College Baseball:

Two former Palomares League studs will compete in this weekend’s NCAA College Baseball World Series.

In fact, 2020 Glendora High School grad AJ Salgado, and Bonita’s Luke Mistone (2022) will meet up in the first round on Saturday morning at 11 our time.

The game is scheduled to air on ESPN.

Salgado starred for the Tartans baseball and football programs.

In 2018 and 2019, Salgado, Cade Marshman, Jacob Gonzalez and their boys led GHS to consecutive CIF-SS Division 3 semifinal round appearances in football.

Gonzalez, a shortstop and quarterback at Glendora, went on to win a CWS for Ole Miss in 2022, and he’s currently a member of the Chicago White Sox.

Unfortunately for Salgado and GHS, COVID-19 picked a lousy year to shut the world down.

The Tartans had one of their deepest rosters in years and they started the season 9-1 during his senior run.

In 2019, Salgado batted .282 with 22 hits, 12 runs, 13 RBIs and a pair of doubles

He began his collegiate career at Cal State Los Angeles before heading to Westwood to play at UCLA.

Mistone was one of the area’s best pitchers before injuring his arm during his senior campaign at Bonita.

He went 16-4 with an ERA around the 1.20 mark.

Mistone walked 32 and fanned 155 in 135 innings.

Once he figured out his arm wasn’t going to be his ticket forward, Mistone concentrated on swinging the stick, which he did very well at BHS.

Luke played all four years for the Bearcats, but he only hit during his sophomore-senior seasons.

It included a prep career batting average north of .400 with 83 hits and 19 doubles.

Head-to-head, Luke and Bonita went 4-0 against AJ and Glendora in 2019 and 2020.

Salgado and Mistone have both shined at the plate for the Bruins and Racers, respectively.

In 2025, Salgado is batting .313, with 70 hits, 57 runs, 52 RBIs, 18 doubles, four triples and 12 home runs.

For his part, Mistone is batting at a .340 clip with 82 hits, 55 runs, 53 RBIs, 17 doubles, three triples & four home runs.

Of the eight programs in Omaha (Arkansas, LSU, Oregon State, Coastal Carolina, UCLA, Louisville, Arizona and Murray State), the Bruins are sixth and the Racers are eighth according to Las Vegas’ odds of winning the CWS.

Arkansas (+215) and LSU (+230) are far and away the favorites.

For those of you that aren’t degenerate gamblers, for every $100 you bet on Arkansas to win the CWS, the return would be $315.

UCLA is listed at +900 and Murray State (+4000) could win someone a lot of money if they left Nebraska as national champs.

Ironically, had the people in power not f****d up conference play as we knew it, the Pac-12 would have nearly half the field at the CWS with UCLA, Oregon State and Arizona.

To earn their spot in Omaha, the Bruins have gone 8-1 in the postseason, including a two-game sweep of UTSA at the UCLA Super Regional.

Murray State in 9-2 over that same stretch, and after dropping the first game at the Duke Super Regional, the Racers secured wins of 19-9 and 5-4 over the Blue Devils on Sunday and Monday, respectively.

Lastly, both Salgado and Mistone come from awesome families, and this site wishes AJ and the Bruins and Nick and the Racers the very best.

The SGV is very proud of both of you.

2025 Team Records:
UCLA: 47-16 overall, 22-8 in Big-10 & 8-1 in postseason
Murray State: 44-15 overall, 17-8 in Missouri Valley Conference & 9-2 in postseason

Super Regional Series Results:
UCLA swept University of Texas, at San Antonio, 2-0
Murray State defeated Duke, 2-1

Super Regional Scores:
UCLA:
6/7: UCLA 5, UTSA 2
6/8: UCLA 7, UTSA 0

Salgado at Super Regional:
Game 1: 2-for-4, walk & double
Game 2: 1-for-4, walk, double & two runs

Murray State:
6/7: Duke 7, Murray State 4
6/8: Murray State 19, Duke 9
6/9: Murray State 5, Duke 4

Mistone at Super Regional:
Game 1: 1-for-3 & one RBI (sac fly)
Game 2: 1-for-6, run & one RBI
Game 3: 2-for-5, solo HR

Quotable:

Former Glendora coach Dan Henley on Salgado: “AJ was a standout for us in high school—not just for his talent, but for his resilience. He honed his craft through the challenges of the COVID years, stayed patient, and never stopped growing. Now, he’s a cornerstone on a tremendous UCLA team, and it’s incredibly exciting to see another Tartan chasing a championship in Omaha. I couldn’t be prouder of him.”

Bonita Coach Ryan Marcos on Mistone: “Luke Mistone is one of the hometown legends of Bonita High School. He’s been gone now for three years, but his name continues to come up from faculty/staff, students, coaches, players, and fans. People are proud to know Luke because he’s a great human being. His character, his drive, and his mental toughness complement his physical skills on the baseball field. I’ve been blessed to coach a lot of baseball players and great humans, and Luke is right up there with the most consistent and hard-working baseball players I’ve ever had the honor of coaching. He comes from a baseball family. His older brother, Nick, and his dad, Dom, have always been committed to the game and they are a very tight family. Luke and Nick shared the field together in the 2019 season and I’ll never forget when Luke went in to close as a freshman pitcher on varsity in a big pressure spot at Ayala with the game on the line. We were up by one or two runs in the top of the 7th. Luke got us two quick outs, and the final out was a ground ball to Nick at shortstop. Nick threw a strike to first. It was a special moment watching Luke and Nick solidify a league championship. The Mistone brothers are who you want on your team for sure. Watching Luke hit the baseball this year is no surprise to me, or any of us who know him. I’ve witnessed his work ethic, his baseball IQ, and his competitive spirit all the way to the California HS D-2 state playoffs and we’re watching it live on television now. Luke is going to give everything he’s got in Omaha. I love that guy, and I hope Luke and Murray State continue to shock the college baseball world.”

AJ Salgado Stats at GHS:
2020: .308, 8 hits, 6 runs, 6 RBIs, 3 doubles & 1 triple
2019: .282, 22 hits, 12 runs, 13 RBIs & 2 doubles
2018: .167, 3 hits, 3 runs & 1 RBI

Glendora Records w/Salgado:
2020: 9-1, 0-1
2019: 16-13, 8-7
2018: 17-11-1, 7-7-1

Luke Mistone Stats at BHS:
2022: .400, 36 hits, 22 runs, 20 RBIs, 7 doubles & 3 HRs; 2-1, 1.11 ERA, 7 walks & 21 strikeouts in 19 IP
2021: .372, 32 hits, 15 runs, 14 RBIs & 11 doubles; 8-2, 1.54 ERA, 17 walks & 98 strikeouts in 68 1/3 IP
2020: .469, 15 hits, 4 runs, 7 RBIs & 1 double; 3-0, 0.32 ERA, 3 walks & 22K’s in 22 IP
2019: 3-1, 1.09 ERA, 5 walks & 14 strikeouts in 25 2/3 IP

Bonita Records w/Mistone:
2022: 19-7, 13-2
2021: 17-7, 11-4
2020: 7-2, 1-0
2019: 22-7, 14-1

College World Series First Round Schedule:
Fri: No. 13 Coastal Carolina vs Arizona at 11 am (Pacific Time)
Fri: No. 8 Oregon State vs Louisville at 4
Sat: No. 15 UCLA vs Murray State at 11 am
Sat: No. 3 Arkansas vs No. 6 LSU at 4

Las Vegas Odds to Win College World Series:
Arkansas (+215)
LSU (+230)
Oregon State (+600)
Coastal Carolina (+650)
Arizona (+900)
UCLA (+900)
Louisville (+1100)
Murray State (+4000)