Lady Barons lead Metro Conference softball qualifiers into CIF tournament

Bonita Vista players celebrate after Wednesday's clutch 4-1 win over visiting Mater Dei Catholic to break the tie atop the Metro-Mesa League standings. Photo by Phillip Brents

The San Diego Section playoffs in baseball and softball start next week. First-round games are scheduled for Tuesday, May 20.

The baseball and softball playoffs will both feature seven divisions: Open Division (eight teams for both genders), Division I (12 teams), Division II (12 teams), Division III (12 teams), Division IV (12 teams), Division V (10 teams) and Division V-AA (10 teams).

The Open Division now features a double-elimination tournament May 21-28 for baseball with the championship game May 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium on the campus of San Diego State University.

Other championship venues include University of San Diego’s Fowler Field (May 31 at 1 p.m. for Division IIV, 4 p.m. for Division III and 7 p.m. for Division I), SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium (May 30 at 4 p.m. for Division II), USD’s Fowler Field (May 31) and UC San Diego (May 29 at 4 p.m. for Division V-AA and 7 p.m. for Division V).

Softball championships are scheduled May 29-31 at the following venues: Division V-AA (May 29, 4 p.m. at UC San Diego), Division V (May 29, 7 p.m. at UC San Diego), Division II (May 30, 4 p.m. at SDSU), Division I (May 30, 7:30 p.m. at SDSU), Division IV (May 31, 1:30 p.m. at IC San Diego), Division III (May 31, 4 p.m. at UC San Diego) and Open Division (May 31 at 7 p.m. at UC San Diego).

League champions automatically qualify for the playoffs, plus at-large teams to fill the remaining bracket.

The Bonita Vista Lady Barons will represent the Metro-Mesa League as it 2025 champion after coming up with a pair of clutch wins this week: 4-1 against visiting Mater Dei Catholic on Wednesday and 11-0 at Eastlake on Friday to close out regular season play.

Mater Dei Catholic had taken the league lead with a 2-1 win over visiting Bonita Vista through the first round of league play. However, Otay Ranch dealt the Lady Crusaders a 4-3 upset loss on May 7 to drop the teams into a tie at the top of the standings.

Mater Dei Catholic concluded league play with a 6-0 win over visiting Otay Ranch on Friday to finish 4-2 in league play, 21-7 overall.

Bonita Vista finishes league play 5-1, 21-5 overall.

Poway (21-6) defeated Bonita Vista, 3-0, in a non-league game on April 28. Mater Dei Catholic held the lead in the Division I power rankings over Bonita Vista, Poway, Christian, Cathedral Catholic, Otay Ranch, Del Norte and Imperial. Poway and Bonita Vista will flip in the seedings due to head-to-head play.

The possibility exists that three Metro-Mesa League teams could be seeded in the Open Division. Otay Ranch finished 3-3 in league play, 13-11-1 overall.

Nat Gonzalez (00) started for Bonita Vista versus Mater Dei Catholic and teammate Danica Aboytes (1) finished. Photos by Phillip Brents

The Lady Barons were out-hit 8-6 by Mater Dei Catholic in their premier matchup but Bonita Vista tallied four doubles: one each by junior Aryanna Salazar, senior Danica Aboytes, sophomore Ilma Jurado and junior Leah Letuli. Salazar and Aboytes each logged one RBI while Salazar, junior Kianna Balajadia-Brooks, junior Brooklyn Bartolome and senior Anaissa Del Rio each scored one run.

Senior Nat Gonzalez started the game and pitched 4.1 innings with four hits allowed and two strikeouts before being relieved by Aboytes, who snuffed out an attempted comeback by the Lady Crusaders with 2.2 innings of shutout pitching despite yielding three hits. Gonzalez picked up the win to improve to 8-2 on the season while Aboytes recorded the save (her sixth of the season).

Mater Dei Catholic sophomore ace Arri Romero took the loss. She pitched six innings with , six hits allowed and four strikeouts.

Senior Lilia Alpuche had one RBI for the Lady Crusaders while senior Bella Hiner had one double. Sophomore Maya Matthies scored the lone run.

Bonita Vista rapped out 15 hits in the 11-0 won over Eastlake, led by sophomore Sabrina Perez with four RBI and one home run. Aboytes got the start, pitching six innings with three hits in the shortened run-rule victory.

The Lady Crusaders corralled the Lady Mustangs with nine hits, including two each by Matthies and Harris. Matthies (double) also scored twice in support of Romero, who bounced back in the win column with a complete game one-hitter with three strikeouts.

Aboytes has logged a 1.20 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 87.2 innings while Gonzalez has a 1.23 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 57 innings.

Junior Ariana Magdaleno tops the Lady Barons with a 0.416 hitting average, Letuli leads the team with 21 RBI and Aboytes has slugged four home runs.

Romero is 17-4 in the pitching circle with a 1.64 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 124 innings. She also leads the team with a 0.429 hitting average and 29 RBI. Sophomore Charlize Masingale tops the team with four home runs while Romero has bombarded opponents with 13 doubles. Harris has three triples.

Bonita Vista High School seniors honored on Senior Night. Photo by Phillip Brents

Metro Conference softball league champions

Metro-Mesa League: Bonita Vista, 5-1 in league, 21-5 overall

Metro-South Bay League: Olympian, 6-0 in league, 14-12-1 overall

Metro-Pacific league: Sweetwater, 8-0 in league, 19-2-1 overall

 

The Eastlake Titans wrapped up their Metro-Mesa League championship season with five consecutive league victories. Photos by Phillip Brents

Clash of the Titans

The Granite Hills High School baseball team —20-0-2 in the regular season — has turned aside all challengers this spring to remain undefeated. Now, the newly crowned Grossmont Hills League champions will have to do it all over again as the San Diego Section playoffs get under way.

The Eagles, with their 0.955 winning percentage, received the No. 1 seed in the Open Division playoffs. It’s a prestigious honor but there’s still unfinished work to be done to call the season an unqualified success.

If there is any consolation, the Open Division has become a double-elimination tournament. If someone else is going to snatch away the championship, someone is going to have to beat the Eagles twice.

The question of the day: who is up to that task?

The question is who is up to that task? Could it possibly be Eastlake after the Titans (17-8-1) received the No. 7 seed in the Open Division?

Eastlake met second-seeded San Marcos (19-6-1) in Wednesday’s Open Division opener while Granite Hills hosted eighth-seeded Del Norte (17-10).

The Titans and Eagles are on opposite sides of the bracket but, fingers crossed, could meet in the division final.

“We were the No. 8 seed when we won the Open Division in 2021,” recounted EHS coach Ramon Orozco, whose team wrapped up regular season play with an 11-3 victory last Friday at BVHS to claim its fifth consecutive win.

Seeding was generally fair for South County teams. Metro-South Bay League runner-up Otay Ranch (19-9) received the No. 1 seed in Division IV while High Tech High Chula Vista (8-12) received the No. 2 seed in Division V.

Division IV has a strong Metro flavor with four teams. Joining the top-seeded Mustangs are No. 5 Hilltop (12-17), No. 7 Chula Vista (16-10-2) and No. 10 Olympian (16-13-1).

The Chula Vista Spartans captured their Metro-Pacific League series against Mar Vista two games to one to reign as league champions in 2025. Photos by Phillip Brents

 

Metro Conference baseball league champions

Metro-Mesa League: Eastlake, 7-2 in league, 17-8-1 overall

Metro-South Bay League: Mater Dei Catholic, 10-2 in league, 16-12 overall

Metro-Pacific League: Chula Vista, 7-2 in league, 16-10-2 overall

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