Started in the 1970s by California’s winningest high school baseball coach, the late John Stevenson, the El Segundo Tournament has become a tradition each spring featuring top teams from the South Bay and beyond.
This year’s 20-team tournament begins Friday, Mar. 6 with pool play games and runs through Saturday, Mar. 14 when the Championship and Consolation championships games will be held at Stevenson Field.
Group A teams include West Torrance, Palos Verdes, Banning, El Segundo and Bishop Montgomery.
Defending CIF-SS Division 4 champion Torrance heads Group B that includes Mira Costa, San Pedro, Bellflower and Pioneer.
South Torrance is ranked No. 1 in the CIF-SS Division 4 pre-season poll and will compete in Group C along with Redondo, Narbonne, California and Mayfair.
Competing in Group D will be North Torrance, Peninsula, Carson, Port of Los Angeles and Mary Star.
Weekday games will be played at 3:15 p.m. unless otherwise specified. Saturday, Mar. 7 games are slated for 11 a.m.
After reaching the Division 3 championship game in 2013, Mira Costa is seeking a return to prominence.
“We are looking to bounce back from a tough rebuilding year after Dodger Stadium where we started six sophomores,” Mira Costa head coach Cassidy Olson said. “So far the team has great balance with nine seniors and nine juniors and in the winter really played well as a team.”
The highlight of the off season was a tournament in Palm Springs where the Mustangs lost in the championship game 6-5 to a strong Huntington Beach team that is ranked No. 12 in the nation by MaxPreps and No. 1 in the CIF-SS Div. 1 poll.
Offensively, Mira Costa will be led by returning All-League junior Trevor Franklin who batted .429 last season. The Pepperdine-commit was also the ace of the Mustang’s pitching staff posting a 2.00 ERA.
Olson feels his team will be strong up the middle starting with junior catcher Brett Davis. University of Georgia0-bound Will Proctor is an athletic shortstop and All-League junior Reese Alexiades will roam center field.
Juniors Zach Chan, Rollie Nicols and Ty Conrad should be big contributors in the infield. At the plate, the Mustangs expect strong seasons from seniors Dylan Tyrer, Luke Jelmini, Jackson Michalski, and Luke McCauley.
Senior Robert White is a team leader who will be used in every infield position.
Backing up Franklin in the starting rotation will be a pair of 6-foot-3 seniors in Michael Rumpp and Miles Kluth who showed a lot of promise in the off season. Olson will rely on Blake Hammerstein, White, Proctor, Michalski and knuckleballer Rene Houseman to close out games.
“I think we can contend for a league title as long as we play unselfishly and guys accept their roles and put the team in front of there individual desires,” Olson added.
