The San Gabriel Valley League looks to be a two-team race between Downey and back-to-back league champion Paramount. The Pirates are 29-1 in SGVL games over the past two years, but Downey is returning more talent.
The Vikings bring back Dream Team outfielder Ivory Thomas (.429, 39 hits, 28 RBI) and pitcher-infielder Michael Mazzara (.343, 37 hits, 18 RBI) for coach Jess Gonzalez and a Downey team that made an impressive playoff run last season.
Cesar Valtierra (.316, 24 hits) and Bryant De La Campa (.300, 15 hits) are expected to have big seasons at the plate and on the mound for Downey. Also expected to pitch for Gonzalez are Jeremy Ruiz and Mazzara.
"We have a lot of good players coming back, but a lot of our success will depend on what kind of pitching we get," Gonzalez said. "We did have a great summer, but Paramount still has Eddie Magallon and he's the best pitcher in the league."
Paramount is led by Magallon, its right-handed Dream Team pitcher, but lost their core to graduation. Magallon is 18-2 over the last two years, but will need help from outfielder Gabriel Lopez (.333, 27 hits), infielder Mark Silva and infielder-outfielder Ramon Becerra.
Magallon's younger brother, Osbaldo, will pitch for Pirates coach Cameron Chinn, who also needs key performances from catcher Jaime Valle and third baseman-pitcher Jose Lopez.
"Downey is very talented, especially up the middle of the field," Chinn said. "We have Eddie and some good athletes that, if we learn to play catch, can be pretty good."
Said Magallon: "This is going to take some time to replace everything we lost from last season, but I have a lot of confidence in my teammates and a great coaching staff."
Long Beach baseball Hall of Famer and former Long Beach State coach John Gonsalves is on the bench this season to assist Chinn.
Gahr will be led offensively by senior catcher Brandon Krause (.297, 16 hits, 12 RBI) and junior pitcher-first baseman Sonny Burgueno (.282) and will be looking to continue its annual postseason run.
Senior pitchers Jason Sierra, Ruben Resendez and juniors Michael Lugo, Chris Salmones and Burgueno will all have to come up big for coach Gerardo Perez.
Warren has started the season 0-3 and will need pitchers Gene Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Christian Rodriguez, Alex Solis, Daniel Catalan and Chris Cota to step up if the Bears are to compete for a playoff spot.
Lynwood and Dominguez will likely be at the bottom of the SGVL standings.
- Brian Baiotto
The pirates step up today and beat the vikings 12-3. Senior Eduardo Magallon had his roughest outing in his high school career but the bats woke up today. Senior Gabriel Lopez hit a home run in the 3rd innning to go int he lead. Senior Ramon Becerra went 3-4 with an RBI