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The 2024 California high school baseball season is quickly approaching and, as usual, excitement is abound throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across California.

Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in their respective CIF Section Championship Game, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams across the state as we preview individual teams across California. We will take you right up to first pitch this season with these team previews, eventually releasing our Preseason Power 25 rankings that’ll carry us into the opening week of action and the Third Annual Prep Baseball California Spring Invitational.

Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across California. Each week we will be releasing our Power 25, Players of the Week, Diamond Notes, Podcasts and much more.

Our 2024 preseason coverage continues today.

High School: Arcadia Apaches
Head Coach: Nick Lemas
CIF Section: CIF-SS, Division 1
Conference League: Pacific League
2023 Record: 20-5
Team X Handle: @ArcadiaBaseball

Team Strengths: Pitching. Fernando Palencia and Gabriel Lopez will lead us and we have some younger arms behind them that should be able to back them up.
No. of Returning Starters: 5
No. of Returning Pitchers: 2
Areas of Improvement: We're going to need to get better at the plate, especially against good arms.

 

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COMMITTED PLAYERS

+ ‘24 RHP/INF Fernando Palencia - San Diego - 5’10 170 lbs.
+ ‘24 LHP Gabriel Lopez - Cal State Dominguez Hills - 5’10 165 lbs.

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TOP UNCOMMITTED SENIORS

+ ‘24 OF Jerry Carlos
+ ‘24 RHP Brett Rizzo
+ ‘24 INF Roman Cicero

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TOP UNCOMMITTED JUNIORS

+ ‘25 OF Avery Truesdale - 6’2 195 lbs.
+ ‘25 1B/OF/LHP Leo Peniche
+ ‘25 LHP Gus Cooper

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TOP UNDERCLASS FOLLOWS

Class of 2026

+ ‘26 LHP/1B Damian Catano
+ ‘26 UTIL Evan Skinner
+ ‘26 OF/LHP Tyler Swilling
+ ‘26 INF Isaiah Spencer

Class of 2027

+ ‘27 INF Jordan Vogel

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TEAM OUTLOOK

On the mound, ‘24 Fernando Palencia and ‘24 Gabriel Lopez will pace the Apaches rotation. Palenica returns 1.59 ERA in 15 appearances last season and also a .481 batting average, too. As for Lopez, he pitched to a 1.87 ERA in 13 appearances and will be looking to do more of the same in 2024. Fellow senior returners on this Arcadia roster include ‘24 Jerry Carlos and ‘24 Roman Cicero.

There are also a number of experienced juniors that are set to take on even bigger roles in 2024. Amongst those, ‘25 Avery Truesdale batted to an average .3357 last season which included 15 RBIs, too. Southpaws ‘25 Leo Peniche and ‘25 Gus Cooper are set to make an impact on the mound, with Peniche also contributing on the offensive side of things.

As for underclassmen, both ‘26 Damian Catano and ‘26 Isaiah Spencer earned some valuable varsity experience last season and will most definitely take on a larger work load during their sophomore campaigns. Fellow sophomores, ‘26 Evan Skinner and ‘26 Tyler Swilling are both set to contribute during their first years at the varsity level, too. One freshman to note on this roster is ‘27 Jordan Vogel, who will most likely start for the Apaches up-the-middle, according to Coach Lemas, who certainly seems excited to watch Vogel progress over his prep career.

Coach Nick Lemas’s Expectations: “We have some experience and talent on the mound but youth and inexperience at the plate and on defense. I expect our pitching to keep us in games but we are going to have to step up with our bats and gloves if we're going to be competitive against the top teams.”

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