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New Episode LIVE now! - At The Yard Podcast

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: Valley Christian Warriors
Head Coach: John Diatte
CIF Section: CIF - CCS, Division 1
Conference League: West Catholic League
2023 Record: 31-4
Team X Handle: @jdiatte

Team Strengths: Pitching and Defense
No. of Returning Starters: 7
No. of Returning Pitchers: 5
Areas of Improvement: Trying to replace our middle infield

 

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COMMITTED PLAYERS

+ ‘24 OF Tatum Marsh - Stanford - 6’1 1 65 lbs.

+ ‘25 OF/LHP Brock Ketelsen - Stanford - 6’3 185 lbs.

+ ‘25 OF Hunter Fujimoto - Santa Clara - 5’7 155 lbs.

+ ‘25 1B/LHP Quinten Marsh - Stanford - 6’1 190 lbs.

+ ‘25 C Jordan Ortiz - Loyola Marymount - 6’1 185 lbs.

+ ‘25 RHP Rohan Kasanagottu - USC - 6’3 185 lbs.

+ ‘25 RHP Chris Buck - Biola Univ. - 5’10 162 lbs.

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TOP UNCOMMITTED SENIORS

+ ‘24 INF Rocco Muccilli - 5’10 180 lbs.

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TOP UNCOMMITTED JUNIORS

+ ‘25 RHP Quinten Medrano - 5’10 165 lbs.

+ ‘25 INF Tanner Jones

+ ‘25 RHP Forest Zelmer

+ ‘25 RHP Kole Laubach

+ ‘25 RHP Mayan Subramanian - 6’2 195 lbs.

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TOP UNDERCLASS FOLLOWS

Class of 2026

+ ‘26 RHP Alex Kim - 5’10 170 lbs.

+ ‘26 INF Zach Koontz

+ ‘26 INF Nathan Choi - 5’10 155 lbs.

+ ‘26 OF Cristian Nevarez

Class of 2027

+ ‘27 INF Antonio Chavez - 5’9 160 lbs.

+ ‘27 C Logan Mull - 5’9 160 lbs.

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TEAM OUTLOOK

After surpassing the 30-win mark last season, which included a perfect 14-0 record in league play, the Warriors seem primed to put together a dominant season. A number of Division 1 commits will lead this team on both sides of the ball. Offensively, Stanford commit and senior leader ‘24 Tatum Marsh tallied a .350 batting average in 100 at-bats and also drove in 28 RBIs, too.

Valley Christian’s junior class seems that it will do a lot of the heavy lifting this year, and they certainly have the talent to do so. Two other Stanford commits, ‘25 Brock Ketelsen and ‘25 Quinten Marsh will look to do damage on both sides of the ball for the Warriors. Marsh returns a .66 ERA from last year and a .274 batting average with 25 RBIs. ‘25 Jordan Ortiz will man responsibilities behind the plate for Valley Christian and returns a team-high .391 batting average from last season. Three other committed juniors to know are ‘25 Hunter Fujimoto, ‘25 Rohan Kasanagottu, and ‘25 Chris Buck, as they will all make some big contributions this season.

The talent does not stop there though, as uncommitted senior ‘24 Rocco Muccilli was a productive bat in a small number of at-bats last season, but expect to see his workload increase this year. More juniors who are expected to see some time this year are ‘25 Quinten Medrano, ‘25 Tanner Jones, ‘25 Forest Zelmer, ‘25 Kole Laubach and ‘25 Mayan Subramanian.

As for underclassmen, they certainly have a talented group. Sophomores ‘26 Alex Kim and ‘26 Nathan Choi will look to contribute this season, both of which are ranked prospects inside our Class of 2026 Rankings. ‘26 Zach Koontz and ‘26 Cristian Nevarez are a pair of other sophomores that could make their first appearances at the varsity level this season, too. Rounding out this Warriors squad are a pair of ranked freshman prospects, ‘27 Antonio Chavez and ‘27 Logan Mull.

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