The Eastlake Titans are right where they want to be, though it might not have exactly been the course they intended to navigate.
The top-seeded Titans (31-4) will play the seventh-seeded Helix Highlanders in Saturday’s San Diego Section Open Division championship game at the University of San Diego’s Fowler Park. Game time is 7 p.m.
Welcome to the wacky world of double-elimination.
Eastlake earned the No. 1 seed in the Open Division but promptly lost its opening round game to eighth-seeded Madison. That necessitated extra games to reach the championship. In the Titans’ case that required them to win three elimination games before winning a fourth.
Eastlake defeated eighth-seeded Madison, 4-3, in Thursday’s fifth-round double-elimination game to advance to Saturday’s division final. It was the fourth consecutive victory posted by the Titans while facing elimination from this year’s playoff field.
Titan head coach Dave Gallegos said his team did not lack suitable motivation in recovering from a nearly disastrous opening round loss.
“I didn’t have to tell them anything – they knew what they had to do,” the EHS coach explained. “They thought they had the team the last two years to go all the way.
“This is what everyone has been fighting for … It’s hard to get through the playoffs. It’s even harder to win it.”
Gallegos’ crew becomes the first Sweetwater district baseball team to qualify for back-to-back Open Division finals appearances.
With both teams facing elimination in Thursday’s game, the Titans trailed early 3-0 before the hosts rallied for their dramatic victory.
Casey Schmitt hit a solo home run to make the score 3-1. Bryan Reyes drove in one run later in the second inning to trim the Warhawk lead to 3-2.
Reyes then slammed a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to put the hosts ahead for the first time in the game.
Brian Leonhardt started the game for Eastlake and pitched the opening four-and-one-third innings before Schmitt closed the game out in relief. Leonhardt received credit for the win to improve to 11-0 on the season. Schmitt recorded his school record ninth save as the Titans extended their school record win total to 31.
Gallegos said team chemistry has been the team’s strength during its playoff comeback.
“It’s like a brotherhood,” Gallegos said. “It’s a fun group to be around. It’s not about individuals; everyone picks up everyone else.”
This marks the third time the Titans have advanced to a division championship game. Eastlake finished runner-up to Cathedral Catholic in last year’s Open Division finals. The Titans lost to Poway two years ago in the Division I title game.
Helix prevented another Eastlake-Cathedral Catholic matchup after eliminating the second-seeded Dons, 4-0, in Thursday’s fifth-round contest.
Both Eastlake and Helix had to win back-to-back games on Tuesday and Thursday to advance. The Titans handed Madison a 6-2 defeat on Tuesday after initially dropping a 2-1 decision in nine innings in the teams’ playoff opener on May 24.
“It feels amazing,” EHS junior outfielder Micah Pietila-Wiggs said. “This is the third time we’ve made it this far in the last three years. It’s nice.”
Pietila-Wiggs said this year’s run to the finals has been the toughest of the three while he’s been on the team.
“For sure,” he said. “It was really hard. We just had to come together as a team. After we beat La Costa Canyon (in last Friday’s elimination game) we knew we could do it. After we beat Rancho Bernardo (in last Saturday’s elimination round) we believed we had it.”
“It feels great,” junior pitcher/first baseman Grant Holman added. “It feels great to bounce back after that first loss. It’s exciting to be going to the championship.”
High Tech High Chula Vista was bidding for a trip to Saturday’s Division V with a win in Thursday’s double-elimination game at second-seeded Escondido Charter. The sixth-seeded Bruins forced Thursday’s do-or-die contest after posting a dramatic 6-4 win over the White Tigers on Tuesday.
However, HTH Chula Vista’s playoff run ended with a 7-3 loss Thursday.
Escondido Charter will meet top-seeded Maranatha Christian in Saturday’s division final.
