Hart High Baseball Dubbed 2024 Foothill League Champions

Hart has been crowned league champions for the 2024 baseball season and now it is time for these boys to embark on their next journey — playoffs.

Some programs in the Santa Clarita Valley have cleared the hurdle, whereas others have fallen short this year.

Hart (21-5, 10-2)

The Indians have added another Foothill League title to the books this year, making it the program’s 36th league title victory.

This season granted Jim Ozella , Hart’s head coach, his ninth and final league title to close out his career.

Ozella took the position as head coach in 2000 and led the Indians to 468 wins since then — he also coached current Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and Hart alum Tyler Glasnow .

Senior Eddie Gutierrez leads the team with a 0.431 batting average (BA).

In addition, juniors Jayden Chathle and Zachary Rogozik both have 0.400 BAs.

The Indians are expected to host Simi Valley (14-11-2, 6-5-1) for the first round of the CIF playoffs on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

West Ranch (18-8-1, 9-3)

The Wildcats occupied the top of the charts this season until they were defeated by Hart on April 17th and April 19th with scores of 1-2 and 3-5, respectively.

Last week, however, they triumphed over Golden Valley to finish in second place in the Foothill League.

During their last matchup with the Grizzlies, junior Mikey Murr possessed a BA of 1.000.

Team leaders are mostly dominated by juniors, with Nolan Stoll achieving a 0.368 BA and a 0.468 on-base percentage (OBP).

Landon Hu has racked in 22 runs, 30 hits, a 0.548 slugging percentage (SLG), nine doubles and three triples.

Hunter Manning leads with a 1.26 earned running average and a 1.000 fielding percentage.

Seniors Brett Ishikawa and Aidan Buntich also contributed, each with six stolen bases.

West Ranch is expected to travel down to #22 CA-ranked San Dimas (23-4, 10-0) to begin playoffs on Friday at 3:15 p.m.

Saugus (16-12, 9-3)

The Centurions placed third in the Foothill League and are currently looking to improve their nine-game win streak.

Last week, they claimed victory over Castaic on Tuesday 5-0 and Thursday 5-1.

In Thursday’s match, senior Matthew Montiel batted 0.667 and had an OBP of 0.750.

As for season leaders, junior Kaden Haag has had two home runs and 13 runs batted in (RBI).

Junior James Frias has a 0.388 BA, 0.523 OBP and 15 stolen bases.

Lastly, senior Dominick Zambrano contributed with 15 runs, 21 hits, 0.500 SLG, six doubles and one triple.

Next up, the Centurions are scheduled to host Calvary Chapel (13-12, 6-6) for playoffs on Friday at 3:15 p.m.

Valencia (14-12-1, 7-5)

The Vikings’ most recent league wins against Canyon and Castaic were not enough to put them higher up on the Foothill League rankings.

Seniors guided this team, with Gian Martinez batting 0.340 and achieving a slugging percentage of 0.452.

Matthew Moffitt possessed a 0.456 OBP, and Chad Stanchfield racked in 16 RBI — both had five doubles as well.

Reid Farrell had one home run, 13 stolen bases, 19 runs and 24 hits, and Wyatt Murphy had three triples.

Valencia is expected to face off against Aliso Niguel (18-7, 9-3) in playoffs on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

Castaic (14-14, 5-7)

The Coyotes fell to El Camino Real (11-13, 3-8) 12-1 over the weekend in a nonleague match to add to their recent string of losses.

During the season, senior Rafael Figeredo possessed a BA of 0.600 and an OBP of 0.667.

Junior Chris Cailotto has had two home runs, six RBI, a 0.607 SLG and three doubles.

Senior Jacob De La Cruz led in stolen bases with six and also compiled 11 hits.

Junior Giovanni Foster and De La Cruz both had nine runs as well.

Castaic is scheduled to kick off its first playoff match against Culver City on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

Golden Valley (9-17-1, 1-11)

The Grizzlies drew the curtains on their season after they fell to Oxnard (12-14, 4-10) 4-5 on Saturday.

Senior Brayden Brewer finished his season with a 0.377 BA, 0.489 OBP, 20 runs and 29 hits.

Seniors Jack Steidl and Bryce Gayles both had one home run.

Junior Skyler Sears contributed to the Grizzlies’ stats with nine stolen bases and senior Brandon Wright closed out with an ERA of 3.55.

Junior Connor Anderson racked in 17 RBI and six doubles and freshman Ayden Renstrom had one triple.

Canyon (8-20, 1-11)

Like Golden Valley, the Cowboys ended their run last Thursday after suffering a 0-13 loss against Hart.

Senior Tsukasa Ozaki led in many areas: 0.455 BA, 0.569 OBP, 23 stolen bases, 26 runs, 35 hits, 0.584 SLG, six doubles and two triples.

Junior Levi Shickle hit one home run and sophomore Brody Bayliss had 26 RBI.

Trinity Classical Academy (19-0, 12-0)

The Knights finished off the season with a clean record and clinched the Heritage League title.

Their last victory was against Desert Christian (15-7, 9-4) on Tuesday with a score of 8-1.

During this match, sophomore Quinn Minyard, freshman Andrew Carlson and junior John Carlson possessed BAs of 1.000.

Junior Jordan Lovelace led Trinity in stats with a 0.577 BA, 0.642 OBP, 19 stolen bases, 29 runs, 30 hits and 11 doubles.

Junior Luke Backes also contributed with six home runs and a 1.023 SLG.

Carlson, Lovelace and Backes each had three triples during the season as well.

The Knights’ first playoff game is scheduled for next Tuesday at 3:15 p.m. — the opponent is TBA.

Santa Clarita Christian School (8-9, 6-6)

The Cardinals finished in fourth place and also made it to the CIF playoffs.

Their most recent match was a 7-2 victory against Santa Monica Academy (3-9, 3-8) in a Heritage League game last Monday.

Sophomore Zane Stauffer led this season with a 0.488 BA, 0.604 OBP, one home run, 18 stolen bases and an SLG of 0.634.

Juniors Wyatt Shield and Cayden Rappleye possessed a 0.946 FP and 12 RBI, respectively.

Junior Wyatt Waldron had 20 runs, four doubles, one triple and shared 20 hits with Stauffer.

The Cardinals are expected to travel to Shalhevet (5-8, 4-5) on Wednesday at 2 p.m. for their first playoff match.

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