The first California prep player named in the 2020 MLB Draft at No. 17 in 1st round was Nick Yorke (left) from Archbishop Mitty of San Jose by the Boston Red Sox. At right is Riley Cooper, three-year pitching standout at Clovis North (Fresno). Cooper will pitch next at Arizona, which also is where Nick was headed until the draft. Photos: @ArizonaBaseball / Twitter.com.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, there just wasn’t close to the number of games that would have needed to be played to fairly select any sort of official 2020 Cal-Hi Sports All-State Teams for baseball this year. We still wanted to do something with an honor roll list of top seniors who have either enjoyed outstanding high school careers or who had started out 2020 especially well. We also reveal how our Mr. Baseball Player of the Year race was shaping up and how the MLB Draft might have shaken things up.
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Notes: This is an honor roll list for seniors only. Other player rankings are based on college potential and MLB Draft potential. This honor roll list does have some of those aspects, but each player also needed to have been quite productive for their high school teams. We have selected 40 seniors for a first team and 60 seniors for a second team.
Shortstop Thomas Saggese of Carlsbad was the only high school player from the CIF San Diego Section chosen in the much shorter five-round MLB Draft. He was selected in the fifth round by the Texas Rangers. He had signed to play in college at Pepperdine. Photo: thecoastnews.com.
FIRST TEAM CATCHERS
Emiliano Morales (La Mirada)
Kevin Parada (Loyola, Los Angeles)
Tyler Soderstrom (Turlock)
Daniel Susac (Jesuit, Carmichael)
FIRST TEAM PITCHERS
Isaac Ayon (Buchanan, Clovis)
Hunter Barnhart (St. Joseph, Santa Maria)
Jake Brooks (Fountain Valley)
Riley Cooper (Clovis North, Fresno)
Scott Ellis (Thousand Oaks)
Kyle Harrison (De La Salle, Concord)
Christian Rodriguez (Lutheran, Orange)
Joey Schott (St. Francis, MountainView)
FIRST TEAM INFIELD
Drew Bowser (Harvard-Westlake, Studio City)
Davis Dias (Acalanes, Lafayette)
Carter Graham (Chaminade, West Hills)
Ryan Jackson (Heritage, Brentwood)
Kyle Karros (Mira Costa, Manhattan Beach)
Sean McLeod (Ayala, Chino Hills)
Daylen Reyes (Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks)
Thomas Saggese (Carlsbad)
Kevin Sim (Torrey Pines, San Diego)
D’Andre Smith (San Dimas)
Milan Tolentino (Santa Margarita, Rancho SM)
Tommy Troy (Los Gatos)
Nick Yorke (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose)
Outfielder Petey Halpin played for three years at St. Francis of Mountain View, then transferred to Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach). He only got a few games in for the Mustangs, but that didn’t prevent the Cleveland Indians from selecting him in the third round (No. 95 overall) of the 2020 MLB Draft. Photo: Twitter.com.
FIRST TEAM OUTFIELD
Pete Crow-Armstrong (Harvard-Westlake, Studio City)
Chase Davis (Franklin, Elk Grove)
Isaiah Greene (Corona)
Petey Halpin (Mira Costa, Manhattan Beach)
Brett McCauley (Redondo, Redondo Beach)
Eddie Park (Valley Christian, San Jose)
Jake Vogel (Huntington Beach)
Carson Yates (Leland, San Jose)
FIRST TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE (Hitting/Pitching)
Lucas Gordon (Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks)
Jared Jones (La Mirada)
T.J. Nichols (Oakmont, Roseville)
Max Rajcic (Lutheran, Orange)
Jordan Thompson (Helix, La Mesa)
Emiliano Torres (Palm Desert)
Brett Wozniak (Cypress)
SECOND TEAM CATCHERS
Carson Blatnick (Oakmont, Roseville)
Kaleb Hatch (Mission Hills, San Marcos)
Austin Machado (La Costa Canyon, Carlsbad)
Landon Wallace (Roseville)
SECOND TEAM PITCHERS
Kris Anglin (Frontier, Bakersfield)
Christian Becerra (Madison, San Diego)
Cayden Castellanos (Vista Murrieta, Murrieta)
Michael DeHaro (La Mirada)
Caleb Dulay (Righetti, Santa Maria)
Carson Hamro (Rancho Buena Vista, Vista)
Preston Howey (Arcadia)
Joseph Ingrassia (Valhalla, El Cajon)
Wyatt Johnson (Kennedy, La Palma)
Matt McClure (Santa Margarita, Rancho SM)
Ivran Romero (Poway)
Paul Skenes of El Toro was one of the best senior catching prospects in Southern California and during his career also was an effective pitcher for the Chargers. He will next head to the Air Force Academy in Colorado. Photo: @eltorobaseball / Twitter.com.
SECOND TEAM INFIELD
Jordan Andrade (Yucaipa)
Vinnie Bachelier (Capital Christian, Sacramento)
Vince Bianchina (De La Salle, Concord)
Michael Brown (Vacaville)
Colby Canales (JSerra, San Juan Capistrano)
Emilio Corona (San Luis Obispo)
Garrett Forrester (Bella Vista, Fair Oaks)
Jack Grant (San Ramon Valley, Danville)
C.J. Hutton (Folsom)
Eugene Jeon (La Mirada)
Luca Martinez (San Marcos)
Brian McClellin (Vacaville)
Jack McGrew (Valley Christian, San Jose)
Jared Miller (Thousand Oaks)
Devyn Ornelas (Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks)
T.K. Parker (Granite Hills, El Cajon)
Zach Rodriguez (Vista Murrieta, Murrieta)
Nick Salas (Highland, Bakersfield)
Kai Saterstrom (Eastlake, Chula Vista)
SECOND TEAM OUTFIELD
Dustin Allen (Arcadia)
Chad Born (Lutheran, Orange)
Mac Dalena (San Joaquin Memorial, Fresno)
Isaiah Fajardo (Highland, Bakersfield)
Brady Kasper (Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo)
Brock Kleszcz (Valencia)
Charles McAdoo (De La Salle, Concord)
Mitchell Parker (Jesuit, Carmichael)
Blake Tweedt (Red Bluff)
Bryce Tweedt (Red Bluff)
Zavien Watson (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego)
SECOND TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE (Hitting/Pitching)
Matt Bardowell (Etiwanda)
Noah Beal (Clovis)
Cole Carrigg (Turlock)
Connor Charpiot (Maria Carrillo, Santa Rosa)
Treven Crowley (Hilmar)
Cristian Enriquez (Summit, Fontana)
Ben Grable (Flintridge Prep, La Canada)
Ixan Henderson (Clovis West, Fresno)
Nick Kresnak (Acalanes, Lafayette)
Diego Moran (Alhambra)
A.J. O’Neal (Dixon)
Hunter Otjen (Point Loma, San Diego)
Tyler Simmons (West Valley, Hemet)
Paul Skenes (El Toro, Lake Forest)
Nick Welch (Redwood, Larkspur)
La Mirada’s Jared Jones had the type of combo success as a pitcher and hitter that made him a leading candidate to be Mr. Baseball as a junior. Photo: Twitter.com.
WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN MR. BASEBALL STATE POY?
1. Max Rajcic (Lutheran, Orange)
Based on that one head-to-head matchup that did happen in 2020, Rajcic was in the lead for this year’s top individual honor in the state when the season shut down. He and his teammates got a big win vs. State Junior of the Year Jared Jones of La Mirada and he was doing something else that has always been a big difference for Mr. Baseball: he was hitting. Rajcic was 3-0 with 32 Ks in 22 innings and a 0.00 ERA as a pitcher. He was batting .353 with four RBI. He will play next at UCLA.
2. Jared Jones (La Mirada)
Sure, that was just one game for Jones and his team vs. Orange Lutheran. The Matadores still could have come back and won the CIF Southern Section Division I title. And based on an overall prep career, Jared would still probably rank as the state’s top honors candidate. He also was the State Sophomore of the Year for 2018. Prior to this season, Jared’s career totals were at .396 with 103 hits, seven homers, 21 doubles and 56 RBI as a batter. For pitching, it was 18-5 with 227 strikeouts in 163 innings and a 0.90 ERA. Jones was a second-round pick (No. 44 overall) in this year’s MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had signed a letter of intent with Texas, but is expected to sign with the Pirates.
3. Nick Yorke (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose)
Would Nick have been this high had he not been the highest California prep player chosen in this year’s MLB Draft? Maybe not, but he’s someone we’ve followed for four years since he was a freshman starter in one of the best leagues anywhere in the nation and he was even that league’s player of the year as a sophomore. It just didn’t seem like he was as highly regarded by scouts as guys like Jared Jones and Pete Crow-Armstrong (Harvard-Westlake). Instead, on draft day, he went highest among the California preps at No. 17 overall in the first round by the Boston Red Sox. He had gotten off to a hot start for the Monarchs as well and if they had potentially won the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division title with him continuing to shine, why couldn’t he have followed by being named Mr. Baseball? We’ll just never know.
Mark Tennis is the editor and publisher of Cal-Hi Sports. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
