Cougars claim Classic Division title at annual Lions baseball tournament

The San Diego Downtown Lions High School Baseball Tournament, founded in 1951, ranks as the oldest and largest of its kind in the United States.

The tournament has morphed in recent years because of CIF rule changes, transforming itself to a four-game event for participating teams. Bracket winners advance directly to division championship games while all other teams receive a consolation game.

Add inclement weather to this year’s event scheduled March 31 to April 3.

About half the games on the opening day of the tournament were rained out. Rescheduled games were slated for last Friday (April 4) and Monday (April 7), stretching the bounds of play for out-of-town teams.

As an experiment this year, championship games were scheduled in the Open Division, Classic Division and Premier Division. All other divisions received a fourth previously scheduled game, with champions determined by team records and tiebreakers.

Many games on April 3 took place in the morning to accommodate schedule changes.
The San Ysidro Cougars captured the Classic Division title with a 4-0 record, capped by a 5-4 victory against University City.

The Cougars defeated Mission Hills and Santa Fe Christian by scores of 7-1 and 5-3 in eight innings in a pair of games on April 1 before doubling up Steele Canyon, 4-2, on April 2.

“Our success was everyone on our team understanding their role and playing unselfish baseball,” varsity coach Ray Lozada Jr. said. “We asked a lot of our boys to do things they aren’t used to doing. We are dealing with a lot of injuries and needed to start a freshman (Alexavier Abdala) on the mound for the final and our sophomore Emiliano Diaz in left who had three hits in the final.

“Our expectation going forward are to continue to grow our program and teach the boys to be selfless and do what’s best for the team. Coach Ricardo Aguilar has stressed our fundamentals and doing things the correct way and that has led to our success.”

Key players include seniors Adrik Sanchez (0.428 hitting average, six RBI and two runs scored), Armann Robles (.272 hitting average, five runs scored), and Jorge Baez (0.363 hitting average, five runs scored).

Abdala pitched 5.2 innings in the championship against the Centurions with four strikeouts and four hits. On the season, he has pitched 6.2 innings with one win and one save.
On the season, Diaz is hitting 0.364, junior Gil Salgado is hitting 0.333, senior Axel Reyes is hitting 0.317 with nine RBI and junior Carlos Orozco is hitting 0.293 with eight RBI. Baez has 12 RBI while Robles has 10 RBI.

On the mound, senior Marco Hernandez is 3-0 with a 1.25 earned-run average and 22 strikeouts in 28 innings, senior Antonio Soto is 3-1 with a 2.29 ERS and 22 strikeouts in 23.2 innings and junior Carlos Gomez is 3-2 with a 2.02 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 21.1 innings.

Around the horn
All 13 Metro Conference teams participated in this year’s Lions tournament. Olympian, Otay Ranch and Sweetwater all finished 3-1 while Mater Dei Catholic finished 2-1. Chula Vista, Bonita Vista and Montgomery all finished 2-2.

Soaring Eagles
Olympian dropped the tourney opener, 5-1, to Bishop’s but cleaned up at the plate with wins over Chula Vista (7-2), Campbell Hall (10-8) and Windward (11-1) to improve to 11-3-1 on the young season.

Junior Hector Peralta had two RBI in the win over Chula Vista while junior Luke Hill went the distance on the mound with a four-hitter with five strikeouts in seven innings. Senior Sebastian Diaz scored three runs while senior Josh Rodriguez crossed the plate twice for the Eagles.

Hill made an impact at the plate in the win over Campbell Hall with four RBI and a triple. Peralta also had two RBI while Rodriguez scored three runs. Junior Esteban Diaz picked up the win in the game with four strikeouts in five innings.
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Senior Tristan Ong closed out the tournament with three RBI in the win over Windward while junior Nico Cintron (double) and Hill each knocked in two runs. Hill and Peralta each scored twice. Sophomore Luis Mercado pitched a complete game with four strikeouts while scattering five hits over seven innings.

On the season, Hill tops Olympian with a 0.409 hitting average in 15 games with 12 RBI, followed by senior Daniel Rodriguez at 0.379 with 12 RBI and Josh Rodriguez at 0.378 with 10 RBI. Peralta is hitting 0.342 with eight RBI while junior Aramis Berrios follows at 0.341 with 11 RBI. Cintron (seven RBI) and classmate Josh Alo (10 RBI) are both batting 0.333.
Junior Aaron Gonzalez is 5-1 on the hill with a 1.40 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 40 innings. Hill is 2-0 with a 2.89 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 26.2 innings.

The Eagles are hitting 0.306 as a team with a 2.52 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 111 innings.

Red alert
Sweetwater defeated Coastal Academy (4-0), Hoover (10-4) and Crawford (7-3) while coming up short to the Brentwood School 7-0.

Senior Alex Garcia tossed a complete game one-hitter with four strikeouts in his first start of the season to buoy the National City squad. Seniors Adam Gomez, Daniel Vidal and Jordan De La Paz and freshman Jayden Rodriguez each scored one run on just four hits.
Senior Kristopher Rios delivered a two-RBI double while junior Luis Castro recorded one RBI. Gomez and De La Paz each blasted triples.

Rios, Gomez and Castro each drove in a pair of runs against Hoover while both Rios and Gomez stroked doubles. Castro pitched six innings with four strikeouts to record the win.
In the victory against Crawford, sophomore Felix Bahena, junior Anthony Peralta, senior Ramon Ramirez and De La Paz each picked up one RBI as Rios struck out nine batters in six innings to notch the pitching win.

Castro (0.3710, Rios (0.350) and Peralta (0.282) each led the Devils (7-6) with seven RBI while Castro sported a 4-0 record on the hill with a 2.59 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 27 innings.

Five players return from last year’s Metro-Pacific League championship team.

SuHi coach Juan Romero said the tournament offers higher competition. “You have to play every day, you have to make sure you’re ready,” he said. “We’ve tested the waters. We’ve had some super wins and we’ve hsd some sloppy games. We’re slowly coming together.”

Horse power
Otay Ranch defeated West Hills (6-1), Mira Mesa (4-3) and Monte Vista (13-3) to go with a 15-3 setback to Southeast Career Tech.

Team leaders pn the Mustangs (12-3) include seniors Cory Salazar (0.360 hitting average), Jake Medina (10 RBI) and Preston Bellinger (3-0 record, 2.62 ERA, 16 strikeouts in 21.1 innings).

San Diego Section Power Rankings

Baseball

Division I

1. Granite Hills 8-0-2
2. Pt. Loma 10-3
3. Carlsbad 8-4
4. Torrey Pines 7-5
5. St. Augustine 8-5
6. Eastlake 7-5
7. San Marcos 8-2-1
8. Patrick Henry 7-5-1
9. Rancho Bernardo 7-5
10. Sage Creek 7-6
11. Cathedral Catholic 6-4
12. Santa Fe Christian 6-6
13. Poway 5-6
14. Del Norte 4-7
15. Bonita Vista 5-10
16. Montgomery 6-7
17. La Jolla Country Day 5-7
18. Scripps Ranch 3-10
19. Maranatha Christian 0-12
20. La Costa Canyon 6-5

Division II

1. San Pasqual 9-2
2. El Camino 10-3
3. Mt. Carmel 8-4
4. San Ysidro 13-4-1
5. Southwest El Centro 15-3
6. Coronado 4-1
7. Grossmont 7-6
8. Madison 8-3
9. Christian 7-2
10. Brawley 5-9
11. Rancho Buena Vista 3-7
12. Helix 7-6
13. Mission Hills 3-5
14. El Capitan 5-7
15. Mira Mesa 6-7
16. West Hills 5-8
17. Steele Canyon 3-9
18. Classical Academy 4-7
19. Santana 4-7
20. Valhalla 4-6

Division III

1. University City 10-4
2. Vista 5-2
3. Escondido 11-2
4. Mission Bay 13-2
5. Calexico 13-3-1
6. Imperial 9-7
7. Bishop’s 8-4-1
8. Oceanside 4-7
9. Fallbrook 5-6
10. Valley Center 9-4
11. La Jolla 7-8
12. Westview 4-9
13. Clairemont 5-3
14. Monte Vista 2-10
15. Francis Parker 4-5-1
16. Mater Dei Catholic 1-7
17. Morse 1-4-1
18. San Dieguito Academy 4-9
19. Canyon Crest Academy 5-5-1
20. Mission Vista 2-10

Division IV

1. Otay Ranch 10-4
2. Palo Verde Valley 9-2-1
3. Hilltop 1-5
4. Olympian 11-3-1
5. Ramona 6-5
6. San Diego Cavers 3-6
7. Holtville 5-8
8. Escondido Charter 7-1
9. Chula Vista 7-6-2
10. Canyon Hills 4-6-2
11. Foothills Christian 7-8-0
12. Sweetwater 6-4
13. Mar Vista 7-8
14. Kearny 3-9
15. Central Union 7-6
16. Lincoln 3-4
17. Mt. Miguel 5-7
18. Calvin Christian 1-1
19. Southwest 7-5-1
20. Mountain Empire 4-4

Division V

1. Coastal Academy 6-7
2. High Tech High Mesa 0-1
3. Orange Glen 7-5
4. Crawford 6-7
5. Bayfront Charter 1-2
6. High Tech Chula Vista 1-5
7. Hoover 0-10
8. High Tech San Diego 5-5
9. Pacific Ridge 4-5
10. Guajome Park Academy 0-7
11. El Cajon valley 0-6
12. Gompers Prep 0-2
13. Castle Park 4-8
14. Army-Navy Academy 3-8

Division V-AA

1. Borrego Springs 5-2
2. Calipatria 4-2
3. Rock Academy 10-2
4. High Tech North County 4-0
5. Ocean View Christian Academy 2-1
6. Tri-City Christian Academy 2-1
7. Liberty Charter 5-6
8. Victory Christian Academy 0-3
9. Vincent Memorial 0-3
10. Bonsall 2-5
11. St. Joseph Academy 1-5
12. Chula Vista Learning Community Charter 0-1

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