With seven championship finalists in baseball and softball, it was both literally and figuratively a banner year for East County teams to close out the 2026 spring playoffs.
Four softball teams advanced to divisional finals held May 28-30 at San Diego State University, University of San Diego and UC San Diego’s collegiate fields.
Three baseball teams dueled at SDSU and USD.
Of the seven local entrants, four came home with coveted CIF championships, including a sweep for Helix Charter on the diamond.
The championship parade began May 28 at SDSU with second-seeded Helix (24-4) defeating top-seeded Brawley (19-11) by a score of 6-2 to capture the Division III softball banner — the first in school history.
Monte Vista (Division V) and Steele Canyon (Division I) upheld their end with finals victories Saturday at UC San Diego. No. 3 Monte Vista (19-13) blasted top-seeded La Jolla (16-13) by a score of 17-9, while third-seeded Steele Canyon (21-11) out-slugged fourth-seeded Torrey Pines (17-13-1) by a score of 13-7 in come-from-behind fashion.
It marked the first section title for Steele Canyon in 19 years while Monte Vista reversed a 1-16 finish a year ago to reign supreme atop its division after last winning CIF titles in 1987 and 1989.
Both were long times coming.
No. 3 Helix (21-11) defeated top-seeded Christian (21-10-1) by a score of 8-4 to tee off Saturday’s baseball finals at USD with an all-East County matchup. It was the first CIF championship for the Highlanders since 2011 and the fourth in school history, adding to banners first won in 1963 and 1988.
Not everyone was a winner.
Besides Christian’s runner-up baseball finish, Foothills Christian’s baseball team (22-13) posted a second-place finish on May 28 at SDSU while Grossmont’s softball team (18-11-1) recorded a runner-up finish last Friday at USD’s new canyon field, both in Division IV.
Foothills Christian, making its first-ever CIF finals appearance, came up short, 6-4, to fifth-seeded Francis Parker (24-11) while Grossmont took a one-run lead in the third inning over No. 1 Madison (22-9-1) before being overwhelmed 14-7 by the powerful Lady Warhawks.
Highlander Games
Helix’s softball team had advanced to the championship round only once before — the 2021 Division II final with a 4-0 loss to Otay Ranch.
The Grossmont Valley League co-champion Lady Highlanders took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and never relinquished it. The Lady Wildcats tied the score, 1-1 in the second inning but Helix came back with two runs in the top of the third inning to take a 3-1 lead.
Brawley scratched out a run in the bottom of the frame to pull to within one run on the scoreboard at 3-2 but the Lady Scotties did the rest of the scoring in the game by adding one run in the fifth inning and two insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Sophomore Lea Moya tossed a complete game four-hitter to pick up her 10th win of the season. She allowed one earned run while striking out three batters to improve her earned run average to 0.81and strikeouts to 102 in 95 innings on the season.
The Lady Highlanders collected eight hits.
Sophomore Ella Aguayo and freshman Amara Okafor each drove in two runs while freshman Naleia Medina accounted for another RBI with a home run. Freshman Sabrina Ramuno and Okafor each stroked doubles.
Sophomore Nikayiah Domingo and Ramuno each scored twice while Medina scored once in the game. Domingo had two stolen bases.
For Brawley, junior Kiana Adame and Roslyn Rubio each dove in one run while sophomore Kaitlyn Castro logged a double and scored. Senior Sophia Ruiz scored the Lady Wildcats’ other run.
“It’s surreal to be back on this field,” said Helix head coach Molly Studivant, who played third base at SDSU four years from 2015-19. “Scoring first and holding it down with our pitching and defense before our offense came through was definitely the difference.
“It took a lot of hard work and dedication and the want to win to get here. The girls showed some grit through some pretty hard games.
“It’s pretty incredible. We knew going into the season we would have a strong team. We’re happy to have had the opportunity to play at SDSU.”
Helix received the No. 2 seed in the Division III regional playoffs, besting No. 7 Covina (16-13-1), 14-7, in Tuesday’s quarterfinal.
Top hitters on the season have included Medina (0.518 with 16 RBI), Ramuno (0.471 with 19 RBI), Domingo (0.462 with 29 RBI) and Aguayo (0.467 with 31 RBI). Domingo led the team with three home runs and four triples while Aguayo had 14 two-baggers to her credit.
Loya helped her own cause with a 0.455 hitting average.
Helix capped its championship run with a 4-0 clean sheet that included preliminary wins over No. 7 Ramona (2-1 in the first round) and a pair over No. 3 Mission Vista (11-0 in the second round and 7-1 in the semifinals).
Brawley defeated No. 8 Coronado, 11-2 in the first round, No. 4 Mission Bay, 1-0, in the second round and Coronado again, 8-2, in the semifinals.
As for baseball:
Helix came within a whisker of advancing to the division championship game two years ago with a 3-2 loss at Bonita Vista in the double-elimination round. But Highlanders head coach Diego Reynoso felt his team had the making of a championship contender from the get-go this season.
“The biggest thing is that we were very good on offense,” he said. “Before we were chippy, playing small ball, but this year we added an offensive element. We hit 35 home runs which either led the section or was second.
“From what we had coming back on paper and from what I saw in winter ball, I thought we could be a championship team. We had the experience and the preparation, we just had to execute.”
The Scotties finished regular season play tied with defending Open Division champion Granite Hills for the Grossmont Hills League championship. From there, they won three consecutive playoff games to reach the somewhat elusive division final: 9-5 over No. 6 Brawley (19-9) in the first round, 7-5 over No. 7 Mission Hills (17-15) in the second round and 5-3 over No. 2 Bonita Vista (22-10) in the semifinals to make amends for the double-elimination loss two years ago.
The Highlanders were facing a top-seeded Christian team in Saturday’s division final that finished runner-up to Madison (2026 Division I champions) in the City Conference Eastern League standings and had won 15 of its last 17 games.
The Patriots plated three runs in the bottom of the third inning to put the Scotties in a 3-0 hole. But it wasn’t deep enough not to crawl out from.
Two-out doubles by sophomore Maximus Villalva and junior Braden Casey scored one run for Christian and an ensuing double by junior Caleb Brierley added two more runs to the total.
The Patriots appeared to be humming along with freshman Talon Brown on the mound until the top of the fifth inning when three hits, including a triple by junior Angel Watkins, and a throwing error handed Helix four runs and a 4-3 lead.
The Patriots responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame to knot the score at four-all. But the Grossmont Hills League co-champions would go on to push two more runs across in the sixth and seventh innings for an 8-4 lead.
The Scotties made it hold up with two scoreless innings of relief from junior closer Ben Williams, who allowed one hit while striking out three batters.
Senior Bryan Herman keyed Helix with two RBI while Williams, junior Kie Smith, Watkins, junior Jake Johnson and sophomore starter Romeo Briones all chipped in with one RBI.
The Patriots were charged with two errors.
“They did give us a couple of extra plays that we managed to capitalize on,” Reynoso said.
“Hats off to our boys for doing that.”
Helix received the No.4 seed in the Division III regional and topped No. 5 Laguna Beach (20-13), 13-4, in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Smith carried a 0.419 hitting average and 29 RBI into that game while Briones was hitting 0.372 with 28 RBI and seven home runs, Williams 0.370 with 25 RBI and five home runs, Herman 0.352 with 31 RBI and five home runs and Watkins 0.330 with 28 RBI and a team-leading nine home runs.
Briones was 8-2 with a 1.72 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 65 innings. Williams (31 strikeouts win 24.2 innings, 2.58 ERA) had logged four saves.
Christian’s season leaders included seniors Benji Molina (0.406, 15 doubles, 24 RBI, three home runs) and Roman Gustin (0.366, 22 RBI, three home runs).
Women of Steele
The Lady Cougars got hot at the right time of the season with a nine-game winning streak that earned them a share of this year’s Grossmont Hills League championship and a coveted San Diego Section title.
The CIF championship reversed losses in the 2017 Division II final and 2024 Division I final under current head coach Kevin Pearlstein. It marks the first time the Lady Cougars have won a grand finale since capturing back-to-back Division III titles in 2006-07.
“It was a great run,” Pearlstein underscored. “We definitely started off slow with 1-4 and 8-10 records but turned it on to win 13 of 14 to finish the year.
“We set four goals every year and achieved-and-a-half out four — so not bad. The Steele program is good because we have quality players in each graduating year, including senior Ily Barclay, the Grossmont Hills Player of the Year, who will be attending Fairfield University in Connecticut as a student/athlete.
“We are graduating nine seniors but have a very strong foundation with UCSB bound junior Payton Sos, sophomore Sophia Jackel and three excellent freshmen in Avigail Hendricks, Ari Angotti and Izabella Thomas.”
The Lady Cougars mounted their championship game assault with 11 runs in the fifth and sixth innings to erase a 5-2 Torrey Pines lead. Steele Canyon scored six runs in the fifth inning to go in front 8-5 and tacked on five more runs in the next frame to make a further statement.
The Steele Canyon dynamo was sparked by the three freshmen. Angotti hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning en route to finishing the game with four RBI and three runs scored. Hendricks collected three hits and scored twice while Thomas put her team ahead for good with a two-run single in the fateful fifth inning to end the game with three RBI and one run scored.
Senior Marina Gonzalez (double) finished the contest with two hits and three RBI. Sos and fellow junior Kallan Shaw each scored two runs.
Senior Belle Will pitched a complete game victory while also collecting two hits, drove in one run and scored one run.
Also chipping in with runs scored were Barclay and Jackel.
Barclay led the team with a cool 0.500 hitting average in 30 games with eight RBI and four triples while Hendricks batted 0.412 with 14 RBI and two home runs. Next up were Jackel at 0.361 with 28 RBI and four home runs, Angotti at 0.354 with 22 RBI and two home runs, Sos at 0.350 with 20 RBI and four home runs, Will at 0.324 with 23 RBI and three RBI and Thomas at 0.312 and 13 RBI.
Will logged 84 strikeouts in 80.1 innings in the pitching circle.
A track standout, Barclay led the team with 21 stolen bases.
Steele Canyon shared the league title with Santana with 6-2 league records. The Lady Sultans (17-13) received the No. 5 seed in the Division II playoffs and ended their season with a 2-2 postseason mark, including a pair of losses to fourth-seeded Westview (5-1 in the first round and 4-2 in the third round) and wins over No. 12 Patrick Henry (8-4 in the play-in round) and No. 8 Mira Mesa (4-3 in the second round).
The Lady Cougars recorded playoff wins against No. 6 Poway (6-3, first round), No. 2 Otay Ranch (9-4, second round) and No. 10 Christian (8-6, semifinals).
Turnaround season
The Lady Monarchs led from the start, building leads of 4-0 (first inning) and 6-2 (second inning) and eventually extending it to 10-4 by the third inning.
The Spring Valley squad rapped out 11 hits and took advantage of nine walks, four hit batters, eight stolen bases, numerous wild pitches and six errors.
It added up to 17 runs and a runaway victory.
Junior Alina Rodriguez was credited with five RBI while sophomore Kianna Deleon was credited with two RBI and one each to junior Olivia Mendham (double) and freshman Julieta Castillo Martinez (three runs scored).
Mendham and junior Liliah Gorham each scored four runs.
Mendham, sophomore Giselle Sanchez, Castillo Martinez and Rodriguez each had two hits while Deleon and freshman Reena Del Rosario each scored two runs.
Castillo Martinez pitched five innings, allowing six earned runs, while Del Rosario, after clubbing a triple at the plate and scoring two runs, pitched the final two innings to shut down the Lady Vikings.
The blowout win was no accident. Mendham paced the Lady Monarchs with a torrid 0.587 hitting average, 48 RBI and 34 stolen bases in 30 games while Del Rosario followed with a 0.468 average, 23 RBI and 33 stolen bases. Gorham batted 0.462 with 17 RBI while Castillo Martinez hit 0.450 with 25 RBI.
Other team leaders included Rodrigue (30 RBI), Sanchez (21 RBI), Deleon (19 RBI) and junior Juliana Manley (17 RBI).
Del Rosario improved to 12-3 in the pitching circle with 10 complete game outings.
Monte Vista finished 4-4 in Grossmont Valley League play with a league best 395 runs scored.
The Spring Valley squad opened the playoffs with a 12-2 win over sixth-seeded High Tech High San Diego and followed with a 9-7 loss to second-seeded San Diego Southwest. The Lady Monarchs defeated seventh-seeded Mt. Miguel, 10-8, in a double-elimination game to rematch with Southwest in the semifinals, winning 21-12.
The next step in Tuesday’s opening round of the Southern California Division V playoffs ended with a 9-6 loss to sixth-seeded San Bernardino (17-15-1).
Notable
Freshman Drew Winchester (double) collected three RBI while freshman Jaidyn Jacques, sophomore Alyanna Vega and sophomore Juliana Short each drove in one run in Grossmont’s championship game setback. Winchester scored two runs while matching junior teammate Madison Busch and senior Alexis Holman with two hits.
Freshman Sahara Roope (9-2, 88 strikeouts) pitched two innings with four strikeouts and four hits while junior Saraya Roope (9-8, 78 strikeouts) pitched four innings with two strikeouts and eight hits.
Saraya Roope keyed the Lady Foothillers with a 0.575 hitting average with 22 RBI while Sahara Roope batted 0.477 with 40 RBI.
