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

There was real Midnight Madness at South Hills High in West Covina on Monday morning.

South Hills, trying to beat the rain and also wanting to put the spotlight on its new lights, played Covina in a high school baseball game that began 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 might be an understatement.

Despite little warning because of the last-minute decision because of weather reports, the two 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 at the game despite driving in from another school activity at Sea World. And the players certainly showed they might one day be able to play for Nevada Las Vegas or a team in New Orleans by performing well late at night.

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

South Hills players took the game seriously. They took naps on Sunday to make sure they didn’t doze off. And they filled up on energy drinks, so the players certainly would welcome NIL deals from any drink company seeking to prove they provide energy.

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

Said Murphy: “They were jittery and excited. How nice it is to be young.”

Parents supplied heat lamps in the dugout to deal with the temperature in the 50s.

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

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

Baker said he went home, got to sleep about 5 a.m. and didn’t wake up until noon. Monday was a school holiday. And he intended to go to sleep again at 8 p.m. Monday night.

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

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