Roper, Gallo and Johnny Sewald
Photo by Jann Hendry
The inaugural National High School Invitational on March 28-31 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. The Gaels are one of 16 teams in a loaded field that includes Carroll (Corpus Christi, Texas), George Washington (New York City), Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.) and Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.), which features two of the nation's top prep pitching prospects.
Local Outlook: The Las Vegas area was hit by graduation, making the Gaels even bigger favorites to capture another Class 4A state title. But perennial contender Green Valley (Henderson, Nev.) is expected to be in the mix along with the likes of Centennial (Las Vegas), Coronado (Henderson, Nev.), Liberty (Henderson, Nev.), Sierra Vista (Las Vegas) and Silverado (Las Vegas).
Johnny Sewald
Photo by Jann Hendry
The Gaels set Class 4A state records for most home runs (79) and stolen bases (124) in a season and bring the majority of that potent offense back, including Joey Gallo (LSU), Johnny Sewald (Arizona State) and Class of 2013 standout Kenny Meimerstorf. The pitching staff goes 10 deep and features two Division I signees in Cody Roper (UNLV) and Evan Dunn (Pepperdine) at the top of the rotation. Anything less than a seventh-straight state championship would be a shock, and depending on how Gorman fares against out-of-state competition, a national title isn't out of the question.
Coach Quote: "He hit 25 home runs last year and we're using the new bat this year, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. He's pretty impressive. Even all of us as coaches, we've seen good players and we all played with good players in high school. Tool-wise, his arm strength and power, he's the best I've ever seen."
- Nick Day, a 15th-round pick out of Green Valley High (Henderson, Nev.) in 1996 and former Stanford and BYU player, on Gaels star Joey Gallo
