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.
Other teams in the region will be looking to match that success next season.
Alpine’s Liberty Charter High School tied for second place in the Summit League standings and qualified for the Division V-AA section playoffs. The Lions (13-11) received the No. 3 seed among the 10 teams in the tournament bracket and advanced to the third round of double-elimination play.
Liberty Charter lost its opening game, 8-4, to sixth-seeded Tri-City Christian but defeated 10th-seeded Vincent Memorial, 11-4, in the second round to remain alive in the tournament.
The win advanced the Lions to a rematch against Tri-City. The teams produced a slugfest on the diamond with 44 runs between them. TCC won the right to advance to the division semifinals with a 24-20 victory.
Second-seeded Calvin Christian (17-8) ultimately won the right to advance to the division championship game with an ensuing 14-9 win over Tri-City (16-5).
Top-seeded Borrego Springs (18-4) claimed the division title with a 7-1 win in the final round played May 28 at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Liberty Charter was handcuffed on four hits and 13 strikeouts by TCC pitchers James Hickey and Preston Chang in the teams’ playoff opener. Freshman Joshua Fredricks accounted for the Lions’ lone RBI in the setback.
The Alpine squad had much more success with the bat in the second-round match-up against Vincent Memorial (9-8) with 12 hits, including two doubles and a triple. Senior Isaac Anderson led the offensive onslaught with three hits and four RBI.
Senior Jace Ballard had three hits and two RBI while Fredricks and sophomores Micah Burmeister and Asher Johnson each drove in one run.
Three Liberty pitchers share mound duty — freshman John Gray went four innings with two hits allowed and six strikeouts while sophomores Jacob Jones and Burmeister each struck out three batters for a combined 12 K’s in the victory.
The Lions collected four stolen bases in the playoff win.
Fredricks had three hits, including a double, and five RBI in the season-ending loss to TCC while junior Logan Hays and freshman Fisher Chase (double) each drove in three runs.
Sophomores Aiden Otero and Austin Otero each collected a double and two RBI.
Chase and Austin Otero each scored four runs in the game.
The teams combined for 30 hits — 16 by the Lions. TCC scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to break a 20-all deadlock on the scoreboard.
Liberty Charter tied with the Chula Vista Learning Community Charter Cobras (12-7-1) for the runner-up slot in the league standings — both teams with 5-3 records.
Top performers during the 2026 season included Anderson with a 0.435 hitting average, 30 hits, 29 RBI, 11 doubles and a 0.594 slugging percentage, Austin Otero with a 0.382 hitting average 18 RBI and three triples, Hays with a 0.349 hitting average and 23 RBI, Fredricks with a 0.349 hitting average, 23 RBI and three triples and Chase with a 0.343 hitting average and 19 RBI.
Hays led the Lions with 29 stolen bases while Austin Otero followed with 28 steals and Chase with 21 steals.
Fredricks emerged as one of the team’s top offensive threats while Chase provided speed and consistency, according to head coach Shawn Brown.
Austin Otero was a valuable contributor throughout the season, delivering timely hits and helping strengthen the lineup, Brown said.
Hays contributed in all phases of the game, leading the team in quality at-bats while providing leadership throughout the season, the head coach added.
Gray keyed the pitching staff with a 6-6 record in 15 appearances with 44 strikeouts in 44.2 innings. Jones posted a 2-5 record in 14 appearances with 38 strikeouts in 28.7 innings.
Looking toward the future, freshmen Travis Kraling recorded 35 strikeouts in 16.2 innings while Zachary Runge collected 25 strikeouts in 13.9 innings. Burmeister logged 21 strikeouts in 14.5 innings.
Brown said the 2026 season marked a year of growth, resilience, character and success for the Lions program. He said team’s success was fueled by a strong mix of veteran leadership and young contributors.
“Senior leaders Isaac Anderson and Jace Ballard helped establish the standard for the program, while a talented group of underclassmen gained valuable experience and played key roles throughout the season,” said Brown, who navigated the season with assistant coaches John Hays and Johnathan Chase.
Defensively, Liberty Charter played some of its best baseball during the second half of the season, Brown noted. Ballard anchored the defense behind the plate, while Chase earned recognition for his outstanding play in the field. Gray emerged as one of the team’s top pitchers, earning Conference Pitcher of the Year honors and playing a key role in the Lions’ playoff run.
“The 2026 Lions demonstrated strong teamwork, perseverance and a commitment to doing things the right way,” Brown said. “With only two seniors graduating and many young players returning with valuable playoff experience, the future looks bright for Liberty Charter baseball. The foundation has been set for continued success in the years ahead.”
