Spring sports blossom before league play

With temperatures rising and 10-week report cards on the horizon, spring sports are preparing before non-league play.

Baseball season is on deck and El Camino has a bright future. Cole Kitchen and Adam Christopher both led El Camino as underclassmen last year, and with a season of experience under their belts, these players look to add to add to the team’s success once again.

Junior Cole Kitchen showed quite a bit of what he had to offer last year on El Camino’s roster. The outfielder was the only sophomore named to the first team All-City team after batting .329 last spring and summer. Kitchen can also come in from the bullpen for head coach Josh Lienhard as he had a 0.00 ERA in 2.1 innings pitched. Kitchen has been featured on many youth baseball scout teams including the USA 16U team.

“Pitching and defense has been doing really well,” Lienhard said. “Some guys are finding their way into the lineup to make it  more consistent.”

Adam Christopher is another bright spot for El Camino. The young pitcher excelled last spring and summer, posting a 2.79 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP over 37.2 innings last year for the Conquistadors as a freshman.

“We have a complete different team,” Lienhard said. “We only returned about three or four key parts from last year.”

With young talent like this and the already solid core group of the seniors that El Camino has, a Dodger Stadium championship game is not too far out of reach.

Softball season, is also right around the corner and the lady Conquistadors are in business for the 2018 season. The Conquistadors finished with a 5-5 record last year in West Valley League play to end up in a tie for third place with the Chatsworth Chancellors. El Camino had the 11 seed last year in the City Division I playoffs and ended up losing in the first round to Carson.

After an offseason of only losing 3 seniors from 2017, El Camino still has its core group together. Standout players include junior outfielder Jordyn Vanhook, senior pitcher Christal Rooney and junior pitcher Sophie Pritchard. Madi Gilmore and Annie Moore are both veteran seniors who look to add some power to this Conquistador lineup.

Boys’ volleyball looks be dominant again in the West Valley League. Last year the team finished in the top 40 in the state and top 70 in the nation according to Maxpreps.

El Camino has suffered the loss of a few seniors from the last year including Emmanuel Egun, John McNally, and Fabian Aguilar. With returning players such as Jeremy McGranahan and  Brandon Botdorf, the Conquistadors have enough experience to lead them deep in the playoffs.