The JSerra baseball team could play an intrasquad scrimmage and have two starting lineups that consist entirely of players who have signed with or committed to Division I colleges.
The Lions have 18 players in the program good enough to have received, and accepted, offers from NCAA Division I college baseball programs.
The players include:
Andrew Lamb, a senior utility player who signed with USC. He was the CIF Southern Section Division 1 player of the year last season when JSerra won the Division 1 championship. He batted .396 with nine doubles, four triples, four home runs and 20 RBIs.
Trent Caraway was All-County second team last season. Caraway can play multiple positions and might finish some games on the mound. He hit .338 last season. JSerra coach Brett Kay said Caraway, who signed with Oregon State, is the Lions’ top MLB Draft prospect.
Kay said senior shortstop Jonathan Mendez is the best defensive shortstop he has coached. It’s worth noting that Kay coached a shortstop, Royce Lewis, who was the first overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft. Mendez, a UC Santa Barbara signee, batted .383 last season and will bat third behind Lamb and Caraway.
Cal-signed Dominic Smaldino will play first base and be the Lions’ clean-up batter. He will pitch at times, too, when JSerra needs to get an out.
Senior outfielder Lou Fujiwara was an All-County second team outfielder last year. He might play mostly at second base this year. He batted .300 with 20 RBIs in 2022. Fuijwara, who signed with Washington, might be JSerra’s best defensive player.
And that’s just a sample of the field-position players for the Lions.
“This is probably the best defensive team we’ve had,” said Kay, in his 17th season coaching JSerra. “And we have the chance to be great on offense, too.”
JSerra’s pitching is ocean deep.
Matt Champion, a junior who committed to LSU, and JJ Hollis, a UC Santa Barbara signee, are the team’s top two pitchers. Both throw hard and have plenty of…
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