The San Gabriel Valley Pizza Chalet tournament, which always features several of the area’s top teams, kicks off the high school baseball season Monday, the first official day of the season.

With schools having a holiday Monday for President’s Day, there will be a full day of games, including an intriguing matchup of La Salle at Damien at 11 a.m.

La Salle, which defeated Bonita in the tournament championship game last year, is coached by Andy Nieto, who spent seven years at Damien (2015 to 2021) before resigning and eventually taking over at La Salle.

Nieto returns to Damien with a young Lancers squad that was 17-11 last year and returns two All-Del Rey League players in junior catcher Chris Cardenas and senior pitcher Morgan Sullivan.

“It’s still a fairly young group,” Nieto said, “but what is important is these guys are battle tested and have varsity experience under their belt.”

Damien was 16-11 overall last season and won the tough Baseline League. The Spartans bring back senior pitcher Jayden Avina, a Hawaii commit, along with junior third baseman Elius Kelly, junior catcher Gino Tarzia and left-handed pitchers Rudy O’Dell and Andrew Torres.

Bonita will host Kaiser in the first round. Bearcats coach Ryan Marcos has a talented roster again after finishing 19-8 last season and advancing to the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs.

Senior pitcher Camden Farino, who was an All-Palomares League first team selection a year ago, is committed to Westmont. Some of the other key players are shortstop Austin Owen (Grand Canyon University commit), junior pitcher Daniel Nageer (Loyola Marymount commit) and senior centerfielder Cody White. Also back is Jarret Kozma (1B/OF), Andrew Sanchez (utility), Brady Horn (OF) and catcher LJ Vasquez.

South Hills opens the tournament at home against Walnut at 10:30 a.m. The Huskies figure to be one of the area’s top teams again after going 19-9 last season.

The Huskies always have a strong pitching staff, and this season should be no different. They return senior Elias Reyes (Loyola Marymount commit) and sophomore Christian Santoyo. Senior Joseph Moreno is back after an injury-plagued junior season. Moreno was a key contributor to the team’s 2023 run to the Division 2 championship game.

Also back is senior infielder Carson Baker, another strong pitching arm, and shortstop Diego Villarreal.

Bishop Amat, which opens against Charter Oak at 11 a.m., brings back some solid pitching.

Senior left-hand pitchers Justin Peinado and Izaac Muniz return along with Raymond Castro, a second baseman and pitcher. They also return senior third baseman Levi Altamirado, junior shortstop Santiago Ramirez and senior outfielder Jacob Campos.