San Ysidro Cougars are top cats after winning Lions Tournament

The San Ysidro High School baseball team captured its first Lions Tournament championship in school history by sweeping the playoff field on March 29.

Winning championships is nothing new for the San Ysidro High School baseball team. The Cougars captured the San Diego Section Division III title in 2013 and won the Division II championship in 2015.

But there are always new horizons to conquer.

San Ysidro won its first Lions Tournament championship in school history on March 29, by defeating California (Whittier), 3-2, in the semifinals and then defeating Canyon Crest Academy, 5-3, in the finals at Steele Canyon High School to claim the 6A Division title.

The Cougars were among six Metro Conference teams to qualify for this year’s Lions Tournament playoffs but the only team to win a division championship.

“Outstanding” was the word SYHS varsity coach Joel Ruiz used to describe this team’s showing in the massive 144-team tournament, now in its 68th edition.

“The boys are finally learning to play together, learning their roles on the team whether it’s off the bench or on the bench,” Ruiz explained. “The boys know that when we all play together, we are a well-oiled machine.”

The Cougars (12-3) won their opening two games in the tournament, which began March 26 and concluded March 29. San Ysidro blasted Victor Valley, 10-1, on March 26 and followed with a 9-5 win over Santa Fe Christian on March 27.

The Cougars lost, 7-4, to Broomfield (Colo.) in the pool final on March 28 but still qualified for the playoffs with a 2-1 pool record.

San Ysidro’s Kevin Garcia earned the 6A Division Most Valuable Player award at this year’s Lions Tournament.

Kevin Garcia went two-for-three with two doubles in the semifinal game while Luis Rivera scattered four hits over four innings, allowing two earned runs while striking out five batters.

In the championship game, Juan Silva went two-for-three with a single, double and a base on balls. Garcia pitched six-and-one-third innings, allowing five hits and one earned run while striking out four batters.

Angel Najera entered the game with the potential tying run on base to notch the save by pitching two-thirds of an inning with one strikeout.

San Ysidro High School coaches, from left, assistant coach Alfredo Ruiz, head coach Joel Ruiz, assistant coach Ken Canché.

This is Ruiz’s first year as varsity coach after taking over for Ken Canche. Ruiz, a graduate of SYHS, previously served as junior varsity coach at the school.

“It’s a lot of fun keeping the tradition alive,” Ruiz noted in returning to coach at his alma mater. “I was a senior when Ken Canche was coaching the team, so keeping the tradition and all the ideas he had for 10 or 12 years has been fun. A lot of the players who are now on the team were freshmen on the JV team I coached three years ago.”

The Cougars finished 4-1 in the season opening Aztec-Foothiller tournament, swept a double-header at Central Union High School and won their opening two games in the Grossmont-Metro-City Conference Tournament before embarking on play in the Lions Tournament.

San Ysidro starts Mesa League play with a two-game series against Otay Ranch April 10-12, then plays at Eastlake on April 14. Eastlake entered the Lions Tournament ranked No. 1 among San Diego Section teams.

Ruiz said his team entered the season with high expectations.

“We understood what had been happening the last two years, we had one senior on the team last year,” the SYHS coach said. “We set our goals high for this season — we thought let’s go back and try to win CIF again and earn some respect for San Ysidro baseball.”

The Cougars did just that by winning their division at this year’s Lions Tournament.

Next stop? It could get very exciting, indeed.

 

Almost famous
Mater Dei Catholic advanced to the 5A Division championship game by blanking Serra, 5-0, in the semifinals but let a 2-0 lead slip away in absorbing a 9-2 loss in the championship game against Chatsworth Sierra Canyon at San Diego High School.

Other playoff qualifiers included Eastlake (Open Division), Mar Vista (4A Division), Castle Park (2A Division) and Southwest (2A Division).

All lost semifinal games to end tournament play.

San Marcos defeated Eastlake, 4-0, while San Pasqual doubled up Mar Vista by a 4-2 score. Linfield Christian from Temecula shut out Castle Park, 4-0, while Holtville eliminated Southwest 7-2.

This year’s Lions Tournament featured a record 144 teams in 10 divisions.

 

San Ysidro Cougars
Statistical Leaders

Hitting average: Juan Silva .472, Luis Rivera .405, Alberto Johnson .326, Kevin Garcia .302, Luis Manzo .300, Carlo Segovia .277, Roberto Johnson .276

RBI: Juan Silva 12, Luis Rivera 8, Arturo Rodriguez 7, Samuel Lopez 7, Roberto Johnson 6, Alberto Johnson 6,

Runs scored: Juan Silva 12, Josue Mireles 10, Arturo Rodriguez 10, Kevin Garcia 10, Luis Rivera 8, Roberto Johnson 8, Alberto Johnson 8, Carlo Segovia 8

Doubles: Juan Silva 6

Pitching records (ERA): Luis Rivera 0.32, Josue Mireles 1.27, Kevin Garcia 2.33, Angel Najera 2.33, Jesus Tellez 2.90

 

 

Lions Tournament Champions
Open Division: San Marcos
Premier Division: Scripps Ranch
6A Division: San Ysidro
5A Division: Chatsworth Sierra Canyon
4A Division: San Pasqual
3A Division: Imperial
2A Division: Temecula Linfield Christian
1A Division: West Hills de Toledo
1B Division: Orange Glen