The Bonita Vista Barons used the momentum of their 11-3 Metro-Mesa League co-championship victory at Olympian on May 20 to record a 5-4 win over visiting Ramona in Tuesday’s play-in round of the San Diego Section Division I playoffs. The hosts, seeded fifth in the division, scored five runs in the third inning to take a 5-0 lead on the 12th-seeded Bulldogs (17-13).
It appeared as if the Barons (23-7) might be cruising to another win, but Ramona came on strong at the end, scoring once in the top of the sixth inning and adding two more runs in the top of the seventh to pull to within one run on the scoreboard.
Ricky Reynoso had pitched the opening five innings for the Barons, but reliever Daniel Schneeman ran into some ill-time control problems before finally closing out the win.
A double by Ramona’s Gage Canning made it a 5-3 game and a two-out base hit by John Mackay brought in another run.
Schneeman then walked the next two batters and each moved up a base on a wild pitch to place the potential game-tying and game-winning runs in scoring position.
But Schneeman struck out the Bulldogs’ final batter to receive a hero’s hug from teammates.
“He persevered,” BVHS coach Vincent Gervais said.
Reynoso, who earned credit for the win to improve to 9-2 on the season with a 0.76 earned-run average, allowed three hits, one earned run and struck out four batters. Schneeman gave up three hits, three earned runs and three walks in two innings on the hill.
Schneeman did swing a mean bat in the game, however, by going three-for-four with one runs cored. Sanchez also scored one run, as did Chris Manookian, Chris O’Neill and Andres Velasco. Manookian, O’Neill and Velasco each received credit for one RBI.
Two more BV runs scored on an error.
The Barons, last year’s Division II section champions, entered the double-elimination tournament with a first-round game Wednesday at fourth-seeded Madison.
Bonita Vista and Otay Ranch tied for this year’s Metro-Mesa League cham[ionship. Despite the tie, only Bonita Vista advanced to the playoffs. The Barons earned the tie-breaker as the designated league champion, leaving the Mustangs to fend for an at-large playoff berth.
Otay Ranch (14-13) finished 14th in the division power rankings, with the top 12 teams advancing.
Eastlake (23-6) received the No. 1 seed in the Division I playoffs and opened double-elimination play with a first-round game Wednesday against eighth-seeded Carlsbad (16-13).
The Mustangs and Barons finished with identical 6-2 league records to share this year’s league championship. It marked the fifth time since the 2008 season that Bonita Vista had either earned a share or won outright possession of the league banner.
“What I’m most excited about is that our freshman team, junior varsity team and varsity team all finished at the top of the league this year, I believe all with co-championships,” Gervais explained. “I like to tell the guys that we’re setting a new standard for excellence.
“We started working out back in October like a lot of other teams do. The league title shows that putting in all that hard work pays off.”
No. 1 Titans open playoffs with 5-1 win over No. 8 Lancers
Eastlake (24-6) received the No. 1 seed in the Division I playoffs and opened double-elimination play Wednesday with a 5-1 first-round victory against eighth-seeded Carlsbad (16-14). The Titans host fourth-seeded Madison (19-10) in Friday’s second round. Game time is 3:30 p.m.
The Titans scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take command over the visiting Lancers. Angel Estrada stroked a base hit and teammate Bailey Castro was then hit by a pitch to place two runners aboard for Dean Nevarez, who promptly slammed a three-run home run to give the hosts an early cushion.
Eastlake added another run in the third inning as Nevarez connected with a base hit and came around to score on a RBI by Julian Escobedo.
Titan starter Greg Brown, recently recovered from an injury, pitched the opening four frames. Isaac Vargas finished the game with three innings of relief pitching. The two EHS hurlers combined on a four-hitter with six strikeouts. Vargas allowed one run in his time on the mound.
Carlsbad scored its lone run in the top of the fifth inning. Though Vargas struck out the side in the frame, he allowed a double to score one run with one down before inducing strikeouts to prevent further damage.
Titan skipper Dave Gallegos said the luxury his team has in being the No. 1 seed in the division is hosting all its games.
“Being No. 1 guarantees you get to play all your games at home and we play great at home,” explained Gallegos, whose team improved to 13-3 on its home field with Wednesday’s victory.
He said pitching and timely hitting will be key points for his team to address as the playoffs continue.
“Our pitching has got to step up and our clutch hitting has got to be there,” Gallegos said.
Madison advanced to meet Eastlake in Friday’s second round match-up by clubbing visiting Bonita Vista, 8-0, on Wednesday.
Eastlake enters Friday’s game riding a five-game wining streak while having allowed just four runs, including two shutouts, in that span.
Carlsbad advanced to Wednesday’s first-round game at Eastlake after topping ninth-seeded Valhalla, 4-2, in Tuesday’s play-in round.
San Diego Section Baseball Playoffs
Play-in Round
Tuesday, May 26
Division I
(5) Bonita Vista 5, (12) Ramona 4
Division II
(5) Westview 2, (12) Hilltop 1 (11 innings)
Division III
(8) Mater Dei Catholic 4, (9) Mission Bay 1
Division IV
(7) Mar Vista 10, (10) Clairemont 3
Double-Elimination Tournament
Division I
Wednesday, May 27
(1) Eastlake 5, (8) Carlsbad 1
(4) Madison 8, (5) Bonita Vista 0
Division II
Wednesday, May 27
(2) San Ysidro 4, (7) Francis Parker 2
Division III
Wednesday, May 27
(1) Christian 9, (8) Mater Dei Catholic 4
Division IV
Wednesday, May 27
(2) Bishop’s 5, (7) Mar Vista 3
(3) Sweetwater 4, (11) High Tech San Diego 3
