2026 SoCal Rising Stars Game: Quick Hits

May 5, 2026
Steven Hardesty
Assistant Scouting Director

On Sunday, May 3rd, the Prep Baseball California team hosted the SoCal Rising Stars Game at Corona HS in Corona, Cal. This was an invite-only event for grad classes (2030-2031), and gave our staff an ample look at the area's top prospects.

Over 20 players made their way to Corona and participated in a pro-style workout, gathering unrivaled access to data through our state-of-the-art tech partners, as well as in-depth scouting analysis from our Prep Baseball California staff.

To start the day, all position players in attendance ran a 60-yard sprint, which was then followed by defensive evaluations at their primary and secondary position (OF, C, SS, 1B) with arm strength being measured via a Stalker Radar gun and skill evaluations by our staff on hand. Upon completion of the defensive workout, the players went into offensive evaluations with multiple rounds of batting practice, where Trackman Technologies were in use to gather batted ball data on each player in attendance. Once the batting practice portion of the event was completed, we shifted into a five-inning simulated game with pitchers facing five hitters per inning. During the simulated game portion of the day, Trackman Technologies were in use to gather all pitch data for the arms throwing during the simulated game.

Today, we will be looking at some of the top overall performers from the event, found below.

EVENT STANDOUTS:

Mason Guangorena C / SS / La Mirada High, CA / 2030

Guangorena is the third in line of a talented lineage of brothers who have been standouts on the SoCal amateur baseball scene, and Mason is quickly making his own presence known. The LH hitting backstop showed well during his previous appearance at the IE Rising Stars ID as part of the free-attendee option to earn his spot at the SoCal Rising Stars Game, and once again shone amongst a talented group of players in attendance. His LH swing is smooth with present impact while showing both consistency during batting practice and the ability to hit in-game. During BP, Mason flashed present doubles power, driving a 319' drive to the pull side while averaging nearly 82 MPH of exit velocity with a peak near 87 MPH with 77% of his contact being in the air. His defensive skill set is impressive at a young age, with a present 71 MPH C velocity and pop times below the 2.1 range with accuracy to the base. Plus, for good measure, he moves well at SS with body control, smooth hands, and carry to his throws from the SS spot to be a versatile defender who can easily handle a spot on the INF dirt. Once the game started, those raw tools each showed up with Guangorena collecting a pair of hits in three plate appearances, using both sides of the field while drawing a walk, and for good measure, made a nifty play at 2B on a hard hit one-hopper that he snared when the ball skipped high over his head and retired the runner at 1B. All in all, Mason has firmly made it known that the Guangorena name is going to be one to follow for several more years on the SoCal scene.

Tristan Miyashiro LHP / OF / Harvard-Westlake, CA / 2030

Miyashiro earned his spot in the SoCal Rising Stars Game by attending the OC Preseason ID as the youngest player in attendance. Back in front of our staff about five months later, Miyashiro showed once again why he is going to be a name to keep tabs on when he matriculates into the Mission League at the powerhouse Harvard-Westlake program. Miyashiro shows real present two-way ability with a long-term potential to remain on both sides of the game. With a compact LH swing that produces intriguingly consistent solid contact both in BP (88.3 MPH max EV and 82.4 MPH avg EV) and during the game with a pair of hits in two at-bats, including a line drive double into the RCF gap after stinging a two-strike single, while drawing a walk. But, as solid as what Miyashiro does as a position player presently, don't discount his potential on the mound as a southpaw who presently shows a lively FB in the 80-83 MPH range with late life into the zone and an emerging CB that flashes sharp bite to induce whiff from both RHH and LHH hitters. Miyashiro punched out three of the five hitters he faced to put an exclamation mark on an outstanding showing, yet again for our staff.

Dallas Knothe SS / RHP / San Marcos Senior High, CA / 2030

Knothe earned his way to the SoCal Rising Stars Game with a standout performance as just an SS at the Central Coast Rising Stars ID, but then flashed an interesting two-way profile on this day at the SoCal Rising Stars Game. He moves athletically at SS, where his feet are rhythmic, his body control is fluid, his hands are soft, and his arm shows solid present carry with innate accuracy during the INF workout. His BP was a display of consistent bat to ball with a sound awareness for the barrel producing (82.4 MPH max EV while averaging 75 MPH on his EVs). His sound swing and solid feel for solid contact translated into an impressive in-game performance as he drilled a pair of line drive singles back through the middle of the diamond across three at-bats, with his other plate appearance being a disciplined walk. Knothe posted an in-game strikeout on the mound with a FB that lived in the mid 70's at present, while reaching the 78+ MPH range several times, and the makings of a potentially sound breaking ball with his 66-70 MPH CB. While the position player profile for Knothe stands slightly ahead of his work on the mound, the entirety of what this Santa Barbara-based player showed across two events will ensure his name remains one to keep close tabs on in the coming years.

Gavin Cruz C / 3B / Norco High, CA / 2030

Cruz previously shone bright at the IE Rising Stars ID to earn himself a spot at the SoCal Rising Stars Game and backed it up with a strong overall showing. More compact in build, but with emerging present strength in his frame, Cruz looks the part of a long-term backstop with the actions in his receiving and present throwing ability (76 MPH C velocity with 2.05-2.1 pop times) that have him showing impact potential at the premium spot as he matures. As good as what Cruz does with his work behind the plate, there is plenty to be intrigued by with his offensive profile. With a swing that features both present bat speed and loft in the bat path, Cruz produces consistent hard contact, and when that contact is in the air, it carries well. Across two rounds of batting practice, Cruz peaked at 95 MPH with EV (second best at the event) while averaging 86.7 MPH on all of his balls in play. The loft in his path can get his contact point on top of the ball at times during BP, but as he polishes his approach/timing with maturity will get the ball in the air more consistently to tap into the power upside in his profile. During the game, Cruz didn't collect a hit, but did in two at-bats flash the impact potential in his bat as he drove a deep F-9 into the RCF gap that helped advance a runner from second to third, while in another at-bat drove another ball deep into the OF with carry. The angles and impact in the batted ball profile, with the flashes he showed in-game, combined with the quality of how he operates a premium spot behind the plate, will have Cruz firmly on the radar of names to follow in the 2030 class going forward.

Dylan Hottle SS / 2B / Orange Lutheran, CA / 2030

Hottle is another younger brother in attendance (older brother Gavin plays at OLU and is a USC signee) who is starting to build his own profile to follow and is actually a returnee to the SoCal Rising Stars Game after a solid showing at the 2025 version of this event. Most noticeable about Dylan was the physical development he has had from 2025 to 2026, standing several inches taller now with emerging physicality in his frame. He is starting to resemble his talented older brother's physicality now as he prepares to enter high school in the fall. The growth of Hottle also notably brought more consistency to his ability to flash a sound overall toolset with clean, consistent actions on the INF dirt, showing rhythm to his footwork and hands, while posting the second strongest arm velocity at 79 MPH with sound accuracy throwing from different angles. His RH swing is simple with a well-connected turn that helps him tap into strength at impact with present max EV at 90.7 MPH, but the youthfulness in his timing/approach can be polished to more consistently tap into those higher-end EVs in the profile (as one of just five hitters in attendance to hit a ball over 90 MPH). During the game, the offensive profile played similarly, with a day that was highlighted by a hard line drive double into the RCF gap that had the type of carry and angle at contact that, as he learns to catch the ball out front with the same type of swing path, has the potential to turn into HR power to the pullside. As his brother departs OLU for his future, Dylan will come onto campus in the fall with the type of present skillset and upside to ensure that Hottle will be a name to keep tabs on in the SoCal high school/travel ball scene for years to come.

Vincent Messick SS / 3B / San Dimas High, CA / 2030

Messick quickly passes the eye test as a prospect with a projectable 6'3 frame that has length in the upper body, high hips, and wiry present strength to dream on what he can mature into. Along with the projection in his frame, the San Dimas bound two-way product has a strong present skill set to build on in the coming years. As an INF, he plays with soft hands that field the ball cleanly, while showing feel for his footwork and an arm that projects to stick on the left side long term with 82 MPH INF velo while carrying low out of the hand accurately to the bag (for good measure, he showed an 83 MPH OF arm with accuracy to home plate). At the plate, he takes a swing which flashes present upside with impact (89 MPH max EV with 60% of his contact in the air and a max batted ball distance of 317'), but does present some areas for polish to consistently tap into the intrigue of what he presents as a RH hitter. He complements his strong offensive/defensive profile with intriguing upside on the mound. His pure arm strength from the position player workout takes another step when on the mound, as he worked consistently with a FB in the 80-83 MPH range and peaked at 84.5 MPH with 18.1" of average IVB on the offering to collect whiffs (multiple Ks during his five-batter inning). He showed feel to locate his mid to upper 60's present CB in the zone, with it landing there 66% of the time during his inning, which made for a difficult two-pitch look for hitters. With the frame, the tools, the feel to tap into them, and two of the game up side, Messick is going to be a fun name to keep track of going into high school baseball in the San Gabriel Valley area.

Max Moreno OF / 2B / Beaumont Senior High, CA / 2030

After a stellar workout during the IE Rising Stars ID, where his dynamic present athleticism with emerging strength in his frame earned him an invite to the SoCal Rising Stars Game, Moreno took it to another level on this day. Having now twice run a 6.6 range 60-yard sprint, it is true CF long-term speed while showing an accurate 78-82 MPH OF arm, which has both full distance carry and the ability to locate it on one-hop to both 3B and home plate to be a real weapon throwing the ball from the OF. His LH swing is geared for all fields, hard contact with a direct path into the zone, and leverage to the middle of the field while showing loft to the pullside that can grow into potential HR power in the future. Moreno hits the ball solidly at a high rate, 78 MPH avg EV with a peak at 82 MPH on the day, with 100% of his contact going in the air. The consistency of what he does during batting practice translates into the game as he collected a hard opposite field single, stung a one-hopper back to the pitcher in a 2K count, and then doubled into the LCF gap in his final trip to the plate with the pitching machine running. Dynamic with his present athleticism to profile a long-term future in the middle of the OF grass while adding in a top of the order offensive profile with intrigue impact potential as he continues to mature, has Moreno presenting the type of profile that is going to be a fun one to follow through his high school career in the Inland Empire area.