Prep talk: Midnight Madness at South Hills High was big success

There was pure midnight madness at South Hills High in West Covina Monday morning.

South Hills, trying to beat the rain and also wanting to highlight its new lights, faced Covina in a high school baseball game that started at 12:50 a.m. and ended at 3:34 a.m. with South Hills winning 5-1.

To say it was a great success would perhaps be an understatement.

Despite little warning due to the last-minute decision due to weather reports, both schools drew between 800 and 1,000 fans, according to South Hills coach Darren Murphy. South Hills principal Terry Abernathy supported the idea, showing up to the game despite arriving from another school activity at Sea World. And the players certainly showed they could one day play for Nevada Las Vegas or a New Orleans team by performing late into the night.

“I’ve never done that before for baseball,” said South Hills pitcher Carson Baker, who struck out four in three innings.

The South Hills players took the game seriously. They took naps on Sunday to make sure they didn’t fall asleep. And they’ve stocked up on energy drinks, so players would definitely appreciate NIL offerings from any drinks company looking to prove they provide energy.

“We had to mentally prepare for it,” Baker said.

Murphy said: “They were nervous and excited. How nice to be young.”

Parents provided heat lamps in the dugout to cope with temperatures in the 50s.

The fact that Covina agreed to play the game after midnight on short notice was a tribute to the relationship Murphy has with Covina coach Tim O’Leary, who was formerly the pitching coach at South Hills.

After the match ended, some players wanted to stay together and go eat at 3:30 in the morning. Murphy made it clear that this was not a good idea.

Baker said he went home, fell asleep around 5 a.m. and didn’t wake up until noon. Monday was the school holidays. And he planned to go back to sleep at 8 p.m. Monday evening.

Things went so well that Murphy said the idea of ​​a Midnight Madness could continue next season.

This is a daily look at positive happenings in high school sports. To submit news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.