The Chula Vista High School baseball team is off to a 12-3 start in 2017. It’s an understatement to say that things have gone well for the Spartans thus far.
Chula Vista defeated visiting Olympian, 3-2, in an extra-inning thriller on Monday to start South Bay League play. Prior to that, the Spartans defeated Monte Vista, 5-1, last Saturday to win their division in the Grossmont/Metro/City conference tournament.
CVHS head coach Jim Westlund expects his team to contend for this year’s league championship. Certainly, his team appears to have pointed itself in the right direction after it ran its winning streak to seven games following Wednesday’s 8-0 league win at Sweetwater.
“We have several quality returning players and we expect to compete for a championship this season,” Westlund explained. “But our league is very strong and every game will be tough.”
Monday’s game was decided in eight innings. Edder Rincon picked up the win for the Spartans. Jorge Lucero stroked a double and recorded the game-winning RBI.
Besides Rincon, who improved his pitching record to 3-1 on the season, other top returners include junior shortstop Rafael Iribe, pitcher Javier Gomez, pitcher-first baseman Ricky Yoquigua and catcher-pitcher Antonio Garcia.
Iribe earned first team all-league honors last season while Gomez, Yoquigua and Garcia all earned second team all-league honors.
Lucero, a sophomore shortstop-second baseman, is among two impact newcomers Westlund lists on this year’s roster. Multi-talented junior Alex Celiceo can play in the outfield, at third base or pitch.
Bryan Valenzuela stroked a two-out pinch hit double to clear the bases in a seven-run uprising in the top of the seventh inning on Wednesday to break open a tight one-run game.
The Spartans batted around in the frame. Yoquigua singled twice in the inning.
Iribe drove in the first run of the game and also had an RBI in the seventh-inning explosion.
Garcia threw a complete game with five strikeouts.
Celiceo entered Wednesday’s game leading Chula Vista with a .524 hitting average and 12 RBI.
Gomez (3-0 record, 0.81 ERA), Rincon (3-1 record, 0.70 ERA) and Yoquigua (2-2 record, 1.57 ERA) lead a pitching staff with a combined ERA of 1.21.
The Spartans rapped out 12 hits and left seven men on base in Wednesday’s game.
“We’ve played some tough teams and we’re playing well at the right time,” Westlund said. “It’s a long year. We hope we can keep it going. The pitchers have been hitting their spots and we’re playing good defense.”
The Spartans finished 6-0 in the GMC tournament with wins over Kearny (14-3 on March 20), Hoover (12-1 on March 24), Monte Vista (4-0 on March 25), Morse (4-1 on March 27), High Tech San Diego (3-0 on March 29) and Monte Vista again in the championship game.
Yoquigua picked up the win in the championship game while Celiceo recorded the save.
“Pitching and defense are our strengths this year,” Westlund explained. “If we are successful (in those two areas), then we will have a good season.”
New look league
The South Bay League lineup includes seven teams this season: Chula Vista, Olympian, Sweetwater, Mar Vista, Mater Dei Catholic, Castle Park and Southwest.
Mar Vista (6-6 overall) and Southwest (7-6 overall) both got off to 1-0 league starts by winning games on Monday.
Mar Vista doubled up visiting Mater Dei Catholic, 4-2, as Sean Jones earned the win on the mound and Edmund King recorded the save.
Elijah Burns went three-for-four and Jake Borst went two-for-three to highlight the 11-hit Mariner attack.
Borst leads Mar Vista with a .487 hitting average, 19 hits, 14 RBI and eight doubles. He also has 14 strikeouts in 16.1 innings pitched to go with a 0.86 earned-run average.
Burns leads the team with sevens stolen bases and has 11 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched.
Meanwhile, Southwest topped visiting Sweetwater, 5-4, in eight innings.
David Aguayo, Matthew Mendoza and Ricardo Dominguez each drove in runs while Dominguez rapped out two hits and scored one run in the game.
Edgar Jacome, Aguayo, Dominic Escobar and Diego Ruiz also crossed the plate for the Raiders. Arian Torado received credit for the win.
