2024 Preseason Preview: La Jolla Country Day

January 27, 2024
By: Isaiah Glidden
Staff Writer

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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: La Jolla Country Day Torreys
Head Coach: John Edman
CIF Section: CIF-SDS, Division 1
Conference League: Coastal Conference
2023 Record: 19-10
Team X Handle: @TorreyBaseball

Team Strengths: Scoring runs.
No. of Returning Starters: 5
No. of Returning Pitchers: 4
Areas of Improvement: Pitching/Catching

COMMITTED PLAYERS

+ ‘24 INF Will Stickney - USC - 6’1 185 lbs.
+ ‘24 OF Matthew Priest - USC - 6’0 185 lbs.
+ ‘24 INF Jack Circuit - BYU - 6’0 190 lbs.

TOP UNCOMMITTED SENIORS

+ ‘24 RHP John Freedman - 6’0 170 lbs.
+ ‘24 RHP Lucas Burgett - 6’5 195 lbs.

TOP UNCOMMITTED JUNIORS

+ ‘25 RHP/OF Jackson Norum - 6’1 200 lbs.

TOP UNDERCLASS FOLLOWS

Class of 2026

+ ‘26 LHP/1B Josh Rock - 5’11 180 lbs.
+ ‘26 RHP/1B Jamie Onaitis - 6’2 180 lbs.

Class of 2027

+ ‘27 INF/OF Joshua Priest - 5’9 175 lbs.
+ ‘27 LHP/OF Jose Partida - 6’1 170 lbs.

TEAM OUTLOOK

After cruising to a Coastal Conference title and a 19-10 overall record, the Torreys enter 2024 with similar aspirations. Leading the way offensively will be a trio of Division 1 recruits. Southern California commit, ‘24 Will Stickney returns a .333 batting average and will be a constant base stealing threat as he also brings back a team high 15 stolen bases, too. Fellow Southern California commit, ‘24 Matthew Priest is expected to provide a similar workload with the bat while also patrolling the outfield. BYU commit, ‘24 Jack Circuit will be a power threat in the heart of the order for the Torreys, as he returns eight home runs from last year and a .380 average, too.

Some arms to note are ‘24 John Freedman and ‘24 Lucas Burgett. Freedman is an experienced right-handed arm who totaled a 5-0 record last year with a 1.50 ERA and he will look to do more of the same this year. As for Burgett, he tallied a pair of wins last season and in 2024 he is expected to see his workload increase.

There are also a number of players expected to make some big two-way contributions including ‘25 Jackson Norum and ‘26 Josh Rock. ‘26 Jaime Onaitis is another two-way to know, as he held a 1.45 ERA last season in five appearances. The Torreys have a pair of talented freshmen prospects in ‘27 Joshua Priest, who currently holds the No. 35 spot in our national rankings, and ‘27 Jose Partida, who is at No. 38 nationally. They both will look to make their mark in their first seasons at the prep level this season.

Coach John Edman’s Expectations: “We will definitely hit and score runs. We have lots of pitchers. How we do as a team depends on how our staff comes along.”