By Joe Snyder
North Torrance High’s baseball team extended the Spring 2026 sports season by winning the CIF-Southern California Regional championship with a 9-3 win over Francis Parker High Saturday in San Diego.
It ended a long sports year that began with the fall sports, including football, girls’ volleyball, girls’ tennis, boys’ water polo and cross country in August and finishing nearly 10 months later on June 6 with North’s baseball regional championship.
After capturing their first CIF-Southern Section baseball crown since 1974, the Saxons entered the regional playoffs seeded seventh in the eight-team classic and going about 20 miles on the road to second-seed Bell and it was the outstanding pitching of Seth Nagasaki and ace reliever Joseph Banuelos that shut down the Eagles, who were placed in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Open Division losing to No. 2 seed Granada Hills 1-0 in eight innings in the quarterfinals, in a 1-0 pitching duel.
North, then, had to take two long trips; about 225 miles away to Visalia to take on Central Valley Christian, the CIF-Central Section Division IV champion, and 120 more miles down to San Diego for the championship game against CIF-San Diego Section Division IV champion Francis Parker. The Saxons made it worth while shutting out Central Valley Christian 6-0 last Thursday and their first regional crown over the Lancers 9-3 to put the icing on the cake.
North head coach Diego Alarcon pointed out that his squad is well-disciplined, especially playing its best games in the playoffs, finishing the season with eight straight wins after losing its Pioneer League finale to league champion South Torrance 8-7 on May 8. South and second-place El Segundo played in Division III and lost in the first round.
When the Saxons won their previous CIF-Southern Section title in 1974, North’s athletic program was in its golden age. North’s baseball squad was head coached by the late legendary Jim O’ Brien, who passed away early last year. The squad had the likes of Brandt Humphreys, Tim O’ Neill and Jim Zamberelli (later Jim Zamberelli, Sr. who passed away of leukemia in 2004). There were no state or regional playoffs at that time. O’ Brien also guided the Saxons to a Southern Section crown in 1971, led by Dennis Littlejohn, who spent some time with the Major League Baseball San Francisco Giants. Littlejohn was a junior that season and in his senior season a year later, North entered the Southern Section Class 4A (the top division at that time) as the top seed. The Saxons made the finals before being upset by Compton Dominguez, led by another future Major League Baseball player Ken Landereaux, who spent some time with the Angels. Littlejohn was one of the best all-around athletes, also excelling in football and wrestling. The 1971 and 1974 CIF titles were also in 4A.
O’ Brien would go on to guide the L.A. Harbor baseball teams to state titles in 1978, 1984 and 1990.
A recent memory for Serra was its boys’ track and field team winning the CIF-Southern Section Division IV title, behind its sprinters. The Cavaliers won both the 4×100 and 4×400 meter relays. Serra recorded only a 41.47 in the divisional finals but improved it to 40.97 in the CIF-State Championships for a fifth-place-finish on May 30 at Buchanan High. The Cavaliers have no seniors on the team and hope to bring it down but they will have to face the extreme stiff competition of Anaheim Servite, which already broke the United States national record in 39.70 at the Arcadia Invitational on April 11 and had a CIF-State Meet record of 39.73. With no seniors on the team, the Friars might be seeking a world-class time by next season. Servite’s all sophomore 4×400 relay already came the closest to Hawthorne High’s 41-year-old national record time of 3:07.40 with a blazing 3:07.62 smashing the state meet record of 3:08.42 set by Serra in 2010. The Cougars’ record will, no doubt, be in extremely high danger of finally having their national and state record broken by next season, barring any injuries or mishaps by Servite.
With all four runners, sophomore Lamar Roberson, junior Landon Thomas, sophomore Lawson Griggs-Andrew and junior Wesley Ace, expected to return, Serra might look to become the next California team to break 40 seconds, if they work hard enough. Passing up Servite, which might even get in the 38s next year or in 2028, it will be an extremely hard task. Look for the Friars even to get down in the 3:06s or 3:05s in the 1,600 relay within the next two years.
Manhattan Beach Mira Costa had one of the most banner spring sports in CIF-Southern Section history. The Mustangs accumulated an astounding six Southern Section and one CIF-State title just in a season. Mira Costa had four of those crowns by its boys in baseball, volleyball, track and field and lacrosse. Its girls won two, including beach volleyball and lacrosse. The Mustang boys’ volleyball won the California state boys’ volleyball Division I championship by sweeping Northgate from Walnut Creek on May 30 at Fresno City College. Mira Costa captured the boys’ sports Southern Section commissioners cup with those four titles. The Mustangs swept boys’ and girls’ lacrosse. Overall, Mira Costa has seven overall Southern Section crowns; the other being by its girls’ cross country last fall. It is a year and a spring to remember for the Mustangs. Mira Costa might have won more state titles but there were no state playoffs in lacrosse and the Mustang baseball team opted out of the Southern California Regional Division II playoffs due to upcoming graduation and final exams. Mira Costa’s boys’ track and field squad, which captured the Southern Section Division I crown on May 16 over second-place L.A. Loyola 62-58 at Moorpark High, finished only sixth in the CIF-State Championships with 17 points; even below rival Redondo, which took third with 23. Servite ran away with the state title with 60 points to 28 for second-place Riverside Martin Luther King. The Friars, however, failed to win the Southern Section Division III championship, finishing second behind Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
Saxons’ finish amazing run with SoCal championship
North Torrance High’s baseball team added another CIF championship last Saturday.
The Saxons captured the CIF-Southern California Regional Division IV crown by pulling away from host Francis Parker High 9-3 in the final in San Diego.
After North starting pitcher Seth Nagasaki struggled allowing a run on two walks and one hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the first inning, the Saxons’ offense came to life with six runs in the top of the second inning. It started when Sei Nagashima hit a solo home run over the left field fence, then followed by back-to-back hit-by-pitches to Alex Cannon and Eric Yamashiro. Shane Yamamoto followed with a walk to load the bases before David Iniquez singled to give North the lead for good. Tanner Okawa followed with a two-run single that gave the Saxons a 4-1 lead. That knocked out Lancer starting pitcher Jeremy Ohta who was replaced by reliever K.J. Norton. Back-to-back run-scoring singles from Lucas Blackwood and Nagashima gave North a 6-1 cushion.
After a wild first inning, Nagasaki settled down holding Parker scoreless but struggled in bottom of the fifth inning as the Lancers scored two runs off three walks that was followed by Spencer Perry reaching first base on an error and a base hit by John Mika.
That was when North head coach Diego Alarcon replaced Nagasaki with key reliever Joseph Banuelos. Banuelos proved dominant. After walking Joseph Jacques, he retired the final nine batters, striking out seven of them.
The Saxons’ offense was not done as they finished off the Lancers with three seventh inning runs. After Sei Nagashima singled and Cannon doubled putting runners on first and third base with no outs, Yamashiro completed his outstanding day by doubling home both runners. Yamashiro scored North’s final run on a grounder to shortstop by Okawa.
Nagashima had a banner day going 4-for-4 with the bat and made an outstanding play at center field, possibly taking away a home run from Perry in the bottom of the sixth.
North, which won the CIF-Southern Section Division VII crown by rolling over South El Monte 7-1 on May 30 at Cal State Fullerton, made the finals by with a pair of shutout wins over host Bell 1-0 on June 2 and host Central Valley Christian 6-0 Thursday in Visalia.
Against Central Valley Christian, starting pitcher Mason Matsumoto and Banuelos combined for a three-hit shutout. Matsumoto went six innings, allowing two hits and Banuelos allowed one hit in the seventh.
Josiah Reed had a double and drove in three runs and Okawa had two hits.
Against Bell, which entered the regional playoffs as the No. 2 seed, Nagasaki and Banuelos combined for a three-hitter.
Nagashima drove in the game’s only run on a sacrifice fly that brought home Yamamoto.
North ended the season at 18-16 overall but finished the regular season at 11-16 after going 4-8 in the tough Pioneer League, led by league champion South Torrance and runner-up El Segundo, barely making the playoffs. The Saxons made it worth while as the tough regular season helped them to the CIF-Southern Section Division VII and Southern California Regional Division IV crowns.
According to Alarcon, most of the Saxons’ top players return as they will be expected to move up to a higher division.
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American stars beat Nationals in S.B. Classic
The South Bay Athletic Club held its 57th annual South Bay All-Star Baseball Game as the American All-Stars topped the National squad 12-8 on June 1 at Stevenson Field on the grounds of El Segundo Recreation Park.
The Americans surged out to a 9-1 lead in the third inning, behind a three-run home run by Joaquin Scholar, who sparked Manhattan Beach Mira Costa to the CIF-Southern Section Division III crown with a come-from-behind 9-7 win over Agoura on May 30 at Cal State Fullerton, and RBI hits by Justin Rico and A.J. Herrera.
From there, the Nationals made a game out of it with five unanswered runs. It was sparked by an RBI (run batted in) single by Torrance Bishop Montgomery’s Sean Yanks and a two-run double from Jackson Sola, cutting the American lead to 9-6 by the sixth inning.
The Americans added three runs in the seventh behind doubles from Herrera, a standout at Wilmington Banning, and San Pedro’s Brady Harper bringing home Herrera. Owen Rhodes (South Torrance) and Angel Camou (Redondo) also had run-scoring hits.
The Nationals attempted to rally that was led by a solo home run from Serra’s Varela Salo but it ended on an outstanding catch by Royce McKenzie (Playa del Rey St. Bernard).
Scholer, who was the game’s Most Valuable Player, also pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the Americans.
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North’s SoCal Regional title ends the ’25-26 Prep Sports Year
North Torrance High’s baseball team extended the Spring 2026 sports season by winning the CIF-Southern California Regional championship with a 9-3 win over Francis Parker High Saturday in San Diego.
It ended a long sports year that began with the fall sports, including football, girls’ volleyball, girls’ tennis, boys’ water polo and cross country in August and finishing nearly 10 months later on June 6 with North’s baseball regional championship.
After capturing their first CIF-Southern Section baseball crown since 1974, the Saxons entered the regional playoffs seeded seventh in the eight-team classic and going about 20 miles on the road to second-seed Bell and it was the outstanding pitching of Seth Nagasaki and ace reliever Joseph Banuelos that shut down the Eagles, who were placed in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Open Division losing to No. 2 seed Granada Hills 1-0 in eight innings in the quarterfinals, in a 1-0 pitching duel.
North, then, had to take two long trips; about 225 miles away to Visalia to take on Central Valley Christian, the CIF-Central Section Division IV champion, and 120 more miles down to San Diego for the championship game against CIF-San Diego Section Division IV champion Francis Parker. The Saxons made it worth while shutting out Central Valley Christian 6-0 last Thursday and their first regional crown over the Lancers 9-3 to put the icing on the cake.
North head coach Diego Alarcon pointed out that his squad is well-disciplined, especially playing its best games in the playoffs, finishing the season with eight straight wins after losing its Pioneer League finale to league champion South Torrance 8-7 on May 8. South and second-place El Segundo played in Division III and lost in the first round.
When the Saxons won their previous CIF-Southern Section title in 1974, North’s athletic program was in its golden age. North’s baseball squad was head coached by the late legendary Jim O’ Brien, who passed away early last year. The squad had the likes of Brandt Humphreys, Tim O’ Neill and Jim Zamberelli (later Jim Zamberelli, Sr. who passed away of leukemia in 2004). There were no state or regional playoffs at that time. O’ Brien also guided the Saxons to a Southern Section crown in 1971, led by Dennis Littlejohn, who spent some time with the Major League Baseball San Francisco Giants. Littlejohn was a junior that season and in his senior season a year later, North entered the Southern Section Class 4A (the top division at that time) as the top seed. The Saxons made the finals before being upset by Compton Dominguez, led by another future Major League Baseball player Ken Landereaux, who spent some time with the Angels. Littlejohn was one of the best all-around athletes, also excelling in football and wrestling. The 1971 and 1974 CIF titles were also in 4A.
O’ Brien would go on to guide the L.A. Harbor baseball teams to state titles in 1978, 1984 and 1990.
A recent memory for Serra was its boys’ track and field team winning the CIF-Southern Section Division IV title, behind its sprinters. The Cavaliers won both the 4×100 and 4×400 meter relays. Serra recorded only a 41.47 in the divisional finals but improved it to 40.97 in the CIF-State Championships for a fifth-place-finish on May 30 at Buchanan High. The Cavaliers have no seniors on the team and hope to bring it down but they will have to face the extreme stiff competition of Anaheim Servite, which already broke the United States national record in 39.70 at the Arcadia Invitational on April 11 and had a CIF-State Meet record of 39.73. With no seniors on the team, the Friars might be seeking a world-class time by next season. Servite’s all sophomore 4×400 relay already came the closest to Hawthorne High’s 41-year-old national record time of 3:07.40 with a blazing 3:07.62 smashing the state meet record of 3:08.42 set by Serra in 2010. The Cougars’ record will, no doubt, be in extremely high danger of finally having their national and state record broken by next season, barring any injuries or mishaps by Servite.
With all four runners, sophomore Lamar Roberson, junior Landon Thomas, sophomore Lawson Griggs-Andrew and junior Wesley Ace, expected to return, Serra might look to become the next California team to break 40 seconds, if they work hard enough. Passing up Servite, which might even get in the 38s next year or in 2028, it will be an extremely hard task. Look for the Friars even to get down in the 3:06s or 3:05s in the 1,600 relay within the next two years.
Manhattan Beach Mira Costa had one of the most banner spring sports in CIF-Southern Section history. The Mustangs accumulated an astounding six Southern Section and one CIF-State title just in a season. Mira Costa had four of those crowns by its boys in baseball, volleyball, track and field and lacrosse. Its girls won two, including beach volleyball and lacrosse. The Mustang boys’ volleyball won the California state boys’ volleyball Division I championship by sweeping Northgate from Walnut Creek on May 30 at Fresno City College. Mira Costa captured the boys’ sports Southern Section commissioners cup with those four titles. The Mustangs swept boys’ and girls’ lacrosse. Overall, Mira Costa has seven overall Southern Section crowns; the other being by its girls’ cross country last fall. It is a year and a spring to remember for the Mustangs. Mira Costa might have won more state titles but there were no state playoffs in lacrosse and the Mustang baseball team opted out of the Southern California Regional Division II playoffs due to upcoming graduation and final exams. Mira Costa’s boys’ track and field squad, which captured the Southern Section Division I crown on May 16 over second-place L.A. Loyola 62-58 at Moorpark High, finished only sixth in the CIF-State Championships with 17 points; even below rival Redondo, which took third with 23. Servite ran away with the state title with 60 points to 28 for second-place Riverside Martin Luther King. The Friars, however, failed to win the Southern Section Division III championship, finishing second behind Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
