The Corona High baseball team enters the 2025 season with an opportunity to make Major League Baseball history.
No high school program has had three players from the same class taken in the first round of the MLB Draft in the same year. This spring, the Panthers have three seniors regarded by the scouting industry as potential first-round selections in Seth Fernandez, Billy Carlson, and Brady Ebel.
Hernandez, a right-handed pitcher, is ranked the fifth-best draft prospect in the nation and top-ranked high school pitcher by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, thanks to a fastball that reaches 99 miles-per-hour and one of the best changeups in the country.
Carlson, ranked the 10th-best draft prospect by Baseball America, is an athletic shortstop and right-handed pitcher who stands out defensively and can also hit for average and power, with a fastball that reaches 97 mph.
Ebel, the son of Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel, is one of the youngest players eligible for the 2025 draft class and is ranked 17th-best by Baseball America. Brady can play any position in the infield and is among the most advanced hitters in the class.
“They do a lot of things that big leaguers do,” said an American League Scouting Director, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “You could make an argument that all those guys fit as first-round picks.”
While there have been multiple first-round picks across multiple years from the same high school program – such as Harvard-Westlake with Max Fried, Lucas Giolito (2012 first-rounders), and Jack Flaherty (2014 first-rounder) – no team has produced three-or-more in the same draft class, according to Baseball Reference.
“There’s been teams with (underclassmen) and a senior that end up being first-rounders,” the Scouting Director said, “but I don’t remember three first-round types on the same team in the same class before this.”
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Corona, the 2024 CIF Southern Section Division 1 champions, will begin its season at home against Los Osos on Saturday, as the top-ranked high school team in the nation by both MaxPreps and Perfect Game USA.
Balancing the uncharted waters of having three potential first-round draft picks and others who could also be drafted, and attempting to defend a CIF-SS title, Corona baseball coach Andy Wise is treading carefully with his players.
“This is a career for these boys,” Wise said. “There’s a fine line, but I’m going to err on the side of caution.”
Corona’s biggest competitive hurdle, in the eyes of Wise, will come from travel following two of the nation’s most prestigious high school baseball tournaments; the Boras Classic in Orange County from March 26-28, and the National High School Invitational (NHSI) in North Carolina from April 9-12.
“Coming back from (NHSI) will be tough,” Wise said. “Last year we had to roll in early morning and drive from LAX in the rain on Sunday and play Monday and Tuesday against Centennial. This year it’s Santiago.
“Our league is pretty cutthroat. … They’re all good.”
While the “big-three” of Fernandez, Carlson, and Ebel will garner the most attention, Corona’s roster is filled with next-level players, with 12 returners from the CIF-SS title-winning team, and four notable transfers.
Senior right-handed pitcher and outfielder Ethin Bingamin – a transfer from Arrowhead Christian Academy – is ranked the 90th best 2025 high school draft prospect by Baseball America for both his pitching and hitting traits. He is considered a third-to-fifth round draft prospect with potential to rise higher.
“He’s such an outstanding athlete and it might get overlooked because he’s such a good pitcher,” Wise said. “The exit velocities and distance on balls he hits are as far and hard as anybody.”
Fellow senior transfers Gavin Flores (JSerra) and Jason Gerfers (Aquinas) are Division I college commits. Flores, a first baseman, is committed to Creighton. Gerfers, a right-handed pitcher, is committed to Arizona State.
Gerfers will join Fernandez and Bingamin in the Panthers’ pitching rotation, along with sophomore left-hander Mason Sims, who pitched to a 1.73 ERA over 24 1/3 innings as a freshman last season.
Junior outfielder Anthony Murphy ranks 55th by Baseball America among prep players for the 2026 MLB Draft. The LSU commit has led off and played center field in every game for Corona for two years, with no change anticipated.
“I’ve never had a better defensive center fielder,” Wise said. “He’s a dog in the yard. It doesn’t matter if it’s raining or sunny; you throw the ball out there and he’s fetching it at the best of his ability.”
Junior Trey Ebel, the younger brother of Brady, is a touted infielder committed to Texas A&M with attention from professional scouts.
Replacing four-year catcher Josh Springer – who was drafted and signed by the Texas Rangers after graduating in 2024 – will be an impossible task, though Wise is confident in Yucaipa transfer Jesiah Andrade, who is expected to catch in bulk for the Panthers.
Senior Joshua Sur, a Vanguard commit who will play left field, rounds out the lineup.
With a current roster filled with future Division I and professional ballplayers, the program has already seen talent come and go.
Three graduates from 2024 went on to play collegiately. Two others reached professional baseball: Springer and left-handed pitcher Ethan Schiefelbein, who was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the second round and signed for a $1.8 million bonus.
On paper, one could project seven-or-more professional baseball players from one program in the span of three years, an unmatched number in MLB history and potential for claiming the title of “greatest high school baseball team ever.”
“I’ve been asking myself for a year now which other high school teams have been as loaded as this Corona club,” said Baseball America’s lead draft analyst Carlos Collazo. “They have a chance to be a historic group, and as of right now, they are probably the most talent-rich team seen on a single high school roster.”
