The San Diego Section baseball championships took place May 28-30 at San Diego State University and the University of San Diego. Three East County teams qualified for the finals: No. 1-seeded Christian and No. 3-seeded Helix Charter in the Division II bracket and No. 7-seeded Foothills Christian in Division IV.
Helix won its fourth CIF championship in school history by defeating Christian, 8-4, while Foothills Christian took a runner-up finish with a 6-4 setback to No. 5 Francis Parker.
But that was not necessarily the end of the season as 10 section teams continued on in the Southern California regional tournament.
The four semifinalists in the Open Division qualified to extend their seasons while the champion and runner-up in the Division I bracket also did so. The champions in Division II through Division V also earned extra games.
The Open Division champion Patrick Henry Patriots received the No. 2 seed in the Division I regional bracket, the Open Division runner-up Eastlake Titans received the No. 6 seed, Open Division semifinalist Cathedral Catholic received the No. 8 seed and Open Division semifinalist Point Loma received the No. 3 seed in the Division II bracket.
Patrick Henry (24-10) lost, 10-3, to No. 7 Huntington Beach while Eastlake (24-8) dropped a 4-1 decision at No. 3 Corona (24-9). Cathedral Catholic (27-6) upset No. 1 St. John Bosco (27-6) by a score of 4-2 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals at fifth-seeded La Mirada (25-8).
Cathedral Catholic (28-6) won 12-2 to turn around to face Huntington Beach (24-8-1) in the championship game, losing 5-3.
Point Loma (20-12-1) defeated sixth-seeded Millikan, 5-2, in the opening quarterfinals but ended their season with an 11-6 loss at No. 2 Newport Harbor.
No. 7 Madison, the Division I section champion, lost 2-0 to Newport Harbor in the Division II quarterfinals to end its season with a 25-8 record.
Division II section champion Helix (22-12) received the No. 4 seed in the Division III bracket and hammered No. 5 Laguna Beach, 13-4, in the opening round on June 2 but lost, 7-5, to No. 8 Kaiser in the semifinals on June 4.
The Highlanders scored 11 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to overpower Laguna Beach while erasing a 4-2 deficit on the scoreboard. The teams combined for 21 hits in the contest.
Junior Angel Watkins is believed to have set a Grossmont Conference record with eight RBI on the strength of four hits that included two doubles and a home run. He also scored two runs.
Junior Ben Williams (double) and senior Isaac Fierro (home run) both chipped in with two RBI apiece. Sophomore Romero Briones also drove in one run.
Juniors Kie Smith and Maddox Richardson also each scored two runs while junior Jake Johnson and seniors Bryan Herman and Josh Rivera, Fierro and Briones also scored single runs.
Junior Owen Liddell was credited with the win on the mound after striking out four batters in 2.2 innings with one earned run allowed. Sophomore Braydon Rehbein pitched 2.2 innings with two strikeouts and two earned runs while senior Elijah Martinez pitched 1.2 innings with two strikeouts and one earned run allowed.
The three Helix pitchers combined for eight strikeouts while scattering 10 hits.
The semifinal produced 19 hits between the combatants — 10 by the Highlanders. Kaiser built a 5-2 lead through four innings and added runs in the sixth and seventh innings to offset a two-run rally by the hosts in the bottom of the seventh.
Williams (double, home run) led the Scotties with three RBI. Herman and Rivera (home run) both had one RBI. Smith scored two runs in what proved to be Helix’s final game of the season.
It was a well-rounded victory. Williams, Watkins and Rivera each scored once. Williams, Smith and Fierro each had two hits. Watkins and Fierro each had one stolen base.
Four Highlanders took the mound with seven strikeouts between them while giving up two home runs and nine hits.
Briones pitched four innings with six strikeouts and three earned runs. Williams, Richardson and sophomore Jacob Jimenez each pitched one inning.
Championship games were played June 6. Kaiser lost 7-3 to No. 3-seeded Glendora to close out the Division III SoCal championship bracket.
The Scotties ended their season with an overall 22-12 record, including 10-2 in Grossmont Hills League play as the co-champion with Granite Hills.
Statistical leaders for the season included Smith with a 0.418 hitting average and 29 RBI, sophomore Jace Sells (0.389) with nine RBI, Williams (0.379) with 30 RBI and six home runs, Briones (0.374 ) with 29 RBI and seven home runs, Fierro (0.359) with 11 RBI, Herman (0.358) with 32 RBI and five home runs, Watkins (0.357) with 36 RBI and 10 home runs, along with Richardson (0.333 and Johnson (0315).
As a team, the Highlanders socked 39 home runs, 66 doubles, 11 triples, droved in 232 runs and rapped out 315 hits.
Pitching leaders included Briones with an 8-2 record, 1.93 earned-run average and 77 strikeouts in 69 innings, Martinez with a 4-2 record, 2.21 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 31.2 innings, and Liddell with a 2-1 record, 3.86 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 16.1 innings.
Williams appeared in 17 games with a 1-1 record, 2.48 ERA, four saves and 32 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. Richardson was 2-3 with a 4.06 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 20.2 innings.
Herman, Fierro, Jimenez, junior Elsa Becher and Rehbein each picked up one win on the hill.
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Overall, there were three section teams in the Division III regional bracket. Division II section runner-up Mt. Carmel (19-16-1) received the No. 1 seed but came up short, 2-0, to Kaiser while Westview, the Division III section champion, defeated third-seeded Carson, 7-1, to tee off regional play.
As a reward, Westview (27-6) traveled to No. 2 seed Glendora (21-11) for the semifinals with the winner awaiting the championship game against Kaiser (21-14). Westview lost 13-3.
Division IV section champion Francis Parker (26-12) received the No. 5 seed in the Division IV regional bracket and upended No. 4 Covina, 6-1, in its opener to advance to the semifinal clash against eighth-seeded South El Monte (19-13).
Francis Parker won 5-3 to advance to the championship game against No. 7 Torrance North following 1-0 and 6-0 upset wins by the Torrance squad over No. 2 Bell (24-6) and No. 3 Central Valley Christian (20-14).
North (19-16) won the regional title with a 9-3 victory.
Division V section champion Coastal Academy (25-7) reserved a berth in the Division V regional championship game with wins over No. 7 Fremont (5-4 in the quarterfinals) and No. 3 Schurr (5-2 in the semifinals). The Stingrays were to face either top-seeded Verdugo Hills or fifth-seeded Roosevelt before both teams were subsequently disqualified following a bench-clearing fracas to leave the Oceanside team without an opponent to play.
Coastal Academy became the first team declared as a champion in this year’s regional playoffs.
Verdugo Hills was leading 5-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning when the game was terminated for safety reasons.
