JSerra Repeats As Boras Classic South Champions

Image credit: Offensive MVP Nino Vultaggio (Boras Foundation)

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif.—With each passing year, JSerra continues to assert itself as a premier high school program in not only in southern California, but the entire country.

The school has existed for for only 16 years and already has 14 alumni drafted or playing baseball professionally, including Padres catcher Austin Hedges and 2017 No. 1 overall pick Royce Lewis. That number will grow this year with UCLA second baseman Chase Strumpf (No. 38 on the BA 300), Baylor third baseman Davis Wendzel (No. 146), Point Loma (Calif.) Nazarene outfielder Micah Pries (No. 275) and current shortstop Michael Curialle (No. 276) all projected to go in the top 10 rounds of the draft.

JSerra added another accolade on Friday night, beating La Mirada 8-1 to win the Boras Classic South Division title for the second straight year. With the victory, JSerra became the first back-to-back champion in the seven-year history of the premier event.

“It’s a nice feather in the cap for the program,” said coach Brett Kay, a 2003 Mets draft pick and former minor league catcher.

JSerra will face the winner of the Boras Classic North Division tournament on April 27 at the University of San Diego for what has become California’s de facto high school state championship.

Curialle went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and a stolen base and made a series of standout defensive plays at shortstop to set the pace for the Lions. The UCLA commit finished the tournament 8-for-15 (.533) with six runs, two doubles and four RBIs, a year after he hit the game-winning home run in the championship game.

Curialle showed off plus arm strength and plus speed in addition to his offensive output, continuing the steady rise in his draft stock that has been trending upward all spring.

“Back-to-back years, to find a way to win both of years, it feels good,” Curialle said. “Winning the Boras Classic championship was one of the things I wanted my senior year. Hopefully we can win a league championship and a CIF championship too.”

 

Senior first baseman Blake Klassen, an Arizona signee, went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two stolen bases. Senior outfielder Nino Vultaggio went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored to win Offensive MVP and sophomore lefthander Gage Jump sat 87-90 mph on his fastball and featured a swing-and-miss curveball to earn Defensive MVP. Freshman righthander Mason McGwire, son of Mark McGwire, came on in relief in the fifth inning as well with his father in attendance.

It’s just the latest collection of talent in a long line of it at JSerra, and one that shows no signs of abating.

“Kids like Royce and Chase Strumpf and Davis Wendzel and Austin Hedges, we’ve had some great players in the program,” Kay said. “They’ve passed on that torch to guys like this. We feel we have a good nucleus of guys….We’re lucky to be in this position.”

La Mirada, led by top 2020 draft prospect Jared Jones and Southern California- committed catcher Darius Parry, dropped a routine fly ball that led to three unearned runs in the first inning, and another drop in the second inning led to two more unearned runs. The Matadors couldn’t dig out of that early hole and finished as runners-up for the second straight year. Jones went 0-for-2 and was victimized twice by strong defensive plays from Curialle. Perry went 2-for-3 while showing solid strike-zone discipline and plus arm strength behind the plate.