JSerra entered the 2021 baseball season under pressure.
Expectations were lofty. The pitching staff was as deep as the ocean, the batting order as dangerous as it could be. But the Lions started 2-5.
They got it together. JSerra won the Trinity League championship by winning twice in a high-stakes, three-game series against Orange Lutheran. The Lions advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship game and won the CIF Southern California Regional Division I championship.
Cody Schrier led the way with team highs for hits (43), home runs (8) and runs scored (37) while continuing the JSerra tradition of defensive excellence at shortstop. Schrier, who just completed his senior year, is the Register’s Orange County baseball player of the year.
Schrier, who signed with UCLA and is projected to be an early-round choice in the upcoming MLB draft, batted .374. His OPS – a combination of on-base percentage and slugging percentage – was a Mike Trout-like 1.19. He had 20 RBIs, third-most for the Lions, from the leadoff position in the order.
JSerra coach Brett Kay said Schrier did everything the right way.
“That’s why I call him Captain America,” Kay said. “He is a high achiever, a four-year starter, a real physical presence. He’s a big-time competitor playing a high-profile position in a high-profile league.”
One of his many crucial contributions to JSerra’s 30-7 season happened in the Lions’ 5-1 win over Ayala in the regional championship game. He reached base on three of his four plate appearances and scored the game’s first run in the first inning. That’s what every coach wants from the leadoff batter.
In JSerra’s final nonleague game, the Lions played Huntington Beach, one of Orange County’s elite baseball teams. Schrier opened the game with a home run and the Lions went on to a 6-4 victory.
JSerra did not win the league championship in Schrier’s freshman and sophomore seasons, and his junior year was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. So winning the Trinity League title this year was very satisfying.
“That was amazing,” Schrier said. “That’s been my goal every year since I’ve been here. We got off to a little bit of a weird start, but to get to where we did made it an awesome year.”
