With the California-laden Philadelphia Phillies once again in the World Series it should come as no surprise that California again has a strong advantage over any other state or country for having the most players in the fall classic.

With World Series MVP Cole Hamels (a graduate of Rancho Bernardo High in San Diego) leading the way, the Phils are back in the World Series although one notable difference is the outfielder Pat Burrell (Bellarmine, San Jose) is no longer on the roster. 

No problem, though, for California as Burrell's spot is now taken by outfielder Ben Francisco (Servite, Anaheim).

One of the strength of the defending world champs, of course, is their up-the-middle combo of shortstop Jimmy Rollins (Encinal, Alameda) and second baseman Chase Utley (Long Beach Poly). Utley hammered a pair of homers in Game One of the series off Yankees' ace C.C. Sabathia, who himself is a CalHi alum and a former State Athlete of the Year from Vallejo High.

 

The other Phillie from a California high schools are infielder Greg Dobbs (Canyon Springs, Moreno Valley) while the other two Yankees are pitcher Phil Coke (Sonora) and pitcher Phil Hughes (Foothill, Tustin).

No other state has more than three former high school players in this year's World Series, including Texas and Florida. The only country with close to California's total of nine is the Dominican Republic with seven.

The 600-win mark is a major coaching milestone in California prep basketball. For veteran Fairfax of Los Angeles coach Harvey Kitani, the crowning achievement was supposed to happen sometime this December. 

The opportunity to publicly acknowledge Kitani's coaching achievements, however, will not take place. 

The reason? 

Win No. 600 already happened, courtesy of last year's 83-61 Fairfax victory over Washington of Los Angeles in the CIF L.A. City Section quarterfinals. Because of his humble nature and dedication to teaching the game, Kitani doesn't seem bothered by the snub.    

"Those things are nice, but I think it's great what you guys do to (compile high school records)," Kitani said.  

The CalHiSports.com coaching logs for Kitani accurately show him with a 590-186 mark (including defaults and forfeits) since he began coaching varsity basketball at Fairfax, beginning with the 1981-1982 season. 

The Gardena High and Long Beach State graduate, however, actually began his coaching career at San Fernando High School during the 1979-1980 season. Kitani's Tigers went 13-12 that year to bring his overall coaching record to 603-198 heading into the 2009-2010 season. Kitani never included his San Fernando season when filling out questionnaires in the past.

For the past 10 years, Kitani's Fairfax teams have been a staple in the ESPN RISE FAB 50, but this year will be a challenge to add to his league, city or state title totals, especially with league rival Westchester returning the majority of its top players from last year's CIF Div. I state title team. Kitani does return standout senior guard Jordan Weathers (6-2) and sounds excited about molding young talents such as sophomore Amir McCormick (6-1) and freshmen Amari Mundy (6-6) and Reggie Theus Jr. (6-6), the son of the former Inglewood, UNLV and NBA standout.   

With stops at schools from four different CIF sections, it's especially hard to track the coaching record of someone like Don Lippi, who is currently the boys coach at St. Joseph Notre Dame of Alameda.

With a push from new CIF sports information director Quwan Spears, who is involved in research to get as many California coaches included in a salute to successful prep coaches at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., Lippi's totals from his years at St. Patrick-St. Vincent of Vallejo, Skyline of Oakland, St. Ignatius of San Francisco and now St. Joe have now been reported.

Lippi, who was named the CalHiSports.com State Coach of the Year in 2004 after the Pilots won the CIF Div. IV state title, has an overall record of 619-229. His team at St. Joe in 2009-10 should be strong as well with many key returnees back from last year's group that lost in the CIF Div. V state final to Windward of Los Angeles.

One of the best rivalries in the L.A. City Section (the other being Garfield-Roosevelt) and one of the California's best overall is the annual meeting of South Bay schools Carson and Banning of Wilmington.

Both programs have had ups and downs in the past 20 years, but perhaps it was seeing old coaching rival and mentor Gene Vollnogle on the sidelines that got Banning head coach Chris Ferragamo and his troops fired up at the beginning of the 60th meeting between the two proud programs.

Despite coming in with a 2-5 record, Banning jumped all over the 5-2 Colts, taking a 17-7 lead on a eight-yard "alley-oop" pass from regular power back Daniel Bird to 6-foot-3 Elijah Sala with 15 seconds in the first half.

Banning gave away all the momentum, and eventually the game, when it kicked the ball out of bounds three consecutive times on the ensuing kickoff. When the Pilots finally kicked it inbounds, Carson's Dion Willis returned it 59 yards down to the two-yard line. With 1.6 seconds remaining on the clock, Myle Johnson then ran the ball in for a touchdown as the halftime horn went off with Carson trailing by only three points.

After that puzzling kickoff sequence, Carson (6-2) outscored Banning, 28-7, the rest of the way to pull out the 35-23 victory at Gene Vollnogle Stadium.

Carson now holds a 37-23 advantage on-the-field over its archival from Wilmington.

"They outplayed us in the first half...that's the way it goes sometimes," remarked Carson head coach Mike Christensen, who is now 5-0 in the rivalry. "Chris (Ferragamo) had his guys more ready to play than I did. It was a big thing for us to score before the half. We've been getting bailed out by our special teams all year."

Carson took the lead for good when Bird and a host of the would-be Pilot tacklers didn't wrap Johnson up in the backfield as he slipped through to score on a 17-yard scamper with 8:22 remaining in the third quarter. Johnson finished with 66 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 12 carries. He also got Carson on the board with a 96-yard kickoff return, his second in two weeks.

Willis then gave Carson a 28-17 lead on another 17-yard gaunt right up the gut of the Pilots' defense. Banning (2-6) actually cut the lead to 28-23 on a three-yard quarterback keeper by converted defensive end Fie Faaituala, but could get no closer because of a series on unforced penalties and defensive mishaps. 

Carson has now won every game in the series since the 2000 season. That year, the Pilots upset the Colts to win the L.A. City Section Championship Division final to finish with an 8-6 record. The two programs have combined for 23 L.A. City Section major division titles, 12 for Banning and 11 for Carson. 

          

•Oaks Christian defensive lineman Cassius Marsh has committed to LSU. Marsh was an early commit to Cal before deciding to re-open his recruitment. He took official visits to Arizona State, Cal and LSU but said he was blown away by his visit to Baton Rouge and the Tigers moved to the top of his list at that time. Marsh is one of the top tackle prospects in the West region and a three year starter at Oaks. He plays both ways for the Lions but was recruited to play defensive tackle by the Tigers. Marsh had 55 tackles and 16 sacks as a junior to earn all-state underclass honors. USC, UCLA and Oklahoma had offered and were also under consideration.

•While the Pac-10 lost out on Marsh, three commitments for Pac-10 schools coming in during the last week were from running back Jesse Callier from Warren of Downey to Washington, receiver Marquess Wilson of Tulare to Washington State and from kicker-punter Trevor Romaine from Centennial of Corona to Oregon State. Romaine figures to end his career at Centennial with a new state record for career conversions. He's shooting for the record of 206 set in 2004 by Gio Podesto from Central Catholic of Modesto.

•Other commitments reported within the last week are from TE Pierce Richardson (Crespi, Encino) to Iowa State; WR Sean Alston (Los Osos, Rancho Cucamonga) to Iowa State; QB Tyler Shreve (Redlands East Valley) to Colorado State; DL Jordan Hanson (Loyola, Los Angeles) to Nevada; and OL Emmanuel Beavers (Banning, Wilmington) to San Diego State.

•Lakewood Mayfair's football league winning streak of 50 games came to an end on Friday, Oct. 23 as the Monsoons were toppled, 42-12, by La Mirada in a Suburban League game. Mayfair's streak still makes it into the state record book, but the Matadores ended it convincingly. J.T. Torres had 10 carries for 138 yards and two TDs for La Mirada, which also was the last team to beat Mayfair in a league game back in 2001.

•Also from a game two weekends ago, Fulton Prep of Van Nuys defeated Discovery Prep of Pacoima 90-40 in an 8-man game. Fulton Prep might have scored 100 had the contest not been stopped with eight minutes remaining because of 8-man's 45-point mercy rule.

"We kind of let the other team score some touchdowns on kick returns by putting in all my subs on the kick coverage because the kids wanted to keep playing -- from both schools," Fulton Prep coach Sean Jackson said. "Nobody wanted to go home. Discovery scored five touchdowns on kick returns, including three in a row toward the end when I put in all the subs who never get to play."

Fulton Prep's Gegham Philiposian passed for nine touchdowns, and Julio Perez scored six touchdowns -- three rushing and three receiving.

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