Spring has officially arrived and so have high school spring sports. Baseball and softball, boys and girls lacrosse, boys volleyball, beach volleyball, swim and dive and track and field are now on display on local playing fields.
Returning San Diego Section baseball champions include La Costa Canyon (Open Division), Santana (Division I), Sage Creek (Division II), Fallbrook (Division III), Calexico (Division IV) and Lincoln (Division V).
Last year’s runner-up teams in the championship playoffs included Eastlake (Open Division), Patrick Henry (Division I), Cathedral Catholic (Division II), Maranatha Christian (Division III), Bishop’s (Division IV) and St. Joseph Academy (Division V).
Returning San Diego Section softball champions include Poway (Open Division), Otay Ranch (Division I), Holtville (Division II), Imperial (Division III), Madison (Division IV) and Coastal Academy (Division V).
Last year’s runner-up teams in the championship playoffs included Rancho Bernardo (Open Division), Mater Dei Catholic (Division I), Santana (Division II), Christian (Division III), Palo Verde Valley (Division IV) and Liberty Charter (Division V).
Castle Park fell one win short of advancing to the Division V championship game.
Fresh start
The opening three weeks of the 2024 high school baseball season have already been quite eventful for teams in tournament and non-league play.
Locally, the Bonita Vista Barons are off to a 4-1 start while the Eastlake Titans have started the new season with a 5-2 record to lead Metro-Mesa League teams on the diamond. Additional teams with strong starts include Mater Dei Catholic at 6-1 and San Ysidro Cougars at 5-2 among Metro-South Bay League teams and Chula Vista at 5-4 among Metro-Pacific League teams.
Veteran Montgomery coach Manny Hermosillo started his last season behind on the bench with 760 wins. That tally is now up to 763 victories after the Aztecs’ 3-3 start to the new season.
Montgomery finished runner-up to Eastlake for last year’s Metro-Mesa League title and qualified for the Division II playoffs, going two rounds deep before finishing with a 20-6 record.
He’s spent 40 years of his life around high school baseball with one San Diego Section championship, 23 league titles, 398 losses and seven ties.
Hermosillo is optimistic about the 2024 campaign.
“I keep coming back for the love of the game, being around the kids, just being around the place (Aztec ballpark) that we built,” he said. “It’s almost half my whole life around the field. I’m 71.
“We’ve scheduled Division III teams, Division I teams. The kids are up for the challenge. We’re here to compete. We’ll do our best.”
Early season team leaders include junior Daniel Nunez with a 0.417 hitting average in six games and senior Aaron Herrera with a 0.33 hitting average. Senior Khalyl Perez paced the team with three RBI in six games while senior Anthony Gonzalez led the pitching staff with a 2-0 record, 0.30 earned-run average and 26 strikeouts in 23 innings.
Montgomery is currently competing in the GMC (Grossmont-Metro-City Conference) tournament. The annual San Diego Lions Tournament is scheduled for March 25-28. The Aztecs open league play April 16 with a two-game series against Bonita Vista.
Metro Conference
Non-League Records
(Through March 14)
Metro-Mesa League
Bonita Vista 4-1
Eastlake 5-2
Montgomery 3-3
Otay Ranch 1-7
Games of March 11
Bonita Vista 7, Madison 3
Christian 5, Otay Ranch 1
Metro-South Bay League
Mater Dei Catholic 6-1
San Ysidro 5-2
Olympian 2-5
Hilltop 2-5
Mar Vista 1-6-1
Games of March 14
Hilltop 6, Canyon Hills 1
La Jolla 4, Olympian 4
Metro-Pacific League
Chula Vista 5-4
Sweetwater 3-4
Castle Park 1-2
Southwest 2-4
Games of March 12
Sweetwater 6, Foothills Christian 2
Games of March 14
Morse 10, Sweetwater 0
Get ready to play ball!
Photos by Phillip Brents
SPRING SPORTS SCOREBOARD
Baseball
Saturday, Feb. 17
Otay Ranch 3, Mar Vista 1
Brawley 9, Chula Vista 0
Monday, Feb. 19
Foothills Christian 10, Castle Park 1
Thursday, Feb. 22
University City 16, Chula Vista 0
Mission Bay 14, High Tech High Chula Vista 0
Friday, Feb. 23
Sweetwater 13, Mt. Miguel 12
Saturday, Feb. 24
West Hills 6, Otay Ranch 1
Sweetwater 6, Pacific Ridge 0
Southwest 14, Hoover 1
Lincoln 8, Chula Vista 4
University City 17, High Tech High Chula Vista 0
San Dieguito Academy 7, Mar Vista 4
Olympian 5, Tri-City Christian 2
Monday, Feb. 26
Mater Dei Catholic 8, Monte Vista 1
Eastlake 10, Christian 1
Valhalla 7, San Ysidro 3
Montgomery 1, Vista 0
Southwest 3, Foothills Christian 1
Tuesday, Feb. 27
Chula Vista 5, Mt. Miguel 3
Bonita Vista 12, Rancho Buena Vista 4
Mission Bay 3, Sweetwater 0
Chula Vista High Tech 9, Pacific Ridge 1
Mar Vista 1, Clairemont 1 (tie)
Olympian 5, Valley Center 0
La Costa Canyon 3, Hilltop 0
Wednesday, Feb. 28
Grossmont 4, Montgomery 3
El Capitan 8, Mater Dei Catholic 4
San Ysidro 10, Monte Vista 8
Eastlake 10, Westview 0
Vista 5, Otay Ranch 3
Thursday, Feb. 29
La Costa Canyon 6, Bonita Vista 2
University City 12, Sweetwater 3
Mission Bay 6, Chula Vista 3
Mar VIsta 4, Escondido 3
Oceanside 3, Olympian 2
Carlsbad 11, Hilltop 4
Friday, March 1
Steele Canyon 5, Eastlake 4 (8 innings)
West Hills 4, San Ysidro 2
Valhalla 4, Otay Ranch 1
Montgomery 7, Madison 3
Castle Park 10, Ocean View Christian Academy 4
Mater Dei Catholic 10, Coronado 6
Saturday, March 2
Mt. Miguel 8, High Tech High Chula Vista 3
Imperial 15, Southwest 5
Imperial 11, Southwest 0
Chula Vista 11, Pacific Ridge 1
Mission Vista 10, Mar Vista 2
Monday, March 4
Eastlake 6, Grossmont 2
Monte Vista 1, Otay Ranch 0
San Ysidro 8, Westview 4
Morse 6, Olympian 3
Cathedral Catholic 4, Hilltop 1
Mater Dei Catholic 6, San Diego 5
Tuesday, March 5
Montgomery 3, Helix 0
Bonita Vista 3, Del Norte 1
Mission Bay 11, Southwest 3
High Tech High Chula Vista 5, Lincoln 5 (8 innings)
Sage Creek 8, Mar Vista 1
San Ysidro 5, San Diego 2
La Jolla 2, Olympian 1
Wednesday, March 6
Madison 4, Eastlake 3
El Capitan 6, Otay Ranch 2
Sweetwater 1, Lincoln 0
Chula Vista 10, Bayfront Charter 1
Thursday, March 7
Chula Vista 13, Liberty Charter 0
Friday, March 8
Mater Dei Catholic 9, West Hills 4
Hilltop 4, Rancho Buena Vista 3
Monday, March 11
Eastlake 8, Steele Canyon 1
Helix 3, Montgomery 0
Christian 5, Otay Ranch 1
Bonita Vista 7, Madison 3
Clairemont 3, Mar Vista 1
San Ysidro 2, Mission Bay 0
La Jolla 5, Olympian 4
Mater Dei Catholic 3, University City 0
Tuesday, March 12
Sweetater 6, Foothills Christian 2
Lincoln 17, Southwest 4
San Diego 9, Castle Park 0
Chula Vista 5, Hoover 0
High Tech High Chula Vista 12, High Tech High San Diego 2
Morse 12, Hilltop 5
Softball
San Diego Section Rankings
(Through March 11)
1. Del Norte (6-0)
2. Christian (5-0-1)
3. Torrey Pines (6-1-1)
4. Mater Dei Catholic (6-1)
5. Morse (9-1)
6. Cathedral Catholic (6-1)
7. Francis Parker (3-0)
8. Poway (5-1)
9. Pt. Loma (3-0)
10. Mission Hills (4-0-2)
11. El Capitan (2-1-3)
12. Santa Fe Christian (2-0-1)
13. Imperial (7-2)
14. Sweetwater (6-2)
15. Calexico (5-2-1)
16. Rancho Bernardo (4-2-1)
17. La Costa Canyon (8-2)
18. Chula Vista (5-3)
19. Eastlake (2-1)
20. Carlsbad (4-3)
21. Granite Hills (3-2)
22. San Marcos (4-3)
23. Santana (5-3)
24. Clairemont (3-1)
25. Classical Academy (3-1)
26. Mt. Carmel (5-3)
27. Liberty Charter (5-2)
28. Olympian (4-4)
29. Our Lady of Peace (2-2-1)
30. San Ysidro (4-4)
