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2007 Prep Baseball
San Diego Section

Prep Previews/Reports

Metro Conference Report
Aztecs, Titans, Barons win share of Metro baseball titles

Posted May 22, 2008
A total of eight South County teams qualified for this year’s San Diego Section baseball playoffs, with two teams drawing byes to the double-elimination tournament based on their regular season showing.

South Bay League champion Montgomery (21-7) earned the No. 2 seed in the Division III playoffs while Mesa League co-champion Eastlake (22-6) earned the No. 4 seed in the Division I playoffs.

Mater Dei (16-13) earned the No. 3 seed in the Division IV playoffs, though the Crusaders had to defeat visiting Holtville, 10-2, in a play-in game on Tuesday to advance to the division’s double-elimination tournament.

A total of three area teams qualified for the Division I playoffs, with Bonita Vista hosting La Costa Canyon in a play-in game on Tuesday and Otay Ranch traveling to Patrick Henry in another play-in game.

San Ysidro (18-10-1) and Hilltop (15-13) both drew play-in assignments Tuesday in the Division II field, with the Cougars traveling to West Hills and Hilltop to Valhalla in a pair of South County-East County match-ups.

Olympian, which earlier this season defeated Mar Vista with just eight players on the field, qualified for the Division IV play-in round, drawing a road game at Bishop’s on Tuesday.

The play-in winners immediately advanced to Wednesday’s opening round of the eight-team double-elimination tournament. Second-round play is scheduled Friday in all divisions, followed by third-round play on Saturday at neutral sites.

Fourth-round play is scheduled for May 27, with any possible fifth-round games scheduled for May 29. The section finals quadruple-header is scheduled May 31 at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium.

San Ysidro and Hilltop were the lone teams to emerge from the single-elimination play-in round. The Cougars clubbed the Wolf Pack, 9-6, while the Lancers also won by a three-run margin, edging Valhalla, in a bid to return to the Division II title game.

Bonita Vista fell 7-4 to visiting La Costa Canyon while Otay Ranch was shut out 2-0 by the host Patriots in Division I play-in action. Bishop’s ended Olympian season with a 12-5 victory.

In San Ysidro’s victory, Juan Mendoza went 2-for-3 with three RBI while Gustavo Guzman (4-0) picked up the pitching win in relief.

Dominic Bowen fanned 10 Norsemen, allowing just four hits, to improve to 6-2 this season on the hill for Hilltop, which erased a 2-0 Valhalla lead with five runs in the fifth inning.

San Ysidro advanced to meet top-seeded Grossmont (24-6) in Wednesday’s first round of double-elimination play while Hilltop traveled to third-seeded Ramona (22-6).

Montgomery hosted Eastern League tri-champion St. Augustine (18-12) in Wednesday’s first-round opener while Eastlake (22-6) drew Imperial Valley League champion Calexico (13-9).

Mesa League
Eastlake earned a share of this year’s Mesa League championship by topping visiting Otay Ranch, 12-1, on May 15. Justin Kruse went the distance to improve his seasonal record to 10-3 while Jomel Torres hit a grand slam home run in the fifth inning.

Meanwhile, Bonita Vista won a close 2-0 decision at Sweetwater to finish in a tie atop the league standings with Eastlake., with both teams sporting 8-2 league records. Marc Hartman pitched a complete game to hike his record to 6-2, scattering six hits.

San Ysidro secured its berth in the Division II playoffs with a 5-4 win against visiting Chula Vista in the final regular season game on May 15. The Cougars ended regular season play 18-10-1, 5-5 in league play.

South Bay League
Montgomery completed a perfect 12-0 showing in the South Bay League by blasting host Castle Park, also on May 15. Brandon Meredith slugged a two-run home run in the third inning for the Aztecs, who rolled across seven runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings to blow open a close 3-1 contest.
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Mater Dei and Hilltop also closed out regular season play on a winning note. Mater Dei topped host Olympian, 7-2, while Hilltop edged visiting Mar Vista 3-2.
Hilltop, which made a winner out of Miguel Silva (4-1), finished regular season play 15-13, 9-3 in league play.

Mater Dei, which received a solo home run from Alex Medina, finished regular season play 16-13, 8-4 in league play.

San Diego Section Division Playoffs
Aztecs 7, Saints 0
A smashing CIF baseball playoff victory brought momentary euphoria to players and fans Wednesday afternoon at Montgomery High School.

For several minutes after the final out in the Aztecs' 7-0 thrashing of Division III foe St. Augustine, the victorious players jumped up and down, high-fived and hugged each other.

After all, senior Danniel Rodriguez had thrown a complete game in the first-round victory. The 5-11 right-hander stifled the Saints offense from start to finish. And it was 5-5 sophomore Kevin Carreon, all of 140 pounds, who slapped a bases-loaded double to drive in three runs.

But suddenly, the celebrating ceased.

The entire Montgomery community was aware of senior Rolando Sanchez's loss. The catcher's father passed away earlier the same day. Players wore looped ribbons on their left sleeves in his honor.
Sanchez turned in the game's most inspiring performance, playing despite his loss and taking a throw from the outfield late in the game to tag a Saints runner out at the plate and preserve the shutout.

Veteran Aztec head coach Manny Hermosillo, in a subdued post-game talk, praised his team's play and then asked his squad to "go home and tell your fathers you played this game for them."
Students, players, parents and fans approached Sanchez later to express their sympathy. The player, whose mother attended the game, smiled and acknowledged each well-wisher.

Montgomery now advances to the second round of the double-elimination tournament on Friday.
—Scott Hopkins

Titans 4, Bulldogs 0
Tomo Kirihara blasted a three-run double in the second inning to lead host Eastlake past Calexico. Jomel Torres improved to 11-1 on the mound.

Grossmont Conference Report
Ten - count 'em -- East County teams qualify for CIF playoffs

Posted May 20, 2008
A rather hefty total of 10 East County teams qualified for this year’s San Diego Section baseball playoffs, with five teams drawing byes to the double-elimination tournament based on their regular season showing.

Grossmont North League champion Grossmont (24-6) earned the No. 1 seed in the Division II playoffs and will be out to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive CIF title while Grossmont North League runner-up El Capitan (21-8-1) earned the No. 1 seed in the Division III field.

Steele Canyon, which finished the season on a tremendous roll to capture the Grossmont South League championship, earned the No. 4 seed in the Division II playoffs. The Cougars finished regular season play with an 18-9 record.

Granite Hills will attempt to defend its Division I title as the No. 2 seed. The Eagles carried a 21-8 record into post-season play. Poway earned the No. 1 seed based on its 26-5 record.

Christian (18-10) received the No. 2 seed in the Division IV playoffs and were scheduled to host Calvary Christian (15-7) in Tuesday’s single-elimination play-in round.

Five other East County teams qualified for the playoffs, all seeing action in Tuesday’s play-in round. They included Valhalla (21-9) and West Hills (13-15, with eight forfeit losses) in Division II, Santana (18-11-1) and Mt. Miguel (11-17) in Division III and Mountain Empire (18-6) in Division IV.

The play-in winners immediately advanced to Wednesday’s opening round of the eight-team double-elimination tournament. Second-round play is scheduled Friday in all divisions, followed by third-round play on Saturday at neutral sites.

Fourth-round play is scheduled for May 27, with any possible fifth-round games scheduled for May 29. The section finals quadruple-header is scheduled May 31 at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium.

Grossmont slammed host El Capitan, 14-1, in the deciding game for this year’s Grossmont North League title on May 15. The Foothillers, who finished 10-2 in league play, led 6-0 after two innings en route to capturing their third consecutive league banner.

Levi Stevens struck out eight batter and allowed just two hits in six innings on the hill for Grossmont, which received three RBI from Brennan Geary and two RBI from Josh Simms.

Six El Capitan errors led to eight unearned runs in the game.

Meanwhile, Steele Canyon topped Granite Hills, 8-1, on May 13 to gain control of its championship destiny in league play. Andrew Bellati had the Eagles shut out through five innings on just one hit while brother Mark slammed two home runs.

The Cougars closed regular season play by winning 11 of 12 games. The league title was the first in the program's six-year varsity history.

Softball
Six East County teams took the first step toward Saturday’s section finals with first-round wins on Saturday, May 17. Helix topped Mira Mesa, 11-1, in Division I play to advance on the strength of 14 strikeouts by Terese Diaz. Grossmont defeated Ramona, 3-1, in Division II play while West Hills slid past Hilltop 6-3 in another Division II playoff contest.

Mt. Miguel edged Valley Center, 3-2 in Division III while Mountain Empire advanced in the Division IV field after shutting out High Tech High 5-0 on the strength of Kelly Majam’s 17 strikeouts. Christian posted a 10-0 win over visiting Guajome Park Academy in Division IV play behind 17 strikeouts registered by Monique Elliott.

Valhalla ended its season with a 3-2 loss at Southwest El Centro in Division II play while El Capitan bowed out of post-season play following its 4-1 setback to host Clairemont in the Division III playoffs.

Three more East County teams awaited quarterfinal-round games on Tuesday: fourth-seeded Granite Hills (21-7-1) in the Division I playoffs, third-seeded Steele Canyon (20-5-1) in the Division II playoffs and No. 1-seeded Santana (28-2) in the Division III playoffs.

Semifinal playoffs are scheduled Thusday at Sportsplex USA in Poway, followed by championship games there Saturday, May 24.

Metro Conference Report
Mustangs look to defend but Barons, Titans go up 3-0 in league

Posted April 23, 2008
Otay Ranch, Bonita Vista and San Ysidro all made a mad dash for last year’s Mesa League baseball title. This year, all six league members appear equally suited to raise the championship banner.

“It seems like everybody is 14-7 at this point of the season,” said Chula Vista coach Jim Westlund, whose team hosted Sweetwater in the first game of a home-and-home series on Tuesday.

Bonita Vista, Eastlake and Otay Ranch all got off to 2-0 starts in league play by sweeping their respective home-and-home match-ups in the new league format.
Bonita Vista topped Chula Vista by scores of 4-3 and 7-3 while Otay Ranch swept San Ysidro, winning by scores of 12-0 and 6-4. Eastlake put Sweetwater into an early 0-2 hole by claiming the teams’ two-game series by scores of 8-3 and 11-1.

After Tuesday’s games, Bonita Vista (13-7 overall) and Eastlake (17-3 overall) both boasted 3-0 league marks while Otay Ranch (14-8 overall) was 2-1. But it’s a long season and a home-and-home sweep can put any team back in contention, it appears.

“I think it’s open to anybody this season in the Mesa League,” said Otay Ranch coach Bob McCurdy, whose team dropped a 4-2 decision to Bonita Vista on Tuesday to fall from the ranks of early league unbeatens. “Clearly this year anyone can win the league title. All the teams are going to have to stay focused.”

The Mustangs improved to 14-7 overall following their sweep of the Cougars. Otay Ranch has excelled on the diamond with just two senior starters — catcher Jose Aguirre and shortstop Luis Machena.

“We have such a young team,” McCurdy said. “We have two seniors starting. The rest are sophomores and juniors.”

Felipe Hourani and Tony Moreno combined for the first no-hitter in school history, with Hourani going six hitless innings before Moreno closed out the final frame.

In the 12-0 win against San Ysidro on April 15, Aguirre went 4-for-5 with two RBI while Humberto Tovaline went 3-for-4 and knocked in three runs.

In the rematch on the Mustangs’ turf, Otay Ranch scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning with two out to go up 6-1. But San Ysidro put two men on in the top of the seventh inning, both on hits, to set the stage for a three-run home run by Alan Salgado.

“I thought San Ysidro might be the team to beat based on what they had returning but we managed to slip past them in the two games,” McCurdy said.
The Mustang coach said this is the first year his team has really had a core of a pitching staff. The stable of hurlers includes Josh Ruiz, James Bilburg, Chris DeBoo, Omar Gonzalez as well as Hourani and Moreno.

Bilburg took the loss in Tuesday’s game.

D.J. Shields drove in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning in the Barons’ league opener against the visiting Spartans. In the rematch at Bob Kennedy field two days later, Alex Mangubat and Paul Flippen both went 3-4 with one RBI in support of unbeaten Jesse Hernandez (4-0).
Marc Hartman improved to 5-1 on the hill after topping Otay Ranch on Tuesday. Liam Sharkey went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored while Shields went 2-for-3 with a double.

Eighth-ranked Eastlake pounded out 25 hits in its two-game sweep of Sweetwater.

John-Michael Patacsil drove in four runs with a double and home run in the opener while Jarin was 2-for-3 with a home run as Justin Kruse improved to 6-2 with the win in the second game.

The Titans rapped out 15 hits in Tuesday’s win against San Ysidro. Hector Lorenzana went 2-for-3, Sam Montalvan went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Patrick Jarin went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Jarin hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning while Salgado slammed a solo shot for the Cougars in the first inning. Jomel Torres got credit for the win to improve to 9-0.

Chula Vista and Sweetwater both reached the championship round of this year’s Lions tournament, with the Red Devils capturing the AAA Division title and he Spartans placing runner-up in the AAAA Division.

Chula Vista, San Ysidro and Eastlake all finished 5-0 in their respective games against South Bay League teams in this year’s Metro Conference tournament. Chula Vista and San Ysidro advanced to last Saturday’s title game at Mater Dei Catholic High School based on the least runs allowed tie-breaker.

The Cougars (12-7-1) won their first-ever tournament championship by defeating the Spartans, 8-5, to finish tournament play 6-0. Andres Enriquez hit a home run to cap a five-run third inning rally for San Ysidro. Antonio Carrillo tripled to drive in Sammy Bravo earlier in the frame.

Westlund was particularly proud of his team despite losing the title game. “It was very rewarding. I’m extremely proud of these kids,” he said. “When you get to the tie-breaker of least runs allowed, it’s a tribute to the defense. That’s what got us to the championship game of the Lions tournament.”

Chula Vista, which got off to a heroic 13-4 start before dropping three games last week, has been buoyed by the play of four players in particular: senior outfielder-pitcher Hilario Garcia, junior catcher-pitcher Jorge Rosas, sophomore shortstop-pitcher Bernardo Rosas and sophomore outfielder Roberto Lucero.
Lucero slammed a three-run home run in the Metro tournament final loss to San Ysidro while Garcia poked a two-run homer.

First baseman Nick Parisi was voted team MVP last year as a junior while third baseman Thomas Castro was chosen as the team’s most improved player last year as a sophomore. Both Parisi and second baseman Aaron Taylor earned recognition on the All-Mesa League Second Team last season while Garcia was named as an honorable mention.

The 2007 Spartans were very young, starting three freshmen and two sophomores. The end result was a 6-20-1 finish. Westlund, who has served as head coach at CVHS the past 15 years, hoped their experience would help the team in its quest to capture this year’s league banner.

Chula Vista last won a league title in 1995 but has the opportunity to win 20 games this season.

The Spartans (14-7) eked out a 1-0 win on Tuesday. Bernardo Rosas improved his pitching record to 2-1, with Alan Mercado recording the save.
Sweetwater dropped to 0-3 in league play, 16-7 overall, with the loss.

Batter up! CIF spring playoffs set to level the playing field
Posted May 15, 2008
The end of the 2007-08 high school sports season is coming to a close and the current senior class is nearing the end of its reign. Will it end in glory or tears? The San Diego Section playoffs will provide the answer.

Baseball
Playoffs will be held in four divisions of 12 teams each, double-elimination after the play-in round. Finals will be held at SDSU Tony Gwynn Stadium on May 31. The play-in round is May 20, followed by first-round play on May 21, second-round play on May 23, third-round play on May 24, fourth-round play on May 27 and fifth-round play (if necessary) on May 29.

Third-round play is being billed as “Super Saturday” by the section, which will charge admission for neutral-site games. Home schools will also charge admission for fourth- and fifth-round games. The section will charge admission for the division finals.

South County teams appear poised to make a smash, so to speak, in this year’s post-season field.

All six Mesa League teams are guaranteed winning records this season. Eastlake (21-6), Bonita Vista (19-9), Otay Ranch (17-10) and Chula Vista (16-13) all will by vying for berths in next week’s Division I playoffs while San Ysidro (17-10-1) and Sweetwater (17-11) will be competing for spots in the Division II playoffs.

The Mesa League race became a three-way sprint for the title after San Ysidro pulled off a 9-3 upset win over host Bonita Vista on May 8. The loss dropped the Barons’ league record at 6-2 and a first-place tie with Eastlake, with Otay Ranch one game back heading into the final two regular season games for all three teams.

Antonio Carrillo helped power the Cougars by going 4-for-4 with a stolen base and one RBI while teammate Andres Enriquez went 3-for-4 with three RBI.

Eastlake moved into a first-place tie on the strength of its 2-1 win at Chula Vista that same day. Michael Kelley went 3-for-3 but it was teammate Blake Zamora who delivered the game-winning hit. Justin Kruse went the distance, scattering five hits, to improve to 9-3 on the hill.

Otay Ranch closed to within one game of the co-leading Barons and Titans after defeating visiting Sweetwater, 8-3, also on May 1. Chris DeBoo improved his pitching record to 4-0 while Luis Marchena led the Mustangs offensively by going 3-for-4 with three doubles, scoring three times and knocking in two other runners. Alexis Mercado finished 2-for-4 for Otay Ranch with two RBI while James Bilburg went 2-for-4 with a double, one run scored and one RBI. Humberto Tovaline also went 2-for-4, scoring once.

Bonita Vista and Eastlake carried a one-game edge in the standings into Thursday’s regular season finales after recording key wins on Tuesday. The Barons stopped visiting Sweetwater, 14-1, while Eastlake shut down Otay Ranch by a 7-5 score.

Oscar Sanay (3-for-5, two RBI), Liam Sharkey (4-for-5, two RBI) and Hector Montes (2-for-3 with two doubles and four RBI) keyed Bonita Vista’s 18-hit offensive explosion against the Red Devils.
John-Michael Patacsil slammed a three-run home run in the seventh inning to carry visiting Eastlake to its win. Jomel Torres hiked his pitching record to 10-1 with relief help from Kruse. Patacsil finished the game 2-for-4 with four RBI while Tomo Kirihara went 2-for-3 for the ninth-ranked Titans, who erased a 3-2 deficit with two runs in the fifth inning before later going up 7-3.

San Ysidro continued its late surge by blanking host Chula Vista, 6-0, on Tuesday. Enriquez went 3-for-3 while Santiago Arce knocked in two runs.

Montgomery improved to 11-0 in South Bay League play, 20-7 overall, after shutting out visiting Castle Park, 2-0, on Tuesday. Brandon Meredith scored both Aztec runs on a two-run double in the opening frame. Abraham Torres went the distance, tossing a two-hitter, to improve to 8-1.

Hilltop entered the week in second place with a 7-3 league record, 13-13 overall. Mater Dei entered the week in third place in the league standings at 7-4 (15-13 overall), followed by Castle Park (5-6, 8-18), Mar Vista (3-7, 8-20-1), Southwest (3-9, 6-18) and Olympian (2-8, 4-22).

Hilltop will by vying for a berth in the Division II playoffs in search of returning to the championship game while Montgomery, Castle Park, Mar Vista and Southwest all are grouped into Division III, with Mater Dei and Olympian bidding for spots in the Division IV playoffs.

Montgomery entered the week ranked 13th in the section.

Softball
The section playoffs (four divisions) start with first-round play on Saturday. Hilltop earned a berth in this year’s playoffs after finishing up 12-0 in South Bay League play following Tuesday’s marathon 1-0 win against visiting Mar Vista in 14 innings. The teams hung zeroes on the scoreboard until winning pitcher Jordan Rhudy knocked in the winning run. Rhudy hurled a complete game, striking out nine batters as the league champion Lancers improved to 18-9 on the season.

The Mesa League race tightened up following Eastlake’s 4-3 victory over visiting Bonita Vista on May 1. The Barons had opened up 6-0 in league play, hanging a 4-3 loss on the visiting Titans two days earlier in the opener of the teams’ two-game home-and-home series. In the rematch, Danielle slammed a three-run triple to ignite the Eastlake offense while Ashleigh Minter picked up the win.

The teams have since matched one another in wins, with each squad carrying one loss into the final week of regular season play.

Bonita Vista bombed visiting Sweetwater, 13-0, on Tuesday as the hosts racked up 18 hits.

In other games on Tuesday, Chula Vista assured itself of a winning regular season record after topping visiting San Ysidro, 25-0, on the strength of 23 hits. The Spartans rolled across 10 runs in the second inning and eight more in the fourth inning before the game was called because of the mercy-rule. Angel Gilroy led the CV hitting parade by going 5-for-5 with two doubles, two triples and four RBI. Sarah Tippetts improved to 12-8 in the pitching circle by allowing four hits.

Barons are back, win Mesa League opener

Posted April 15, 2008
Otay Ranch and Bonita Vista battled to the wire for last year’s Mesa League baseball championship, with the Mustangs claiming the banner in the final game of the season.

Bonita Vista coach Vince Gervais believes his team can once again contend for the league title after watching his Barons get off to the right start by winning Tuesday’s opener, 4-3, against visiting Chula Vista.

“We played ‘small ball’ to win this game,” said Gervais, whose club pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to break a 3-3 deadlock. “We got men on base, moved them along the base paths and executed to get them home.”

Oscar Sanay opened the bottom of the seventh with a double down the right field line and moved to third base on an ensuing single up the middle by Liam Sharkey. Catcher D.J. Shields then brought his imposing 6-foot-5, 230-pound frame to the plate and, after fighting off a couple pitches, ended the game with a liner to left center field to drive in Sanay.

Right-hander Marc Hartman went the distance, giving up seven hits while striking out six batters, to improve to 4-1 on the hill.
Bonita Vista improved to 11-7 overall.

Sanay, one of the team’s hottest hitters, finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBI. His batting average is currently hovering near the .520 mark.
Shields, who will attend SDSU this fall on a football scholarship, also went 2-for-3 and knocked in one run.

Christian Mua went 1-for-2 and recorded his 37th RBI of the season on a sacrifice. He ranks among the section leaders in the RBI department.
Gervais said his team’s challenging early season schedule appears to have paid off.

“We played a tough preseason schedule. We thought that would help prepare us for league play,” the BV skipper said. “We played seven ranked teams. We wanted to win all those games. We wanted to get better because we wanted to hit league in full stride.”

The 2008 Barons are without a pair of prime time pitchers following the graduation of stars Guido Knudson (now at UCSD) and Richard Zumaya (drafted by the Detroit Tigers). However, the young staff that replaced them appears to be holding up well, according to Gervais, who noted his team advanced to the semifinals of its division in the recent Lions tournament.

“We really have a young pitching staff. We’re kind of riding the young kids right now,” Gervais said. “I thought we’d be a good hitting club this year but I didn’t know how good our pitching would be. But I think our pitching this season might be better than last season even though we lost those two guys (Knudson and Zumaya).”

Roberto Lucero went 3-for-3 for the Spartans (0-1, 13-5).

Petco Park
The San Diego Section received prime time exposure last weekend with five games at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. La Costa Canyon and Rancho Bernardo opened a double-header last Friday that also included Grossmont and Granite Hills. Eastlake and Montgomery opened up Saturday’s triple-header at the downtown San Diego ballpark, followed by games pitting Mission Bay against University City and Calexico against Brawley.

Eastlake (14-3) came from behind to post a 5-4 win on the strength of Jomel Torres’ seventh victory on the mound this season without a loss. Brandon Meredith slugged a two-run home run into the Western Metal Supply building in the fifth inning for Montgomery (10-7) in what was officially a Metro Conference tournament match-up. The Titans erased a 4-0 Aztec lead with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and added the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.

Quick hits
•Anthony Carrillo went 3-for-4 with one double, one RBI and scored three runs while Dominic Bowen clubbed a two-run home run in the third inning to lift Hilltop to a 12-4 victory over visiting Olympian on April 10. Bowen picked up the win to even his record at 2-2 as the Lancers improved to 4-0 in South Bay League play, 7-10 overall.

•Carlos Gonzalez went 5-for-6 with a double, five runs scored and four RBI in Hilltop’s 18-5 league victory against Olympian on April 8.

•Hector Lorenzana went 3-for-4 with three RBI and scored four runs and Jomel Torres improved his pitching record to 6-0 in Eastlake’s 15-3 non-league victory at Brawley on April 9. The Titans improved to 13-3 with the win.

Roaring like a lion
Metro Conference teams represented themselves exceptionally well at the recent Lions tournament extravaganza. South County teams advanced to four of the seven division title games, with Sweetwater downing San Pasqual by a 13-4 score to capture the AAA Division championship behind a grand slam by division MVP Luis Sanchez.
Montgomery dropped a 10-0 decision to Poway in the Classic Division while Serra edged Chula Vista, 7-6, in the AAAA Division final and El Cajon Valley topped Mar Vista by a 15-5 score in the A Division title game.

Classic Division: Poway 10, Montgomery 0
Premier Division: Vista 11, Coronado 4
AAAAA Division: Santana 4, St. Augustine 3
AAAA Division: Serra 7, Chula Vista 6
AAA Division: Sweetwater 13, San Pasqual 4
AA Division: San Marcos 6, San Diego 4
A Division: El Cajon Valley 15, Mar Vista 5

Titans reward new coach with 8-2 start
David Gallegos has seen Eastlake’s glory years over past 12 seasons

Posted April 4, 2008
David Gallegos has seen the glory years of Eastlake High School’s baseball program after serving as an assistant coach the past 12 years. He’d like to see it return now that he has taken over the head coaching position.
The Titans won San Diego Section titles in 1999 and 2002 and though Eastlake may not have entered the season as the favorite to capture this year’s Mesa League title, Gallegos expects his squad to play a challenger’s role.

“Personally my goals are to be disciplined and keep working hard with the kids and teach them the fundamentals of the game,” said Gallegos, who previously served two years as the varsity coach at Sweetwater before joining the Titans program.

Braced by eight returners, including top hitter Jomel Torres and a solid pitching staff, Eastlake has gotten off to a strong 8-2 start to the 2008 season. The Titans went 3-1 in the recent Lions tournament, advancing to the Premier Division semifinals.

“We want to win every game,” said Gallegos following his team’s 12-8 victory against visiting Olympian to open Metro Conference tournament play on March 26. “We have some really strong competition in the Mesa League this year. Sweetwater, Bonita Vista and Chula Vista are all playing well. We should be one of the top teams.”

Torres batted .492 last year with 26 RBI to earn a spot on the All-Mesa League First Team.

Other top returners include junior pitcher/infielder Hector Lorenzana, junior pitcher/infielder Sammy Montalvan, junior catcher/outfielder Patrick Jarin, senior pitcher/outfielder Michael Kelley, senior catcher John Michael Patacsil and senior infielder/outfielder Blake Zamora..

Torres slammed a two-run home run (his third of the year) while Kelley evened his record at 1-1. Also taking the mound against the Eagles (3-8) were Torres and Justin Kruse.

Senior infielder Tomo Kirihana paced the Titans’ 13-hit attack by going 3-for-3 with two RBI while Zamora went 3-for-4 with a pair of triples and two RBI.

Olympian, playing with just 10 players, avoided a 10-run mercy rule loss by pushing across three runs in the fifth inning and scoring three more times in the seventh inning.

Gallegos wants his team to reach its potential and sloppy wins are not high on his list. The Titans worked an early 7-2 lead on the Eagles into a 12-2 advantage before surrendering six runs in the late going, partly aided by fielding miscues.

Eastlake players could be seen running sprints in the outfield after the game.

“We played sloppy. That’s unacceptable,” Gallegos said.

In other Metro Conference tournament openers on March 25, Sweetwater improved to 12-1 with its 1-0 win against Castle Park while Chula Vista hiked its record to 9-3 following its 17-0 victory over Southwest. In other games, Bonita Vista (6-4) edged Mar Vista, 7-6, in eight innings while San Ysidro out-slugged Montgomery, 14-8, and Mater Dei eased past host Otay Ranch 7-6.

San Ysidro and Montgomery combined for 27 hits, with the victorious Cougars rapping out 16 safeties.