Weekend BlogJune 03, 2007
Amateur Hour
By The Baseball Analysts Staff

  • Long Beach Wilson beat Anaheim Canyon 5-1 to win the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Division I championship on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. Wilson (32-3) is likely to maintain its #1 ranking in the country when Baseball America releases its final poll on June 18. The Bruins won their first CIF-SS title since 1950.

    Senior lefthander and UConn signee Elliott Glynn pitched a complete game to win his ninth game of the season. Glynn also contributed to the victory with a run-scoring double that nearly left the yard in the top of the seventh.

    The Bruins and Comanches featured two of the nation's top prep shortstops in Ryan Dent (who went 1-for-1 with three walks, an RBI and two runs scored) and Christian Colon. Both players are special talents and expected to be selected in one of the early rounds in the MLB draft on Thursday. Wilson's Dent and Anaheim Canyon's Colon have committed to UCLA and Cal State Fullerton, respectively. However, the most gifted player on the field may have been Wilson center fielder Aaron Hicks, who is only a junior. Look for Hicks, who played in the Area Code Games last summer after his sophomore season, to be one of the most highly sought high school players in next year's draft.

  • Speaking of UCLA and CSF, both schools won the first two games of their respective Regionals on Friday and Saturday. UCLA will play the winner of the Long Beach State-University Illinois-Chicago game in the Long Beach Regional on Sunday evening. CSF is scheduled to take on the winner of the Minnesota-Fresno State contest in the San Diego Regional. The teams that emerge victorious in these two Regionals will vie in the Super Regionals next weekend.

    Elsewhere, Michigan upset Vanderbilt, the #1 overall seed, 4-3 to advance in the winner's bracket in Nashville. UC Irvine surprised Texas 3-1 and is the lone undefeated team in the Round Rock Regional. Oklahoma State (14-3 over Arkansas in the Fayetteville Regional) and Mississippi State (3-0 over Florida State in Tallahassee) were the other upset victors over seeded clubs.

    Rice (Houston), North Carolina (Chapel Hill), and Arizona State (Tempe) are the only seeded teams without a loss. Virginia (Charlottesville), Mississippi (Oxford), Arizona (Wichita), Missouri (Columbia, MO), and Louisiana Lafayette (College Station) are sitting pretty in their respective Regionals.

    The Myrtle Beach and Columbia, SC Regionals were rained out on Saturday. Clemson-Coastal Carolina and South Carolina-UNC Charlotte will face off in second round action on Sunday.

    - Rich Lederer, 6/3/07, 12:25 a.m. PST

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