52nd ANAHEIM LIONS BASEBALL TOURNAMENT: La Mirada gets a seventh inning gift, rallies to defeat Arizona team

March 16, 2026

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

For the first five innings, La Mirada High was flustered by the pitching of Cole Harris from Campo Verde High in the first game of the 52^nd Anaheim Lions Baseball Tournament last Friday. But over the next two innings, the Matadores were doing the flustering against Harris and two relievers.

Held to three baserunners through the first five innings, the Matadores scored once in the bottom of the sixth inning, and three more in the seventh, all with two outs as the hosts rallied for a 4-3 victory.

“We’re still trying to find our identity and what it means to play at La Mirada, for La Mirada,” said head coach Jimmy Zurn. “That’s the goal every day. I’ve got a young, inexperienced group that’s going to have it’s ups and downs, and the goal is by the end of the year, come playoff time…we just have to be better. Any win is a good win; I’m not going to take anything away from that.

“[Sophomore pitcher Julian Pardinas] was remarkable,” he continued. “But offensively, we’re going to continue to give lots of guys opportunities until they can solidify themselves that they want to be in the lineup. That’s kind of where we’re at right now.”

Harris allowed a one-out single to junior second baseman Michael Burgueno and a two-out base hit to senior Jaeden Estevez in the bottom of the second inning and a one-out double to senior catcher Justin Torres in the fourth for the lone blemishes through his first five innings. The Matadores had a chance to get on the board in the fourth, but freshman third baseman Blake Barberena was robbed out of at least a single when Waylon Peralta made a fantastic diving catch in left field for the first out.

“That’s a typical high school pitcher,” said Zurn of Harris. “Kudos to him; obviously he did what he was supposed to do against us. But we have to be better against a guy like that, period.”

But before that, Campo Verde, the Gilbert, AZ-based school which was built in 2009, got to senior pitcher Kaden Corns immediately as Wyatt Rauch singled to the right field gap on the first pitch of the game and moved to third two batters later when Ezekiel Zion singled to right and advanced on an error. Two pitches later, both runners scored on a double to the right field gap from Zharius McAllister.

Corns walked Drake Bradley on four pitches to begin the next inning and would score a few batters later on a groundout from Rauch. After that, Corns and Pardinas kept the Coyotes at bay, allowing three more hits in the final four innings and two other baserunners. Of the five, only two managed to get to second base.

Corns went four innings, allowing four hits, striking out three and walking one while Pardinas worked the final three frames, striking out five, walking one and throwing 50 pitches.

“He is a special talent; he’s only a sophomore,” said Zurn of Pardinas. “He was up to 90 [miles per hour] tonight. We’re very blessed to have him for a few more years after [this one]. He’s the next line of…he’s going to be a special one. He kept them off-balanced; his velocity was firm enough, and really, Kaden didn’t throw bad after the first inning.”

In the sixth inning, junior pinch hitter Ian Nunez reached on an error and Harris walked sophomore pinch hitter Jeremiah Gomez to give the Matadores their best start to an inning. With one out, Torres was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Burgueno singled on a 1-2 count to bring home Nunez. The Matadores left the bases loaded in the inning, but at least they were finally getting to Harris.

“We don’t have anybody in our lineup that’s irreplaceable, this year,” said Zurn. “We’ve been pretty gifted the last [few years]. We have guys who match up well against guys…we think about certain guys, certain velocities, this and that. And really if it cones down to it, if you’re not going to give us good at-bats, then we’re going to give an opportunity to another guy who might.”

Harris threw 96 pitches through six innings and Campo Verde went to Garret Liedberg who walked freshman designated hitter A.J. Montes on a full count to lead off the seventh. Montes was replaced by senior pinch runner Ryan Campos before Liedberg hit junior pinch hitter Joshua Angulo, who would be replaced by senior pinch runner Aaron Reyes, on a full count. That ended the night for Liedberg and Justin Klingenberg relieved him on the mound.

After a sacrifice from senior center fielder Noah Rodriguez and a fly put from senior shortstop Jesse Colon, Barberena, on a full count, appeared to pop up to end the game. However, it was dropped, allowing Campos and Reyes to score, and after another batter was hit, Burgueno ended the contest with a single to shallow left on a 1-1 count.

“We don’t have one guy who was in the lineup every game last year, and that’s okay,” said Zurn. “That’s why we have guys who are fully capable and talented; it’s their turn to step up, and they need to step up. We’re not a very good offensive team right now and being able to squeak [this game] out…the talent’s there, the capability is there. Every game that comes and goes is another game of experience. I’d rather be on the right side of an ugly game than the wrong side.”

La Mirada improved to 5-2 and has three more games in the tournament this week before visiting Gahr High on Tuesday in the Gateway League opener. The teams will then come back to La Mirada on Wednesday for the second of three games next week. This isn’t the first time the Matadores have been in the Anaheim Lions Tournament, but the Matadores were not invited back to the Boras Classic, which they had participated in the past four seasons.

Since 2021, this was the fourth time the Matadores have been in the Anaheim Lions Tournament with the other three seasons coming in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Other tournaments La Mirada has been in since 2021 have been the Boras Classic (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025), the Loara Tournament (2022 and 2023), the National High School Invitation in Cary, N.C. (2025), the Perfect Game Showdown (2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026), the Prep Baseball California Spring Invitational (2024), the Ryan Lemmon Tournament (2021 and 2026) and the Southern California Showdown (2025).

La Mirada will host Etiwanda High on Mar. 17 and Riverside Prep the next day before going to Aliso Niguel High on Mar. 19 in the tournament.

“It is nice to be at home [in the Anaheim Lions Tournament],” said Zurn. “We just didn’t get invited [this year in the Boras Classic]. That’s not my decision to make; that’s not my decision to judge. We would have loved to be in it, but they went a different direction thinking we were a little down this year, according to what was told to me. So, it’s all good.”