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Northwood pitcher Paul Grossman at Sunday’s practice at Irvine Valley College. (PHOTO: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Northwood High School lefthander Paul Grossman has a bright future after committing to play baseball for USC next season.
Grossman, who will mainly pitch for the USC Trojans, has a chance to shine one more time as a high school player Wednesday night in the 57th annual Orange County All-Star Baseball Game at the Great Park.
The game, sponsored by the Ryan Lemmon Foundation, begins at 6:30 p.m.
Grossman will be playing in the stadium which has been the home of USC the past couple seasons. The USC ballpark is being renovated. During that time, Grossman been able to take in a number of USC games.
“It’s an honor to be here and nice to be able to play with these guys one last time, some of the best players in Orange County, so it’s always nice to be recognized along side these players,” Grossman said Sunday during practice at Irvine Valley College.
“Some of these guys, we’ve had tough games against this year. I’ve known these guys for a while. It’s nice to finally finish my high school career with a lot of these guys. Everything is kind of finishing right now with school graduation and this final all-star game. It’s a great group to be part of for sure.
“I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing in the game yet, hopefully I’ll get some at bats in the game, that would be nice.”
Northwood had a big second half run to qualify for the CIF playoffs, earned a top seed in Division 5 and reached the semifinal round, losing to St. Anthony. In 2024, the Timberwolves, led by Grossman, captured the Pacific Coast League title.
“It’s pretty cool that everything is finishing, everything has gone by pretty quickly so I’m ready for the next chapter,” Grossman said. “As one door closes, the next one opens for sure.”
After the semifinal loss to St. Anthony, Northwood parents, friends and students gave the Timberwolves a big round of applause as they left the field.
The gesture was noticed and appreciated by Grossman, who despite the tough loss made himself available for a post-game interview with OC Sports Zone.
“That was awesome having all our fans back us up,” he said. “All year, our parents and fans have been there for us and it’s awesome to know their support, it’s grown to be a big family for me. I wish we could have gone one game longer, but that’s baseball.”
Grossman said he plans on plenty of training this summer in preparation for USC.
“I’ll be working on getting bigger, faster and stronger and improving my pitching,” he said. “And then going to USC in August. It will be a good summer to get after it and train and then come out in August and compete for a spot.”
Grossman said he plans on majoring in business.
“I haven’t reallly figured that out yet,” he said. “If playing Major League baseball doesn’t work out, one of my dreams is to become a sports agent.”
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com