Ganesha could miss several top players in Saturday's championship against Loyola due to an out-of-state camp

The Ganesha baseball team could be without several top players for Saturday's CIF Southern Section Division 2 championship game against Loyola, which is scheduled to be played at LoanMart Field in Rancho Cucamonga at 5:30 p.m.

The Giants could be without nearly their entire starting lineup from Tuesday's 2-1 semifinal victory over Newport Harbor, which could include star pitcher/hitter Logan Schmidt, an LSU commit who is expected to be a MLB first round draft pick. Schmidt, who is 8-0, was expected to be the starting pitcher in Saturday's final.

Two others that could be missing on Saturday are catcher Dyson Grant, an Oregon State commit, and pitcher/outfielder Ford Stoen, who is a Purdue commit.

Several of Ganesha's top players are expected to miss the game to attend an out-of-state BPA (Baseball Performance Academy) camp that was previously scheduled in Mississippi.

It was confirmed that Ganesha petitoned to the CIF-SS to move its championship to Friday, but its request was denied.

Ganesha is expected to field a team of rostered players for Saturday's championship, but the powerhouse of players that helped it finish 25-3-1, will likely be missing. Ganesha is playing for back-to-back championships, having won the Division 4 title last season.

Nearly all of the Giants players are part of the BPA baseball program and are allowed to compete at Ganesha due to the school's online program. Ganesha head coach Jared Sandler is also the founder and director of BPA.

Sandler called the situation a tough one.

"We are dealing with a very sad and disappointing situation," Sandler explained through text messages on Friday. "We have a lot of players and their families who are traveling out of town. (Ganesha athletic director Don Cayer) emailed CIF asking if we could play anytime Friday and if they could accomodate that. CIF responded by giving us the last game on Saturday. Our coaches, players and parents are very upset with CIF being so unwilling to work with us."

Sandler seemed to indicate that travel arrangements have already been made for players to be out of town on Saturday.

"It is to expensive for most families to change their trips this late," Sandler said. "With the expensive gas prices, the cost for flights is outrageous right now. We should be playing for back-to-back CIF championships and (right) now we are just trying to get enough players to play the game. It is beyond disappointing."

When asked specifically if Schmidt, Grant and Stoen will be missing Saturday's game, Sandler replied, "We are still working on it but as of now they have not been successful in changing their flights."

Sandler also indicated that he might miss the game as well due to the BPA camp.

When asked about the recent developments, Cayer, the school's athletic director, would only say, "I have no comment at this time."

Newport Harbor coach Josh Lee, whose team was defeated by Ganesha in Tuesday's semifinals, spoke on Friday's developments.

"This is a shame," Lee said. "Our program and every other program in the CIF playoffs have seniors who've spent four years working for this moment. It's sad to see it go down this way."

Earlier this season, Sandler was asked how important the high school season was to him and his players. The team doesn't post a roster or stats on MaxPreps. His response was telling given the recent developments.

"Most of them (players) have never played high school before and really don't care too much about it so we don't bother with (posting) stats," Sandler explained. "They are all committed to college, so they are playing to get ready for that. We just play the games to get some work in so they keep developing their skills. Really, all we are focused on is player development. We are just trying to get them ready for college and the draft."

If Sandler does not coach on Saturday, Cayer could possibly be asked to take over and coach in the championship game. Cayer would not comment on the possibility of that happening.

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