Inland Empire Preseason All-State Preview
January 1, 2025
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Corona, Ca. -As the calendar turns to a new year the CIF High School baseball season nears and even in the winter months baseball never really stops in the Golden State. For the 7th consecutive year, the Preseason All State Event stage comes to California to showcase some of the top talent from around the state. This year Prep Baseball California will be running 4 versions of the Preseason All State to cover the state and bring 200+ players together across these events. Events will be hosted beginning on January 4th, 2025 in San Diego, the next day a pair of events will be hosted on January 5th in the Inland Empire and Central California, before wrapping up the series on January 26th in Northern California.
Players will undergo a Pro-Style workout to begin their day at the Preseason All State event including athletic testing on the VALD platforms, then defensive workouts by position to showcase their defensive actions and the workout concludes with On-Field Batting Practice with Trackman and Blast Motion to provide valuable data feedback on the players offensive tools. As well, all pitchers who take the mound will be on Trackman Technologies to gather data on their pitches from velocity, spin rates, movement patterns and more.
Today, we take a look at some of the talented players who will be in attendance at our Inland Empire Preseason All State event set to be hosted at Corona High School in Corona, Ca.
Make sure to check back post-event for full coverage on the players performances from Quick Hits to Leaderboards encompassing all the data collected and more.
COMMITS IN ATTENDANCE:
+ '26 SS/3B Gavin Hottle - Orange Lutheran High School - (TCU Commit)
Hottle is a talented physically well built left side of the infield defender who has seen time on the varsity level at Orange Lutheran over the last two years, and someone who is looking to be a key piece of the Lancers success in the Trinity League for 2025. The TCU commit heads to Inland Empire to get his 2025 calendar year underway.
+ '25 1B/OF Aaron Jacobsen - Glendora High School - (Westmont Commit)
Jacobsen opened the 2024 calendar year with a strong showing in the SoCal Preseason All State Upperclass and he continued to play at a high level throughout the year earning a commitment to NCAA D2 Westmont College. He heads back to the All State stage looking for a repeat showing of his talent.
+ '26 RHP Jake Ourique - Gahr High School - (Loyola Marymount University Commit)
Ourique jumped on the map for the Prep Baseball California staff with a dominant showing on opening day of the CIF-SS High School schedule at the Prep Baseball California Spring Invitational en route to a dominant 2024 calendar year including standout outing for Team California at the 2024 Prep Baseball Future Games and the CA State Games. The LMU commit will open his 2025 with an outing in Inland Empire against a very talented field.
UNCOMMITTED NAMES TO KNOW ('25-'26 GRADS):
CLASS OF 2025:
+ '25 INF/RHP Tomas Bilvado - San Marino High School
Bilvado was the Pitcher of the Year in his High School league for 2024 and showed his 2-way talent at a trio of Prep Baseball California events in 2024. Fresh off a fall spent playing QB1 for San Marino High the athletic Bilvado will show off how his talents play against another strong field of competition on the Preseason All State stage.
+ '25 OF Jackson Pratt - St. Francis High School (La Canada)
Pratt jumped on the radar with a strong showing during the 2024 CIF-SS high school season as a key piece of the D4 runner up St. Francis program. From there he was outstanding in his showings on a pair of Prep Baseball California event platforms and now opens the 2025 calendar year competing on the Preseason All state stage.
CLASS OF 2026:
+ '26 INF/RHP Carson Baker - South Hills High School
Baker is a compactly built, but well rounded product of the talented South Hills program. With good tools at the plate, on the infield dirt and even toeing the rubber, Baker has been a standout at a pair of 2024 Prep Baseball California events and looks to continue his stellar performance level in the Inland Empire.
+ '26 C/OF Kardiff Black - Temecula Valley High School
Black showed well in a pair of 2024 Prep Baseball California events including the CA State Games and West Coast Games. With a high quality RH hitting profile, he is prepared to face the talented arms toeing the rubber in the Inland Empire.
+ '26 RHP Gavin Cervantes - St. John Bosco High School
Cervantes boasts a high spin breaking ball and FB that reaches the low 90's as one of the talented arms set to toe the rubber in Inland Empire. Backing up a strong past performance with another good showing at the Preseason All State leading into a spring, where he should be in competition for a prominent role on the Bosco pitching staff, will only help continue the upward trend for Cervantes.
+ '26 OF Camden Goetz - Canyon High School (Anaheim)
Goetz is a talented LH hitter who has a knack not only for making contact, but that contact being of the hard hit quality on a very consistent basis. The 2024 calendar year for Goetz was a strong one which included strong performances in the high school season, as a member of Team California at the Prep Baseball Future Games, and at the CA State Games where he barreled baseballs all over the field. Look for another strong offensive performance out of Goetz in the Inland Empire.
+ '26 3B Tate Hammond - Long Beach Poly High School
Hammond has continued to trend upward with the Prep Baseball California staff over the course of the summer/fall showing left side of the infield defensive actions, some present strength in his frame and intriguing LH hitting profile with strength in it. Opening his 2025 calendar year in the Inland Empire continues the upward movement for Hammond.
+ '26 SS Eric Hernandez - Ayala High School
Hernandez manned the SS position all spring for the Ayala program which reached the CIF-SS D2 semifinals and was a strong performer at the Prep Baseball California Spring Invitational. From there the RH hitter showed his long term potential to stick at SS along with upward trending offensive profile on several different platforms for the Prep Baseball California staff including the West Coast Games and Ventura County Uncommitted Game.
+ '26 INF/RHP Wyatt Mohler - Los Osos High School
Mohler is a highly regarded RH hitting INF prospect who flashes 2-way potential out of the Los Osos High School program out of the Inland Empire. He put together a very good showing across the 2024 calendar year including one stop at the Prep Baseball California Orange County Uncommitted Games and looks to continue his upward trend by opening the year on the Preseason All State stage.
+ '26 C Michael Nonis - Centennial High School
Nonis began 2024 with a loud performance at the SoCal Preseason All State Underclass stage where he was one of the best hitters in attendance for any position and showed his rising defensive profile behind the dish. The LH hitter continued to sting the ball throughout the year and now returns to open 2025 on the Preseason All State stage in the Inland Empire.
+ '26 SS Wylan Rottschafer - Costa Mesa High School
Rottschafer joined the class of 2026 rankings at the end of the summer which backed up the quality spring season he had at Costa Mesa High and through the summer showcase/tournament circuit. Now the talented long term SS profile defender with a good offensive profile, will show his talents against a strong field of players at the Inland Empire Preseason All State.
+ '26 C Luke Severns - Etiwanda High School
Severns is poised to take a full time varsity role at Etiwanda in the spring of 2025 where the LH hitting catcher would join his older brother Ryan (UCSB commit) to help guide the talented, competitive Etiwanda program to success. Severns has shown himself to be an intriguing offensive player who can hit with sneaky impact, but also looks the part of a long term backstop option who profiles to be solid to impact potential behind the dish.
RISING UNDERCLASSMEN ('27-'28 GRADS):
CLASS OF 2027
+ '27 SS Dylan Seward - Norco High School
Seward is the #3 ranked '27 by Prep Baseball California and enters the Inland Empire Preseason All State tied as the highest ranked player in attendance (AJ Curry San Diego Preseason All state #3 in '26 class). The smooth athletic SS product out of Norco played full time on varsity as a frosh and not only did he play, but he performed. He also adds a highly talented offensive profile to his premium defensive profile that will all be on display in Corona.
+ '27 C Luke Bacon - Arlington High School
Bacon is another talented LH hitter who, when you add in his sound defensive profile at a premium spot behind the dish, brings one of the more intriguing profiles from the underclassmen in attendance. Bacon will put his ability to the test against a strong field to open the 2025 calendar year.
+ '27 C Codey Brown - Ayala High School
Brown was a member of Team California at the 2023 Prep Baseball Junior Future Games going into his Fr. campaign at Ayala that saw him garner significant playing time on the varsity level. He continued to show his talented abilities with a strong showing at the 2024 SoCal Preseason All State Underclass which he carried into the Future Games Tryout: Orange County. Again, the RH hitter will show his offensive/defensive prowess against a talented field of competition.
+ '27 C Wes Gomes - Vista Murrieta High School
Gomes is a physically well built backstop who is a 2-sport star at Vista Murrieta as a football/baseball player. He also was a member of the 2023 Prep Baseball Junior Future Games roster for Team California and then made a solid showing at the 2024 SoCal Top Prospect Underclass in September. Now he prepares for his Soph. campaign at Vista Murrieta by testing himself against a talented field in the Inland Empire.
+ '27 LHP/1B Jacob Melendez - Paloma Valley High School
The third member of the 2023 Prep Baseball Junior Future Games Team California roster who will be in attendance at the Inland Empire Preseason All State, Melendez is the highest ranked member checking in at #16 in the '27 class. An intriguing 2-way profile player who shows real ability both as a LH hitter with impact in the bat, and on the mound as a smooth LHP with feel for an advanced arsenal. He will test both aspects of his game against the talented field at the Inland Empire Preseason All State.
+ '27 OF Ira Rootman - Harvard Westlake High School
The seond highest ranked '27 in attendance and a member of the Top 10, No. 7 ranked Ira Rootman brings his advanced and impactful RH hitting profile out to the Inland Empire. Rootman made an impact on the varsity level as Fr. for the Harvard-Westlake squad that reached the CIF-SS D1 championship game. He then carried that into being one of two '27s on the Prep Baseball Future Games Team California roster this past summer. He prepares for another spring season making an impact for Harvard Westlake on the varsity level by putting himself to the test against the talented Inland Empire field.
+ '27 C Jayden Serna - Norco High School
Serna jumped on our radar in the early portion of the summer as one of the standout performers at the Inland Empire Summer ID which he backed up with another good appearance for the Prep Baseball California staff at the SoCal Top Prospect Underclass in September. The LH hitting backstop looks to start his 2025 calendar year with a good showing on the Preseason All State stage as he competes for a prominent role on the varsity level at Norco.
+ '27 OF Jacob Terriquez - Santiago High School
Terriquez has been a consistently strong performer for the Prep Baseball California staff going back to his work on the Rising Stars stage in 2023 and across the 2024 calendar year where his LH bat has barreled baseballs all over the diamond. Terriquez will be looking to back up his strong CA State Games and SoCal Top Prosepcts Underclass showings by putting on another offensive display against talented arms in the Inland Empire.
CLASS OF 2028
+ '28 3B/RHP Russell Del Castillo - Damien High School
Del Castillo had an outstanding 2024 calendar year for the Prep Baseball California staff from his work at the Inland Empire Rising Stars ID, to the Rising Stars Game, to being a key piece of a successful Team California squad at the 2024 Prep Baseball Junior Future Games, plus a stop at the SoCal Top Prospects Underclass Game where he was one of the top performers in attendace. Del Castillo has been consistently one of the best '28s for our staff regardless of where we see him. He checks in to this event as the #17 ranked '28 by Prep Baseball California and was outstanding in live look on the CIF High School winter baseball circuit.
+ '28 1B/LHP Scott Fritz - Orange Lutheran High School
Fritz is another Top 10 ranked player at the Inland Empire event as he enters the Preseason All Stage platform as the #5 ranked player by Prep Baseball California in the class. A talented LH hitter who shows big potential for what he can do in the batters box, but also boasts a loud profile as a LH pitcher who works into the mid 80's presently with his FB, Fritz will test his talents against a predominantly older field, but has the talent to succeed.
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Upcoming Events
Showcase | State | Date | Location |
Orange County Preseason ID | CA | 01/02/25 | JSerra |
San Diego Preseason All State (Invite Only) | CA | 01/04/25 | Maranatha Christian High School |
Central California Preseason All State (Invite Only) | CA | 01/05/25 | Antelope Valley College |
Central California Preseason ID | CA | 01/12/25 | Ventura College |
North Bay Preseason ID | CA | 01/25/25 | Novato High School |
Northern California Preseason All State (Invite Only) | CA | 01/26/25 | Ohlone College |
East Bay Preseason ID | CA | 02/01/25 | Pittsburg High School |
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