Young Men With Balls

When it comes to high school athletics, Florida has moved ahead of California as a football powerhouse, New York and Chicago have always pumped out better (basket)ballers, and we've never been able to compete with Idaho when it comes to angry loners. So thank God for baseball. Baseball has always been our thing. In general, California—Southern California specifically and Orange County in particular—has been producing the best young players in the country since pitching godhead Walter Johnson was at Fullerton High. And Saturday, you can see another parade of great young players during the Southern Section's high school baseball championships at Anaheim Stadium. These athletes will not only likely go on to play in college, but a fair amount will also play professional ball. The final matchups weren't available by press time, but you can expect Orange County teams to be well-represented. Esperanza High is ranked No. 1 in Division I, while La Quinta is Division III's top-ranked team. Still, whichever team you see, it's pretty much guaranteed you're catching the best high school baseball this side of the Dominican Republic. I mean, c'mon, we can't compete with those guys.

CIF Southern Section Baseball Championships at Anaheim Stadium, 2000 Gene Autry Way, Anaheim. Sat. Division IV game, 10 a.m.; Division III, 1 p.m.; Division II, 4:30 p.m.; Division I, 7:30 p.m. $9 adults; $5 for children and high school students with I.D. Tickets are available through the competing schools and on Saturday at the Anaheim Stadium box office.