The Monster Feeds The Titans
- Updated: September 2, 2020
(Chula Vista’s Eastlake High School Titans pose after winning the 2017 San Diego Section Open Division banner. Photo courtesy of Eastlake Baseball/hometeamsonline.com.)
The monster feeds the Titans, and the Titans feed the Aztecs. That is our new topic. So, get ready, ladies and gentlemen. It is time once again for another exciting edition of the popular segment within CaliSports News’ Little League stories. I am referring to Where Are They Now? In my last article, I mentioned the San Diego State University Aztecs. Let us discuss them further.
Specifically, three current and four former San Diego State baseball players deserve mention. Each of those seven played for Chula Vista’s Eastlake High School Titans. The three currently on the Aztecs’ roster include Tre Brown, Brian Leonhardt, and Ricky Tibbett. Readers might recall Tibbett from Why I Follow Little League Baseball. In that article, I wrote that Tibbett played in the 2013 Little League World Series. I stated that his all-star team that represented Chula Vista’s Eastlake Little League won the United States title that year. I explained that Tibbett and six other members from that championship squad then went on to play for the 2018 Titans that reached the semi-finals in the San Diego Section Open Division playoffs. There, he and Leonhardt each pitched on that high school playoff team. Now, that pair combined forces for the Aztecs.
Remembering their Little League days.
Before playing for the Titans and later the Aztecs, the trio of Brown, Leonhardt, and Tibbett played Little League in Chula Vista. As stated, Tibbett starred at Eastlake Little League. Brown led its crosstown rival Park View Little League. Brown’s 2011 Park View all-stars finished tied for third in Southern California, after falling in the semi-finals to Huntington Beach’s Ocean View Little League. Ocean View then went on to South Williamsport, PA., and won the Little League World Series. Leonhardt played at Chula Vista American. That league’s Rules/Umpire Consultant David Shepherd remembers umpiring Leonhardt’s games, when that Aztec was much younger.
“‘Little Brian’ was a fierce competitor,” Shepherd told CSN. “He set a very high standard for himself and for his teammates. After one game, I was walking toward my car, and he and his father were walking the same way. Dad was telling Brian not to be so hard on teammates. I was kinda drawn into the conversation, and told Brian that he needs to play loose, and not to be so intense. I said, ‘if you keep this up, you’re going to develop an ulcer by the time you’re 16!!'”
(SDSU Aztecs’ Brian Leonhardt. Photo courtesy of Derrick Tuskan/SDSU.)
A few years later, Leonhardt re-visited Chula Vista American, and once again bumped into the longtime umpire, Shepherd told CaliSports News. During their brief reunion, the two spoke about Leonhardt’s experience of playing ball for the Titans. During that conversation, the then-high school standout suddenly told Shepherd, “I’ve learned to calm down and just enjoy the game.”
To Shepherd, “it was obvious Brian was giving me a nod to my advice from a few years prior,” the seasoned umpire told CSN. “Great kid,” he said. How is that for a feel-good story?
A natural talent.
At age 10, Leonhardt reportedly hit the ball hard at every at bat. “Toward the end of the regular season, the left-hander perfected his swing, and crushed balls to right field and right center, with many hitting or going over the fence,” Shepherd said. Then, according to the umpire, Leonhardt achieved an incredible feat. The youngster hit for a home run cycle. Brian belted a solo shot, a two-run homer, a three-run dinger, and a grand slam. Four home runs in a game, each with a different number of runners on base. He drove in 10 runs with those four swings. Incredible!
“Amazing success at such an early age,” Shepherd told CaliSports News. “He played nearly every position, and he was a decent catcher. By age 12, he was pushing six-feet tall. He was a man among boys. As a pitcher, he had excellent velocity, and could hit his spots consistently. I don’t recall him throwing many breaking balls, just heat and more heat. Of all the thousands of kids I’ve seen over the years, there have been a half-dozen or so with the pure, natural talent that I thought would take them to the highest level of baseball. Little Brian is on the short list.”
Where are they now?
As for playing multiple positions, Leonhardt both pitches and plays first base for the Aztecs. Shepherd shared with CSN another gem story. While Leonhardt attended Eastlake High, that former Titan joined Shepherd as a volunteer ump at Chula Vista American. Local boy done good.
(Ricky Tibbett, Little League World Series. Photo courtesy of Rob Carr/Getty Images.)
Next, let us return to the topic of Leonhardt and Tibbett pitching for Eastlake High. That pair formed 2018’s starting rotation together with Grant Holman, the Titans’ ace. In Why I Follow, I mentioned that like Tibbett, Holman lists as one of that year’s seven Titans that played on the 2013 US Little League champions. In SoCal Little League Tournaments Return, I stated that Holman now plays for the University of California at Berkeley Golden Bears, while in Smoking Sweetwater Valley To Battle Red Hot Park View, I reported that one of those seven, Micah Pietila-Wiggs, plays for the University of New Mexico Lobos. I should now add that another one of the seven, Nick Mora, now plays for the Chico State Wildcats. Tibbett, Holman, Pietila-Wiggs, and Mora. They total four-of-seven play collegiate baseball, with three in NCAA Division 1. Wow.
The Monster feeds the Titans.
One thing stands for certain. Eastlake High turned into a baseball factory. That should not surprise anyone. Think about it. Little League California District 42’s famous “three-headed monster” feeds into that school. So, the Titans draw talent from the monster’s rosters. As a result, Eastlake High became one of America’s premier programs. In fact, the Titans finished the 2017 season ranked no. 1 in California and no. 3 in the country. That year, Eastlake captured the San Diego Section Open Division title, as depicted in the photo at the top of this article.
I mentioned in Tournaments Return that four members from Bonita’s 2015 Sweetwater Valley Little League all-star team which finished third in the US went on to join the Titans. Of those four, two committed to play for college programs. Dante Schmid will play for the Division 1 San José State University Spartans. Nick Maldonado will join the California Lutheran University Kingsmen.
Currently, the Titans feature at least two more of the monster’s former all-stars headed towards a college baseball career. Those would be Nico Libed and Marcelo Mayer. They starred on Eastlake Little League. In 2017, Libed helped lead that league’s all-star team to the SoCal finals. Libed verbally committed to join the University of San Diego Toreros. Mayer did the same for the University of Southern California Trojans. In addition, one of their fellow Titans verbally committed to the California State University, Long Beach, 49ers. His name is Ray Cebulski.
The Titans feed the Aztecs.
On the Trojans, Mayer will join former Eastlake High star Ben Ramírez. Meanwhile, Cebulski will join former Titan Leonard Jones on the 49ers. Like Brown, Jones and Ramírez each played for Park View’s all-stars. I wrote that four former Aztecs that played for Eastlake High deserve mention. They include Julian Escobedo, Dylan McDonald, Dean Nevarez, and Casey Schmitt. In all, we see that many current and former Titans left or will leave their mark on college lineups.
(San Diego State’s Tre Brown. Photo courtesy of SDSU.)
Those Titans even sparked interest among the big leagues. In 2018, the Seattle Mariners selected Nevarez in the Major League Baseball draft. Last year, the Minnesota Twins drafted Eastlake’s Keoni Cavaco, while the Cleveland Indians took Escobedo. This year, the San Francisco Giants picked Schmitt, while the St. Louis Cardinals nabbed Jones. That totals five, count them, five players from Eastlake High chosen in the past three MLB drafts! Two of those five got picked in the first two rounds. The Twins grabbed Cavaco with MLB’s no. 13 pick overall.
In upcoming articles, I plan to feature more past Southern California Little League and high school stars that play for college teams. You do not want to miss those. Until then, stay tuned !!
Teamwork makes the dream work.
Finally, CaliSports News thanks everyone that shares our articles. Teamwork makes the dream work. On that note, CSN thanks California Districts 41 and 42, along with Santee’s Santana National Little League, for sharing last week’s, Where Are They Now?, on Facebook. With that, we conclude today’s new installment of Where Are They Now? More such segments will follow.
Until then, congratulations to Brown, Leonhardt, Tibbett, Holman, Pietila-Wiggs, Mora, Schmid, Maldonado, Libed, Mayer, Cebulski, Ramírez, Jones, Escobedo, Nevarez, McDonald, Schmitt, and Cavaco !! Go Aztecs, Kingsmen, Toreros, Trojans, 49ers, and Titans !! Let’s Go SoCal !!
(Eastlake Little League wins the 2013 US title. Photo courtesy of Howard Smith-USA TODAY.)
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