The following article is from The Coast News, “Sons of MLB stars fuel Cathedral Catholic’s dominant season.”
by Noah Perkins | April 17, 2026

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“Thirty years ago, it would have been more intimidating to me,” Cathedral Catholic baseball head coach Gary Remiker recently said while scanning the Dons’ roster, pausing on four last names familiar to Major League Baseball fans.

The Dons, 17-1 and ranked No. 6 in the state by MaxPreps, are anchored by four sons of current or former big leaguers: senior infielder Trey Kotsay (Mark Kotsay), senior pitcher Shoei Darvish (Yu Darvish), senior outfielder Xavier Nady (Xavier Nady), and junior outfielder/first baseman D.J. Sweeney (Mike Sweeney).

“I’ve been at this level for 32 years and been a head coach for 26 years,” Remiker said. “The biggest names that went through the school were the Hoffmans.”

Remiker, who has led the program since 2001 with more than 500 wins and several section championships, also coached Quinn and Wyatt Hoffman — sons of Padres legendary closer Trevor Hoffman — more than a decade ago.

“What’s interesting is the guys who played in the big leagues are, for the most part, the best parents, because they understand how hard the game is,” Remiker said. “If their sons are doing well or struggling or starting or coming off the bench, they understand that’s part of baseball. I’ve been grateful for how much support they’ve given us — coming out to practice, talking to the kids, sharing their experiences, giving insights. All of that has helped me become a better coach.”

 

In the Dons’ most recent win — an 11-0 shutout of Coronado on April 15 at home — 6-foot-1 right-hander Shoei Darvish, a UC San Diego commit, improved to 5-0, lowering his ERA to 0.57 after six shutout innings in which he allowed two hits and struck out nine.

The rotation has been bolstered by juniors Jose Partida (4-0, 1.69 ERA) and Cody Reynolds (3-1, 2.47 ERA), while senior Kaden Kuhn (1-0, 1.91 ERA) has emerged as the primary arm out of the bullpen.

“I think the pitchers have done a phenomenal job of minimizing damage,” Remiker said. “They haven’t been perfect by any stretch, but when they give up runs, it’s usually one. They don’t give up big innings. When they get in trouble, they’ve found ways to work out of it, and we’ve played outstanding defense behind them.”

Cathedral Catholic pitching coach Rob Reiter has worked alongside Remiker since 2001.

“He’s done a great job preparing these kids to go out and pitch,” Remiker said.

“Our pitchers are competitive guys,” he added. “They want to go out and do whatever they can to help the team win. It’s not about worrying about the draft or scholarships — that takes care of itself. They just want to compete every day.”

Offensively, the Dons have been led by junior outfielder/first baseman Joshua Priest, who is hitting a blistering .589 with four home runs, 20 RBIs, and 20 runs scored, along with Kotsay, who is batting .478 with one home run.

“[Priest] is a phenomenal hitter and a great athlete,” Remiker said. “Every at-bat, he’s trying to win a one-on-one competition.”

“Trey Kotsay is clutch,” he added. “He hits for a high average and always seems to come through with runners in scoring position and two outs. He’s been huge for us.”

First place in the Western League — which Remiker called the toughest in the county — Cathedral Catholic closes the regular season with a home-and-away series against Coronado, Patrick Henry, Point Loma, St. Augustine and University City, running through May 15.

“I break our season into three segments: the tournament portion, the league season, and then the playoffs,” Remiker said. “The tournament is behind us, now it’s about the Western League. Every game is going to be a challenge.”

“If we handle that, we’ll be in the right position going into the playoffs — hopefully a No. 1 or 2 seed in the Open Division — and then we’ll see what happens from there.