The high school baseball season is rapidly heading to a close. The San Diego Section playoffs are beckoning, and apparently so to several highly-ranked South County teams in their respective divisions.
The Eastlake Titans (14-5) entered the week ranked eighth overall among section teams, seventh in Division I, while the Bonita Vista Barons (14-5-1) were ranked second among Division II teams. Hilltop (9-12-1) was ranked sixth among Division IV teams while Ocean View Christian Academy (5-3) was ranked fifth among Division V-AA teams.
Other top 10-ranked teams included No. 7 San Ysidro (13-8) and No. 9 Mater Dei Catholic (13-10) in Division III, No. 8 Sweetwater (10-8) in Division IV and No. 7 Victory Christian Academy (7-6) in Division V-AA.
Eastlake upped its record to 15-5 following Tuesday’s 3-1 Metro-Mesa League win over the Montgomery Aztecs at Petco Park.
While the Padres were on the road, local preps took the spotlight in the downtown ballpark.
Senior Noah Libed and juniors Angel Laya and Jacob May each collected RBI in the win over the Aztecs (7-11) in support of pitchers Nick Romero, Jake Davis and Nolan Nunes.
Both teams scored in the first inning. Montgomery took a 1-0 lead on before the Titans pushed across the game-tying run in the bottom of the frame.
The Aztecs were held scoreless the rest of the game while Eastlake broke the game open with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Eastlake out-hit Montgomery 8-4. Laya snagged a three-bagger for the Titans’ lone extra-base hit in the contest.
Libed, junior Noah Solano and Laya each scored runs for Eastlake while senior Aaron Herrera crossed the plate for Montgomery. Senior Joe Tinajero, junior Juan Iniguez and sophomore Marco Reyes each banged out hits for the Aztecs.
Romero, a junior, pitched four innings with one run allowed, four hits and four strikeouts. Davis, a senior, pitched one scoreless inning with one strikeout while Nunes, who collected the win, pitched two hitless innings with one walk and three strikeouts.
Senior Anthony Gonzalez started on the mound for Montgomery. He pitched 5.1 innings with three runs allowed, six hits and seven strikeouts. Iniguez pitched 1.2 innings with two hits allowed and no runs.
The Titans were charged with one error in the game, which capped Tuesday’s triple-header.
In earlier matchups, Borrego Springs (10-5) defeated Warner (0-9) by a 14-1 score while Calexico (11-7-1) and Southwest El Centro (16-6) were tied 1-1 when the game was curtailed dur to time..
EHS senior Noah Betanco has compiled a 0.414 hitting average with 14 RBI and four home runs in 20 games, followed by Laya with a 0.361 average with 13 RBI and one home run in 19 games. May is batting 0.349 in 20 games with 17 RBI and two home runs while junior Kalani Jauregui has posted a 0.345 average with 10 RBI and one home run.
Libed (12 RBI, one home run) and junior Will Schmitz are both hitting 0.286.
Romero is 7-1 on the season with a 0.73 earned-run average and 53 strikeouts in 48 innings. Nunes is 5-1 with a 1.45 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 29 innings. Davis is 3-0 with a 2.53 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 27.2 innings.
Senior Luis Chavez tops Montgomery with a 0.306 hitting average in 18 games while Reyes and Herrera are both hitting 0.286 in 18 matchups. Gonzalez has posted a 1.75 ERA in eight appearances with 60 strikeouts in 52.1 innings.
San Diego Section Rankings
BASEBALL
(MaxPreps through April 22)
- St. Augustine 16-4
- Torrey Pines 15-6
- Granite Hills 14-4
- Rancho Bernardo 14-5
- Cathedral Catholic 16-5
- Patrick Henry 16-6
- Santa Fe Christian 15-4
- Eastlake 14-5
- Bonita Vista 14-5-1
- Point Loma 12-5-3
- San Marcos 12-6
- Carlsbad 10-9
- Maranatha Christian 15-4
- Del Norte 12-8
- La Costa Canyon 7-10-1
- Sage Creek 11-8-1
- Mission Hills 11-7-1
- Poway 12-8
- Valhalla 12-6
- Coronado 12-8
SOFTBALL
(MaxPreps through April 22)
- Del Norte 16-2
- Poway 14-4-1
- Mater Dei Catholic 18-3
- Torrey Pines 15-3-2
- Catrhedral Catholic 14-5
- Eastlake 16-5
- Rancho Bernardo 13-5-1
- Imperial 18-2-1
- Christian 16-4-1
- Mission Hills 11-6-2
- La Costa Canyon 15-7
- Carlsbad 11-8
- Bonita Vista 11-8-1
- Santa Fe Christian 12-0-1
- Otay Ranch 10-8
- Steele Canyon 13-4-1
- Granite Hills 9-8
- Patrick Henry 12-9
- Our Lady of Peace 8-7-1
- San Marcos 9-11
40th Annual Hilltop Softball Tournament Log
This year’s tournament featured 20 teams from all over San Diego and Imperial counties. The top team in each 10-team pool advanced to the championship game on March 23. Imperial defeated Christian, 6-3, in the final.
Pool A: Christian 4-0, Steele Canyon 4-0, Westview 4-0, Point Loma 2-2, El Centro Southwest 1-3, Olympian 1-3, Chula Vista 0-4, Hilltop 0-4, Holtville 0-4
Pool B: Imperial 3-0-1, Eastlake 3-1, Bonita Vista 2-1-1, El Capitan 2-1-1, Mt. Carmel 2-2, Helix 2-2, Mar Vista 2-2, Clairemont 1-2-1, Calexico 1-3, University City 0-4
Saturday, March 16
El Capitan 1, Bonita Vista 0
El Capitan 2, Clairemont 2
Bonita Vista 4, Calexico 1
Imperial 8, Helix 5
Helix 4, Calexico 2
Imperial 6, Mt. Carmel 1
Mt. Carmel 12, University City 3
Eastlake 4, Mar Vista 2
Mar Vista 6, Clairemont 5
Eastlake 8, University City 0
Christian 10, Holtville 1
Christian 8, Hilltop 1
Rancho Buena Vista 7, Hilltop 0
Point Loma 11, Chula Vista 0
Steele Canyon 8, Chula Vista 7
Steele Canyon 14, El Centro Southwest 2
Westview 8, Holtville 0
El Centro Southwest 7, Rancho Buena Vista 5
Thursday, March 21
Bonita Vista 4, Mt. Carmel 1 (11 innings)
El Capitan 13, Mar Vista 1
Helix 10, Clairemont 1
Calexico 5, University City 1
Rancho Buena Vista 3, Olympian 1
Christian 4, Point Loma 0
Westview 15, Hilltop 0
Steele Canyon 7, Holtville 1
El Centro Southwest 12, Chula Vista 4
Imperial defeated Eastlake by forfeit
Westview 1, Olympian 0
Point Loma 1, Olympian 0
