The high school baseball season got underway on Feb. 17, and Daily News teams are hitting the ground running. Here are 10 competitive teams, in alphabetical order, to watch this season.
BIRMINGHAM
The Patriots have beaten Santa Paula and Westlake and have one narrow loss to Valencia — a 3-2 loss in their season opener. All-City pitcher Michael Figueroa as well as All-City infielders Jay B Dalumpines and Trevor Postman have graduated, leaving space for up-and-coming players like Carlos Acuna.
Acuna gave up one hit and one run while recording eight strikeouts in five innings of work in a 4-1 win over Westlake.
CALABASAS
Harvard commit Matthew Witkow went 6 for 6 with two home runs in the Coyotes’ first two games of the season against Santa Paula and Valencia. AJ Seidel, Jack Quirk and Nathan Rosenfeld provide additional help in the top of the batting order.
If offense like this catches on, Calabasas could be eyeing its first Marmonte League title since the Coyotes shared one with Oaks Christian in 2023.
CHAMINADE
Eli Stephens and Jackson Schroeder are two of the Eagles’ top arms this season and they have Chaminade starting the season on a three-game win streak. Stephen has recorded six strikeouts in four innings and Schroeder has five strikeouts in three innings. Neither has given up a hit or run. There is also overall depth in the bullpen that could get them far.
Stephens and Drew Kostich are tied for the most RBIs with four and nine players have logged at least one hit in three games.
HART
Brad Meza is Hart’s first new head coach in 25 years after Jim Ozella retired at the end of last season. The Hawks won a CIF-SS championship last season in dramatic fashion but start fresh this season with plenty of baseball-football dual-sport athletes like Ryder Frithsmith, Matix Frithsmith and Zach Rogozik on the roster.
Ryder Frithsmith is hitting .429 with three hits across three games and Anthony Cavarretta is hitting .429 with three hits, three runs and a triple.
HARVARD-WESTLAKE
The Wolverines have won the first two games of the season against Cypress and Gahr — both by scores of 1-0. They will have to find the right pitching combination after losing Duncan Marsten, Bryce Rainer and Tommy Bridges to graduation.
Sophomore Justin Kirchner, junior Jake Chung, sophomore James Venick, senior Miguel Villegas and junior Evan Alexander have all thrown at least one inning in the opening two games.
NOTRE DAME
Levi Sterling has graduated but the Knights return plenty of talent this season. Catcher Jacob Madrid has the second-best pop time in the state at 1.90 seconds, according to Prep Baseball CA, and the Long Beach State commit can reach up to 90 mph as a pitcher.
Right-handed pitcher Peter Jackson, a UC Santa Barbara commit, has a well-controlled fastball that reaches up to 89 miles per hour and a curveball up to 74 miles per hour.
OAKS CHRISTIAN
Former Pepperdine coach Rick Hirtensteiner has taken the reins at Oaks Christian this season and has the Lions out to a 2-1 start with the lone loss coming against West Ranch.
LSU commit Quentin Young has already hit a home run and junior Chad Rolison is hitting .429 with three hits, two runs, two RBI and a double in three games.
SIERRA CANYON
The Trailblazers have been waiting for their breakthrough Mission League season since joining in 2023. They’ve finished fourth out of eight teams in their first two seasons in the league.
Ethan Montes announced his commitment to Puget Sound on Feb. 23, two days after going 1 for 3 with an RBI in an 8-3 loss to Santa Margarita. He also came in for two scoreless innings of relief in a 3-0 win over Gahr to start the season. Sophomore righty Sean Parrow collected the win in that game with two hits and six strikeouts in five innings.
WESTLAKE
The Warriors could be unpredictable this season. They return senior shortstop Noah Stead, a Navy commit who hit .319 with 27 RBIs last season. Outfielder Mason Berlinger will be counted on and has some game experience from last season, while new pitcher/outfielder Caden Atkinson and second baseman Blake Miller will have big roles in their first seasons with the team.
WEST RANCH
The Wildcats are out to a 3-0 start this season with wins over La Cañada, Oaks Christian and Bishop Alemany. A slew of talented returners make up the roster, including Mikey Murr, who became the first player in program history to hit for the cycle last season.
Murr has struck out five hitters in 2 1/3 innings so far this season. Some of the top hitters include Miles Topping, who is hitting .333 with three RBIs and a home run, as well as Carter Friedrichson, who is batting .429 with three hits and two RBIs through the first two games of the season.