After having one of the best seasons in Culver City High School baseball history last year, the Centaurs are trying to capture that momentum in 2025. Last year they reached the CIF Division 4 semifinals, losing to Camarillo 6-4. Camarillo went on to win the championship. Culver City finished the 2024 season with an outstanding record of 25-5.
This year the Centaurs are 7-4, having lost four games by one run in the beginning of the season. Now they are riding a five-game winning streak, and they are in first place with a 3-0 record in the Ocean league. They face Inglewood on Thursday, March 20, at 3:15 p.m. at home and they travel to Palos Verdes High School on Friday for a 3:15 p.m. non-league game. Next week they have a road game against Leuzinger on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and they return home to face Leuzinger on Thursday, March 27, at 3:15 p.m. “The guys are working very, very hard and they have brought into our system, and they believe in themselves,” said third year head coach Devaughn Wallace.
Wallace and his coaching staff are facing a different type of challenge this year as they move into league play. Last season every Bay league game was like a playoff game facing teams like Mira Costa and Redondo Union. This year the Ocean league is not as strong. “Right now, in the Ocean league we want to work on our mental toughness, work on things that we would not normally work on at this stage in the season,” said Wallace.
To be a good baseball team you must have good pitching, and the Centaurs check that box. “We have four aces on the mound,” said Wallace. “We have four guys that can be our number one starter at any given moment. We have Nico Weber-Smith, who was pretty dominate last season. Anthony Yepez, who pitched in the CIF semifinal game last year, Nolan Reisenberg, who is throwing in the high 80’s and Ben Navarez, who was our opening day starter.”
For every good pitching staff there has to be a good catcher to handle the pitchers. For Culver City that’s Nick Cablk. “We ask him to just control the game,” said Wallace. “We are not trying to do anything beyond our control. We want Nick to be a leader, work hard and help us control the game.”
According to Wallace, Cablk is also leading the team in hitting right now. He is hitting above .400 and early in the season when the team was not hitting, Cablk was one of the players that was keeping the Centaurs in the game. Other players that are producing offensively now are Axel Anderson, Reisenberg and Devin Asamura-Hall.
The Centaurs have several defensive starters from last year and that helps them to be a balanced baseball team. Culver City may not be as good as they were last year but with good coaching and a solid group of players the sky’s the limit for this group of Centaurs.
The Centaur softball team is 2-9 but they are 2-0 in the Bay league. Their game is Thursday, March 20, at Leuzinger at 3:30 p.m.
The track and field team is getting ready to take a group of athletes to the prestigious Texas Relays at the end of the month. So far both the girls and the boys track and field teams are posting excellent times on the track and solid marks in the field events.
The boys’ lacrosse team is currently 3-3 and 0-1 in league play. Their next game is at home against Santa Monica on Friday, Mach 21, at 5 p.m. The girls’ lacrosse team is 2-3 and they will travel to Santa Monica on Friday for at 3:15 p.m. game.
