .
Sophomore Linkin Garcia of Huntington Beach has committed to Vanderbilt for baseball. . . .
Lucius Mills has been hired as the football coach at Canoga Park. . . .
Jena Laolagi is the new girls’ basketball coach at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. She has coached at Calabasas, Chaminade and Shalhevet in recent years. . . .
Lucas Mealy is the new football coach at La Mirada. He was the offensive coordinator at Orange. . . .
Mission Viejo offensive lineman Mark Schroller has committed to UCLA, where his father once blocked for the Bruins. He’s class of 2024.
From the archives: Roc Riggio
Former Thousand Oaks infielder Roc Riggio continues to be one of the best power hitters in college baseball as a sophomore at Oklahoma State.
He’s batting .336 with 12 home runs and 39 RBIs. Last season he was a freshman All-American. As a senior at Thousand Oaks, he helped lead the Lancers to a 29-1 record and hit 12 home runs.
He started the 2021 high school season by hitting a home run in each of the Lancers’ first five games.
Here’s a story from USABaseball.com on Riggio earlier this year.
Recommendations
From the Washington Post, a story on a two-way 6-foot-8 high school baseball standout.
From Cronkite News, a story on former El Camino Real softball standout Jordyn VanHook at Arizona State.
From Nola.com, a story on former El Toro pitcher Paul Skenes, who has become one of the top baseball prospects in the nation.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on how Harvard-Westlake’s Alyssa Thompson is changing women’s soccer.
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Until next time...
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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