Baseball: It’s going to be the battle of pitchers named Jack

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The high school baseball season officially begins on Saturday, and one of the openers should be a battle of pitchers named Jack.

Jack Hartman of Reseda Cleveland is expected to oppose Jack Flaherty of Studio City Harvard-Westlake in Saturday’s 11 a.m. Easton tournament opener at Cleveland. Hartman, a left-handed senior, is headed to Pennsylvania. Flaherty, a junior, is committed to North Carolina.

Other intriguing openers: Defending Division I champion Newbury Park plays at Quartz Hill; No. 1-ranked Agoura is at Golden Valley; former major leaguer Rob Dibble makes his coaching debut for Calabasas at home against Valencia.

In the Southern California Invitational, junior Alonzo Garcia, who was 12-1 last season, will be on the mound for San Fernando at home against Granada Hills.

In the Paramount tournament, Capistrano Valley is hosting Long Beach Poly at 9:30 a.m. Stanford-bound left-hander Chris Castellanos is back for Poly. Gardena Serra plays at Mission Viejo in a 3 p.m. game.

-- Eric Sondheimer