The Bonita Vista Barons and Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders are two of 14 teams that will have the honor of participating in this weekend’s eighth annual Prep Baseball Showcase at Petco Park. The Barons and Crusaders will start off Saturday’s slate of four games with a 10 a.m. contest. The game doubles as the Metro-Mesa League opener for both teams.
The prep baseball showcase event is sponsored by both the San Diego Section and the San Diego Padres.
Bonita Vista tuned up for Saturday morning’s game by recording a tight 1-0 non-league win at Chula Vista on Thursday. The Barons (15-3) scored their lone run in the top of the third inning as Daniel Schneemann reached base on a single, stole second base and then came around to score on an error.
Schneemann also picked up the save in relief by hurling a hitless seventh inning while striking out two batters.
John Freeman, who received credit for the win, started on the mound for Bonita Vista. He pitched four innings, allowing one hit while striking out three. Alex Verdugo pitched the next two frames, giving up one hit and striking out three.
The three Baron pitchers combined to allow just two hits while striking out eight Spartans.
Bonita Vista made the most of its three hits. Besides Schneemann, John Beilstein and Cris Isaaks were each credited with basehits. Riley Regala also reached base on a walk.
“We’re right where we want to be at this part of the season,” BVHS coach Vincent Gervais explained. “We want to play well in our league opener at Petco and continue to play Barons’ baseball after that, which means good pitching and defense and finding ways to score runs.”
The Barons will play San Ysidro in the Metro Conference/John Baumgarten Classic championship game May 2 at Hilltop High School.
Chula Vista dropped to 3-12 on the season.
Mater Dei Catholic enters Saturday’s game at Petco Park with a 5-11 record.
Boys lacrosse
The Eastlake Titans opened defense of their Mesa League championship with a 12-0 victory at Bonita Vista on Wednesday. The win boosted the Titans’ seasonal record to 6-4, 1-0 in league play. Bonita Vista dropped to 5-5 on the season, 0-1 in league play.
Eastlake dominated the game by building a 8-0 halftime lead. Jordan Vicente led the Titans in scoring with four goals and two assists while teammates Chase Morris and Asanti Baltazar each collected two goals and one assist. Andrew Gisler was credited with two goals while Christian Haffner and Ethan Nacif each scored once. Michaelangelo Aguirre rounded out the Titans’ scoring barrage with one assist.
Haffner led Eastlake’s defensive effort with 12 ground balls, one interception and four takeaways while Vicente scooped up five ground balls and Michael Kohler and Angelo Abante each wered credited with four ground balls. Goalies Nathan McPeak and Elijah Atendido combined to make eight saves to share the shutout.
Xavier Jones led the Barons with five ground balls while BV goalie Dan Chier made 21 saves on 33 shots.
Eastlake hosts Olympian (1-1 in league, 5-6 overall) on Monday, April 20, at 7 p.m. while Bonita Vista resumes league play at Olympian in a 7 p.m. match set for Wednesday, April 20.
Olympian shaded visiting Hilltop, 14-12, in another Mesa League game on Wednesday. Anthony Hughes led the Eagles with seven goals and three assists while Alex Medina contributed four goals and three assists, Carlo Reyes scored twice, Mohammed Dekhil contributed one goal and Dennis Rich and Tyler Santini each collected one assist. Santini also led Olympian’s defense with 10 ground balls while Hughes had seven grouond balls and Rich and Medina each had six ground balls.
Ruben Granados, who played 45 minutes in the net, made nine saves on 20 Hilltop shots. Kinton Borja led the Lancers (0-2 in league, 5-6 overall) with five goals.
Softball
Mater Dei Catholic scored a rare 2-1 victory against visiting Bonita Vista on Wednesday as the teams faced off Metro-Mesa League play.
Kellie White improved her season record to 12-4 by picking up the win in the pitching circle. White also drove in the game-winning run on a walk-off sacrifice fly.
White pitched a complete game, allowing two hits while striking out six batters. Alexis Morales (2-for-3 at the plate) scored both runs for the winners. Alana Burges Campbell (3-for-3) drove in Morales for Mater Dei’s first run in the bottom of the fifth inning while White’s sacrifice fly scored Morales for the decisive run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Bonita Vista (0-1 in league, 11-3-1 overall) tied the score, 1-1, with a run in the top of the sixth inning. Lani Graft (1-for-2) knocked in the lone run for the defending league champion Barons.
Mia Marinakis took the loss in the pitching circle for Bonita Vista.
The Crusaders (15-5-1 overall) improved to 2-0 in league play by defeating host Otay Ranch, 2-1, Friday afternoon.
Otay Ranch opened league play on Wednesday with a 7-2 win at Olympian. Josie Bachtell recorded the win in the pitching circle while Kalalaelisa Toomalatau went 2-for-4 with three RBI and Hazel Diaz went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs. Bachtell scattered 11 hits while striking out just two batters.
Olympian’s Isabella Leon went 2-for-4 with a home run while Justine Federe went 2-for-4 with a double, scoring teammate Madison Nafarette. Freshmen Mecca Godinez and Sydney Sanchez combined to give up nine hits to the Mustangs.
Otay Ranch is 1-1 in league play, 13-9 overall, while Olympian is 0-1 in league play. 11-4 overall.
Swimming
The Hilltop High School boys swim team improved to 5-0 on the season after defeating Olympian 99-87 in a Mesa League dual meet on Wednesday.
Wyatt Schmidt clocked automatic CIF-qualifying times in the 100-yard backstroke (58.13) and 200 individual medley (2:03.09) while Sidney Aki recorded another automatic CIF-qualifying time in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.43).
The Hilltop girls swim team improved to 4-1 on the season after topping Olympian, 101-84, in the pool. Kennedy Miranda provided the meet highlight by scoring an automatic CIF-qualifying mark of 211.0 points in the girls diving event.
Hilltop will next engage Bonita Vista in Mesa League dual competition on Monday, April 20, at 5 p.m. at Southwestern College.
Scoreboard update
Prep Baseball
Bonita Vista 6, Mater Dei Catholic 0
Winning pitcher: Ricky Reynoso (BV) improves to 7-0 on the season
