If it’s Easter week, it’s time for the annual San Diego Lions baseball tournament.
This year’s event, scheduled March 30 to April 2, featured 132 teams scattered across nine divisions.
All 13 Metro Conference schools participated. As usual, early season records have been a hodge-podge.
Eastlake carried a 7-3 record into the top-flight Open Division, San Ysidro (3-9) in the Classic Division and Otay Ranch (8-2) in the Premier Division.
Mater Dei Catholic (6-4), Montgomery (3-7) and Bonita Vista (7-4) participated in the 6A Division while Chula Vista (5-7) competed in the 5A Division.
Olympian (8-3), Sweetwater (5-5) and Hilltop (5-5) battled in the 4A Division while Southwest (6-4) and Castle Park (6-6) participated in the 3A Division. Mar Vista (6-6) competed in the 2A Division.
Granite Hills is the defending Open Division tournament champion as well as the San Diego Section Open Division champion after defeating Patrick Henry, 3-0, in an exciting matchup at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium that hung on the balance of a bases-loaded triple by Parker Vance and a 10-strikeout effort by Luke Bailey.
The win also cemented the Eagles in section history as the first Open Division team to complete an undefeated 24-0-2 season prior to the regional playoffs.
There was a lot of success last year by South County teams on the diamond. San Ysidro finished runner-up in the Division II championship game while Otay Ranch finished runner-up in Division IV. Eastlake advanced as far as the Open Division semifinals while Hilltop advanced as far as the Division IV semifinals. High Tech High Chula Vista advanced as far as the Division V semifinals while Ocean View Christian Academy advanced as far as the Division V-AA semifinals.
Besides Granite Hills, other section champions included Pt. Loma (Division I), Mt. Carmel (Division II), University City (Division III), Ramona (Division IV), High Tech High San Diego (Division V) and Rock Academy (Division V-AA).
Moving forward
Hilltop hosted its bracket in the 4A Division that included Polytech, Southeast Tech and Sutter Union besides the host Lancers.
Hilltop entered the tournament riding a season-high five-game winning streak. The Lancers defeated visiting Hoover, 15-0, in a run-rule shortened game on Thursday, March 26.
The Lancers rapped out 14 hits in the win over the Cardinals, including a triple by junior Alex Cardenas and a double by junior Jared Aguirre. Cardenas finished the game with three RBI while Aguirre and sophomore Isaias Camacho each drove in two runs.
Junior Aiden Arce picked up the win with a complete game effort.
Top returners include junior Sebastian Luevano, Aguirre and senior pitcher Ricardo De la Torre.
Hilltop head coach Kurt Gritts said competing in the Lions tournament is always a surprise when facing the glut of out-of-town teams.
“We don’t know their tendencies because we’ve never seen them before,” Gritts said.
Early season leaders for the Lancers include Aguirre with a 0.412 hitting average, 14 hits, seven RBI, four doubles and one home run in 12 games and De la Torre with a 0.389 hitting average, 14 hits, four RBI and two RBI.
Following on the scoresheet are Luenano at 0.387 with seven RBi and five doubles, sophomore Hector Barraza at 0.375, junior Jesus Davalos at 0.364, Cardenas at 0.333, sophomore Julian Hembera at 0.323 and senior V Moreno at 0.312. Junior Emiliano Luevano (0.238) had logged eight RBI in seven games while Hembera had driven in six runs.
Arce was 2-0 with a 1.87 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 15 innings. De la Torre was 2-2 with a 3.85 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 23.2 innings. Sebastian Luevano was 1-0 with a 1.68 ERA and nine strikeouts in 8.1 innings.
•Junior Erick Villeda and sophomore Joel Vargas each drove in two runs in Eastlake’s 6-2 win over Christian Brothers Academy in Monday’s tournament opener while sophomore Lucas Yriqui and senior Hamza Hatahet each had one RBI.
Villeda, Vargas and Hatahet each stroked doubles in support of winning pitcher Colton Maxwell (senior), who hurled a complete game seven-hitter while striking out four batters.
•Junior Liam Zazueta drove in three runs to assist Bonita Vista’s 9-1 win over Madison in Monday’s opener while senior Antonio Orozco and junior Adrian Figueroa each had two RBI and sophomore Kensen Johnson had one RBI.
Senior Demarco Rojas got the win on the mound.
•Otay Ranch out-slugged Vista as sophomore Aidan Page and junior Moyses Salido each collected two RBI and senior Santiago Araiza drove in another run. Junior Itzak Mariscal pitched a complete game five-hitter with six strikeouts.
•Mater Dei Catholic scored 15 runs on 11 hits with 13 RBI in Mondays’ 15-4 win over Roosevelt. Senior Nickolas Edwards was the RBI leader with three while junior Nathan Sosa and senior Marc Moran each had two. Four players each had one RBI: seniors Eli Zamora and Omar Santos, sophomore Ethan Nesbit and freshman Oscar Duarte.
Edwards, Sosa, Moran, freshman Nathaniel Carrasco and senior Noah Cook each scored two runs. Duarte received credit for the win.
•Junior Lawrence Nellis drove in two runs while senior Landon Aguon and juniors Aldo Leon and Karei Friddell each had one RBI as Castle Park shaded Verdugo Hills. Aguon (4.1 innings) and Nellis (2.2 innings) combined on a four-hitter with six strikeouts.
•Montgomery tamed La Jolla with a 7-0 shutout as junior Isaak Perez and senior Marco Reyes each collected two RBI and juniors Ricardo Aguilar and Julian Martinez and senior Noah Flores each plated one run. Sophomore Sebastian Moreno threw a no-hitter with nine strikeouts to highlight the pitching heroics by the Aztecs.
Lions tournament portfolio
Canyon Hills 7, Sweetwater 6
Thursday, April 2 in National City
Photos by Phillip Brents
Eastern exposure
All 11 Grossmont Conference schools participated plus Christian, Foothills Christian, Mountain Empire and Liberty Charter among the region’s smaller high schools.
As usual, early season records have been a hodge-podge.
Granite Hills took a 7-3 record into the top-flight Open Division, Grossmont (4-6) and Helix (5-5) in the Classic Division and Monte Vista (6-6), Steele Canyon (2-8), Santana (4-6), El Capitan (4-6-1) and Christian (6-4-1) in the Premier Division.
West Hills (0-6) participated in the 4A Division while Valhalla (1-9), Foothills Christian (10-3) and Mountain Empire (4-2) were placed in the 2A Division. El Cajon Valley (0-7), Liberty Charter (4-4) and Mt. Miguel (2-9) competed in the Division 1 tier.
Granite Hills is the defending Open Division tournament champion as well as the San Diego Section Open Division champion after defeating Patrick Henry, 3-0, in an exciting matchup at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium that hung on the balance of a bases-loaded triple by Parker Vance and a 10-strikeout effort by Luke Bailey.
The win also cemented the Eagles in section history as the first Open Division team to complete an undefeated 24-0-2 season prior to the regional playoffs.
Liberty Charter advanced as far as the Division V-AA semifinals while Grossmont captured a play-in game in Division II.
Besides Granite Hills, other section champions included Pt. Loma (Division I), Mt. Carmel (Division II), University City (Division III), Ramona (Division IV), High Tech High San Diego (Division V) and Rock Academy (Division V-AA).
Soaring Eagles
Freshman Colton Windham made a splash with three hits, including a double and home run, to account for five RBI in Granite Hills’ 9-0 win over the El Camino Real Royals in Monday’s tournament opener. Junior Weston Pace had two hits and two RBI while senior Anthony Miotti had two hits, including a double, and one RBI to help lift the Eagles.
Junior Eurijah Schutza also had one RBI while Miotti and senior Preston Hendry each scored two runs. Miotti, Hendry and freshman Jaden Macias each collected two hits in the game.
Junior Hoss Harper pitched six innings with 14 strikeouts and no hits.
Windham led the team through 11 games with a 0.513 hitting average and 14 RBI. Up next on the scoresheet were Miotti at 0.395 with eight RBI and Schutza at 0.390 with eight RBI. Freshman Jesse Maddox followed at 0.300 with eight RBI.
Macias (0.242) had logged eight RBI and one home run while senior Jake Ervin (0.263) had accumulated six RBI and one homer.
Miotti and Hendry each had smacked one round-tripper to start the new season.
On the mound, Schutza was 3-0 with a 3.50 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 16 innings while Harper was 3-1 with a 1.18 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 29.2 innings. Junior Brody Vicars was 2-0 with a 1.85 ERA and nine strikeouts in 11.1 frames.
•Senior Trey Crawford slugged two home runs with five RBI to lead Grossmont to a 12-9 win in its tournament opener over McClatchy while three other Foothillers hit home runs: one each by senior Max Tufugafale and juniors Nate McCance and Myles Cata.
Tufugafale finished the game with three RBI while junior Logan Struck and freshman Dominic Guerra each scored three runs.
Tufagafale (0.351) and Crawford (0.353) lead the Hillers with 13 and 12 RBI, respectively.
•Sophomore Jace Sells lead Helix in its tourney opener with a home run and four RBI in a 13-0 win over Vista Grande. Junior Angel Watkins had a double and three RBI while four Highlanders each knocked in one run: junior Maddox Richardson, sophomore Romero Briones and juniors Kie Smith and Jake Johnson.
Briones pitched a complete game one-hitter with nine strikeouts while issuing just one walk.
•Senior Xander Bennett led Santana over Liberty, 7-2 with two hits and three RBI while sophomore Gregory Ryan logged two RBI and one each for freshman Landon Braaksma and junior Brennen Weed. Sophomore Israel Sanchez pitched 5.1 innings to pick up the win on the hill.
•Four players each collected two RBI in Mt Miguel’s 13-1 win over Alpine’s Liberty Charter: seniors Luis Luna-Ramirez and Mekhi Yancy, junior Diego Soto and sophomore Dimitrio Lujan. Freshman Jayden Sanchez scattered four hits in five innings with six strikeouts to record the run-rule victory as the Matadors out-hit the Lions 11-4.
Monday, March 30
Granite Hills 9, El Camino Real 0
Helix 13, Vista Grande 0
Santana 7, Liberty 2
Steele Canyon 8, San Pedro 6
Mt. Miguel 13, Liberty Charter 1
Grossmont 12, McClatchy 9
Coronado 5, Christian 4
El Camino 6, El Capitan 5
Crossroads 11, Foothills Christian 3
Green Valley 7, Monte Vista 2
Imperial 11, West Hills 5
Lincoln 13, Mountain Empire 1
Kennedy 15, El Cajon Valley 2
Windward 12, Valhalla 1
San Diego Lions 2026 Baseball Tournament
South County records
Open Division: Eastlake (3-1)
Classic Division: San Ysidro (2-2)
Premier Division: Otay Ranch (2-2)
Division 6A: Montgomery (4-0), Bonita Vista (4-0), Mater Dei Catholic (3-1)
Division 5A: Chula Vista (0-4)
Division 4A: Olympian (2-2), Hilltop (1-3), Sweetwater (0-4)
Division 3A: Castle Park (2-2), Southwest (1-3)
Division 2A: Mar Vista (1-3)
South County Baseball Records
(Through March 28)
Ocean View Christian Academy 4-0, CVLCC 5-1-1, Otay Ranch 8-2, Olympian 8-3, Eastlake 7-3, Bonita Vista 7-4, Mater Dei Catholic 6-4, Southwest 6-4, Castle Park 6-6, Mar Vista 6-6, Hilltop 5-5, Sweetwater 5-5, Chula Vista 5-7, Montgomery 3-7, Victory Christian Academy 2-6-1, San Ysidro 3-9, Bayfront Charter 0-2, High Tech High Chula Vista 0-8
Lions Tournament Scores
Monday, March 30
Bonita Vista 9, Madison 1
Eastlake 6, Christian Brothers Academy 2
Otay Ranch 7, Vista 2
Castle Park 6, Verdugo Hills 5
Mater Dei Catholic 15, Roosevelt 4
Montgomery 7, La Jolla 0
Canyon Hills 9, Mar Vista 5
Coastal Academy 8, Southwest 1
Gulliver Prep 13, Olympian 0
Sutter 11, Hilltop 2
Mountain Crest 11, Chula Vista 2
Del Norte 12, San Ysidro 8
South 12, Sweetwater 0
Tuesday, March 31
Montgomery 11, Brawley 1
Mater Dei Catholic 8, Maranatha Christian 2
Bonita Vista 5, San Pasqual 0
Mar Vista 5, Foothills Christian 1
Olympian 8, Escondido 0San Pedro 3, Otay Ranch 1
Poly 9, Hilltop 2
Ridgeview 6, Sweetwater 0
Paloma Valley 7, San Ysidro 5
North Hollywood 12, Castle Park 5
Legacy 10, Southwest 3
Colfax 6, Chula Vista 5
Birmingham 6, Eastlake 1
Wednesday, April 1
Eastlake 16, Pt. Loma 0
Bonita Vista 6, Banning 0
Otay Ranch 14, Steele Canyon 3
Montgomery 7, Rancho Buena Vista 3
Southwest 7, Washington 5
Castle Park 12, San Fernando 10
Hilltop 6, Southeast Career Tech
San Ysidro 4, Santa Fe Christian 4
Berkeley 12, Mater Dei Catholic 1
Crossroads 12, Mar Vista 0
Bell 7, Olympian 3
Francis Parker 12, Sweetwater 1
San Dieguito Academy 6, Chula Vista 3
Thursday, April 2
Eastlake 6, San Marcos 4
Montgomery 7, Scripps Ranch 0
San Ysidro 6, South Hills 1
Bonita Vista 4, Maranatha Christian 1
Mater Dei Catholic 8, Mira Mesa 4
Green Valley 9, Otay Ranch 3
Woodland Christian 6, Mar Vista 0
Narbonne 5, Southwest 4
Legacy 7, Castle Park 3
Liberty 9, Chula Vista 2
Ridgeview 5, Hilltop 3
Canyon Hills 7, Sweetwater 6
San Diego Section Rankings
(Through March 28)
Division I: 1. Cathedral Catholic 6-1, 2. Granite Hills 6-3, 3. San Marcos 6-3, 4. Pt. Loma 6-3-1, 5. Patrick Henry 5-4, 6. Eastlake 4-3, 7. LJCD 7-5, 8. La Costa Canyon 3-5, 9. Madison 6-3, 10. Coronado 3-8
Division II: 1. Mission Bay 5-0, 2. Bonita Vista 7-3, 3. Helix 5-4, 4. Clairemont 10-1, 5. Santa Fe Christian 6-3, 6. Calexico 7-2, 7. El Capitan 4-6-1, 8. Bishop’s 6-4, 9. Grossmont 4-6, 10. Scripps Ranch 6-4. Others: 11. Christian 6-4-1
Division III: 1. Ramona 8-0, 2. Westview 8-1, 3. Otay Ranch 8-1, 4. Santana 2-5, 5, Lincoln 6-1, 6. Steele Canyon 2-5, 7. Vista 2-4, 8. Monte Vista 6-6, 9. Hilltop 5-5, 10. Olympian 3-3. Others: 13, West Hills 0-4
Division IV: 1. San Diego 2-0, 2, San Dieguito Academy 6-5, 3. Mission Vista 5-3, 4. Southwest SD 6-4, 5. Mar Vista 6-6, 6. Francis Parker 5-3, 7. Oceanside 4-5-1, 8. Morse 3-6, 9. High Tech SD 4-2, 10. Chula Vista 4-5
Division V: 1. Canyon Hills 10-2, 2. Pacific Ridge 4-1, 3. Bayfront Charter 0-1, 4. High Tech Chula Vista 0-7, 5. CVLCC 4-1-1, 6. Crawford 3-3, 7. Coastal Academy 10-2, 8. Guajome Park 0-2, 9. Gompers Prep 1-4, 10. Castle Park 7-6
Division V-AA: 1. Ocean View Christian 4-0, 2. Tri-City Christian 4-3, 3. St. Joseph Academy 4-2, 4. Warner 0-1, 5. Army-Navy 2-3, 6. Julian 1-5, 7. Victory Christian 2-6-1, 8. Vincent Memorial 2-3, 9. Liberty Charter 1-4, 10. Cavin Christian 6-2
