JSerra Catholic: No. 3 in MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Preseason Baseball Rankings

If JSerra Catholic finishes the season ranked No. 1 in the nation, it will certainly have earned it. Perhaps no other team in the nation will play a tougher schedule than the Lions this year.

Consider that JSerra opens the season in March against talented teams from Loyola, Huntington Beach and Cypress. Then it's a trip to the National High School Invitational while JSerra will face some of the top teams in the country. When the Lions return home, they will play in the Boras Classic, the toughest tournament in California.

JSerra begins league play against Mater Dei, one of the top programs in the country, and ends league play in early May with three games against defending Southern Section Division I champion Santa Margarita. The Lions conclude their season with the Southern Section Division I tournament, one of the toughest postseason tournaments in the country.

Fortunately for coach Brett Kay, he has a team more than capable of meeting the challenge. Of the eight returning starters on the team, seven of them received some sort of postseason all-league honor. The Lions also have seven players that have committed to a college, led by shortstop Chase Strumpf, a UCLA commit, and outfielder Brady Shockey, a USC commit.

With an outstanding group of returning players and a challenging schedule, the Lions begin the 2014 season ranked No. 3 in the MaxPreps Preseason National Baseball Rankings.

Over the next two weeks, MaxPreps is counting down the top 10 teams in the preseason national rankings. The countdown will conclude on Feb. 24 with the announcement of the preseason Top 100.

See the Top 10 teams landing page here

View the gallery of the JSerra Catholic preseason photo shoot by photographer Heston Quan

School size: Southern Section Division I


Enrollment: 1,124



2014 finish: 22-8, Trinity League champion


Head coach: Brett Kay


Career record: 156-91


Years at school: 9



Notable MLB players:

Austin Hedges (drafted second round, 2011)



No. of starters returning: 8

Top losses:

Parker Joe Robinson, 1B, League MVP


Key returners:

Chase Strumpf, SS, Junior, UCLA

Brady Shockey, OF, Junior, USC

Quentin Longrie, LHP, Senior, USC

Jake Pries, RHP/OF, Senior, UCLA

Davis Wendzel, Ut, Junior

Sam Cohen, C, Senior, Santa Barbara

Ryan Pena, RHP/OF, Senior

Kyle Stewart, 1B, Senior, Navy

Christian Molfetta, Stanford

Key newcomers:

Royce Lewis, Ut, Sophomore

Jack Owen, LHP/OF, Sophomore, Mississippi State

Lyle Lin, Ut, Junior, International transfer

Toughest game: While competing in the Trinity League is tough enough, JSerra will play in the National High School Invitational in North Carolina at the end of March. The Lions could potentially face state champions from Georgia (Lambert) and Tennessee (Farragut). The Lions will open against Mosley, one of the top-rated Class 5A teams from Florida.

Local outlook: The Trinity League ranks as one of the toughest leagues in the nation. Santa Margarita is the defending Southern Section champion while Mater Dei is a perennial Southern Section Division I contender. Orange Lutheran also regularly finds its way into the Southern Section rankings.

Overall outlook: JSerra begins the season ranked as the top team in California. The Lions will find out if that's true by participating in the Boras Classic in early April. The tournament acts as an unofficial state championship as the winners of the northern tournament and the southern tournament face off in late April.

Pitching: The Lions have four returning starters with experience, led by Quentin Longrie, a lefthander who has committed to USC, and Jake Pries, a righthander who has committed to UCLA. Sophomore Jack Owen, meanwhile, has already committed to Mississippi State while Ryan Pena, a righthander, gives JSerra depth on the staff.

Defense: The defense will be solid with only first baseman Parker Joe Robinson gone from the starting lineup. The team has quality utility players in sophomore Royce Lewis, a super all-around athlete according to Kay, and David Wendzel, who Kay calls the glue of the team. The Lions also have experience at catcher, where Sam Cohen, a Santa Barbara commit, returns for his third season as a starter.

Coach quote: "This team has a chance to be the best team in my nine years here. The key for us will be if they can handle every challenge thrown at them. Depth on the mound and eight starters back spells quality, but complacency can be scary."
- Brett Kay