For as long as they have been playing baseball, the Gunn twins have worn the same uniform.
“Since we were 6 years old playing T-ball, always on the same teams,” said Jimmy Gunn, who is older than his brother Brady by 10 minutes.
For the past two seasons, the Gunn brothers have worn the uniform of Patrick Henry High School.
Their high school baseball careers came to an end Sunday at Petco Park in the Padres High School Baseball All-Star Game.
They were teammates again, this time for the East squad in the eighth annual event presented by the CIF San Diego Section.
The West scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and maintained a 2-0 lead through six innings of the nine-inning contest.
Both Gunn brothers played key roles in a championship season for Patrick Henry, which captured the CIF Open Division crown last month with a dramatic come-from-behind 7-6 win over Eastlake in a raucous championship game before a standing-room-only crowd at USD’s Fowler Park.
“That was one of the most insane games I’ve been a part of,” said Brady Gunn, who was forced to watch all of Patrick Henry’s playoff games from the dugout with forearm tightness. “It was against Point Loma when I strained it, and it really sucked being out, especially against Cathedral Catholic and Eastlake.”
Patrick Henry’s Jimmy Gunn of the East team pitches to the West team in the first inning of the San Diego Padres High School School All-Star Game at Petco Park in San Diego on Sunday, June 28, 2026. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
After losing to Western League rival Cathedral Catholic earlier in the playoffs, the Patriots rallied to win four straight games, including two semifinal victories over the Dons. Jimmy Gunn hit home runs in each of the back-to-back wins over Cathedral Catholic.
“It was awesome to watch, especially with what my brother did,” said Brady Gunn. “And then the way we rallied against Eastlake, that was about the most hyped I’ve ever been.”
The Patriots trailed Eastlake 6-3 before rallying for four runs in the top of the seventh inning and then squashing an Eastlake rally with a game-ending double play in the bottom of the seventh.
“The beginning of the season was a bit of a roller coaster for us,” said Jimmy Gunn, who finished the season with a .337 batting average and was named to the All-CIF second team. “We were like 5-5 but then we went on a pretty good run and began to reach our expectations.”
Brady Gunn began his season with an 11-strikeout performance against San Pasqual and went on to finish with a 7-1 record and a 0.46 earned run average. He was named to the All-CIF first team after allowing just three earned runs in 46 innings pitched. His final outing was May 15 against Point Loma, a 3-1 win.
“Brady and Jimmy both made big contributions to our team, both in pitching and hitting,” said Patrick Henry coach Sheldon Watkins, who led the East team in Sunday’s All-Star Game. “Brady has developed into a top-rated pitcher, and Jimmy was big for us at first base as well as pitching.”
The Gunn twins originally committed to Texas Tech but have since de-committed.
“The transfer portal is pretty crazy right now,” said Jimmy Gunn.
“They still have a few weeks, so they will catch on somewhere,” said Watkins.
Brady Gunn was hoping to have an opportunity to pitch in the All-Star Game, but it wasn’t in the cards.
“I feel healthy, but I’m still recovering,” he said.
Jimmy Gunn, meanwhile, started on the mound for the East, and the left-hander pitched one scoreless inning, allowing just a one-out single to Mt. Carmel’s Kelle Leuck.
Another pitching highlight came in the top of the third inning, when Westview pitcher Jacob Kuy struck out the side for the West. Each squad changed pitchers throughout the contest, and the West staff retired the first 11 East batters of the game before Brady Strachan of Rancho Bernardo reached base on a two-out single to center in the top of the fourth inning.
Montgomery’s Marco Reyes came off the bench and delivered a run-scoring double to drive in Del Norte’s Richie Moore with the game’s first run in the bottom of the fourth after Moore hit a leadoff single and stole second base. Aiden Sun of Del Norte added an RBI groundout to short for a 2-0 West lead.
La Jolla Country Day’s Mitch Circuit hits while competing in the Home Run Derby, which he won, during the San Diego Padres High School School All-Star Game at Petco Park in San Diego on Sunday, June 28, 2026. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Notable
Jimmy Gunn was among eight players selected to participate in the home run derby. Gunn totaled 17 points with four first-round home runs, but it was La Jolla Country Day’s Mitch Circuit who led the way in the opening round with 23 points on seven home runs.
Circuit matched up against Rancho Bernardo’s Owen Glick in the final round, and Circuit added two more home runs to edge Glick in cumulative points, 29-27.
• Padres pitching coach Rueben Niebla was hoping to watch his son, Johrden Niebla of Southwest-El Centro, play in the All-Star Game, but the club had to depart for Chicago shortly after losing to the Dodgers. Johrden Niebla had plenty of other family and friends in attendance who made the trek from El Centro, including his mother Stephanie, a former longtime softball coach at Southwest and a member of the San Diego Coaching Legends Hall of Fame. Johrdan Niebla took the mound for the East in the bottom of the fourth inning and allowed two runs on two hits and a walk as the West broke a scoreless tie.
• Athletics manager Mark Kotsay was able to make the trip south from Anaheim after his team dropped a 4-1 decision to the Angels earlier Sunday. Kotsay’s son Trey, a third baseman for Cathedral Catholic who is bound for Princeton, batted in the fifth inning for the West and grounded out to third base.