The San Ysidro High School baseball team proved to be the best in the Metro Conference during the regular season. Its 4-1 win over the Bonita Vista Barons in the John Baumgarten/Metro tournament championship game was proof of that.
But that was only the beginning. The Cougars proved to be the best among the San Diego Section’s Division II teams after defeating the top-seeded La Jolla Vikings, 7-2, last Saturday at the University of San Diego’s Fowler Park. The division title was the second in three years for San Ysidro, which ended this season with a magical 31-3 record and some rather prodigious numbers in the statistics column, including a monstrous 22-game winning streak.
The Cougars edged San Dieguito Academy, 2-1, to capture the Division III championship in 2013. The move up to the Division II competition tier was undeniable proof of the program’s increase in stature.
Understandably, SYHS coach Ken Canche offered congratulations where they were due, telling his 2015 Division II champions in a post on the team’s MaxPreps webpage that they had “accomplished something not many teams get to do.”
He said the team’s two CIF titles in three years has helped “gain respect from state of California for San Ysidro baseball.”
“All the hard work paid off and that is why you are CIF champs,” Canche posted to his team.
The Cougars indeed accomplished much this spring. The team captured this year’s Metro-South Bay League championship, the Baumgarten/Metro tournament banner, a CIF division championship, posted a school record 31 wins, fashioned a 22-game winning streak, went undefeated (15-0) at home, ranked among the section’s top 10 teams and the top 25 teams in Southern California and led the section in runs scored.
Canche said the 2015 team set the benchmark for all future Cougar teams.
It all came together in the final game of the season for the Monsters of the Metro.
Edgar Lopez went two-for-three with two RBI while teammates Herman Alvarado and Andres Alvarez each drove in one run. Gilbert Suarez also had two hits in the game and scored twice, as did Conrado Diaz. Alvarado and Alvarez each scored single runs.
Suarez pitched the first five innings, while Herman Alvarado closed out the game with two scoreless innings in relief. Suarez, who picked up the win to improve to 6-1, worked out of a key bases loaded jam in the second inning to set the tone on the mound.
The Cougars’ potent offensive machine, which produced 290 runs with a .341 team hitting average this season, did the rest by battering three Viking hurlers for eight hits in the contest. Second-seeded San Ysidro scored two runs in each of the second and third innings and tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning to back up Suarez and Alvarado’s pitching effort.
La Jolla, which posted a school record for wins and carried a 10-game winning streak into the Division II final, finished 24-9.
San Ysidro defeated the sixth-seeded Point Loma Pointers, 4-2, in a semifinal game on June 2 to advance to last weekend’s division final. Pitcher Jose Torres earned the team’s player of the game award after scattering seven hits in the complete game victory to improve to 8-1 on the season. He struck out seven batters while walking two. He also helped his cause with a single to drive in one run and scored one run in the game.
Alvarado earned selection as the Cougars player of the game after pitching the final four-and-two-thirds innings to hold the Grossmont Valley League co-champion El Capitan Vaqueros (23-9) to two runs on two hits in a 6-5 win in second round play on May 29. He also delivered the game-winning hit in the seventh inning with the bases loaded.
The Cougars opened the playoffs with a 4-2 victory against visiting Francis Parker on May 27. Torres pitched three scoreless innings to close out the game. He also delivered at the plate with a double, two RBI and one run scored.
Season to remember
San Ysidro’s pitching staff combined for a superlative 1.15 team ERA over the course of the team’s 34-game season. Lopez and Diaz did not allow an earned run in eight combined appearances while Octavio Arroyo (2-0) posted a 0.47 ERA in four appearances.
Suarez posted a 0.84 ERA in 13 appearances, followed by Abraham Rodriguez (6-1) with a 0.93 ERA in 12 appearances, Torres (8-1) with a 1.17 ERA in 15 appearances, Alvarado (7-0) with a 1.69 ERA in 12 appearances, Juan Santiago with a 1.94 ERA in nine appearances and Cristobal Reyes with a 2.80 ERA in four appearances.
Suarez struck out 67 batters in 57 innings while Torres and Rodriguez racked up 45 and 43 strikeouts, respectively.
As a team, the Cougars clubbed 13 home runs, 15 triples, 57 doubles and 237 RBI.
Top hitters included Diaz (.418 with 40 RBI), Suarez (.412 with 34 RBI), Alvarado (.393 with 31 RBI), Alvarez (.347 with 29 RBI), Lopez (.330 with 27 RBI), Rodriguez (.320 with 11 RBI) and Torres (.318 with 28 RBI).
Diaz slammed eight home runs during the season, followed by Suarez with four round-trippers.
Clash of the Titans goes to Poway
Last Friday’s Division I championship game at USD between top-seeded Eastlake and sixth-seeded Poway ended on a downturn for the Eastlake Titans as the Poway Titans scored four runs in the top of the first inning and added four more runs in the top of the second inning to take a commanding 8-1 lead en route to claiming a 10-6 victory.
The championship game appearance was the third for Eastlake after previously defeating University of San Diego High School for the 1999 Division II championship and Oceanside, 5-1, in an eight-inning contest for the 2002 Division II title.
Last Friday’s championship game loss snapped a seven-game Eastlake winning streak. The Titans (26-7) qualified for the title game by erasing a 5-1 deficit against Metro-Mesa League co-champion Bonita Vista to score a 6-5 win in a nine-inning thriller in a semifinal game on June 2.
Poway (23-13) defeated second-seeded La Jolla Country Day twice in the double-elimination tournament to punch its ticket to last weekend’s Division I final.
Trailing 10-3, Eastlake scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to give its fans a vocal send-off for the season. Angel Estrada went two-for-four and scored two runs while Bailey Castro went two-for-three with two RBI, Sandberg went three-for-four with a double and Isaac Vargas went two-for-four with a double and one RBI.
Poway’s Zane Thomas picked up the win. He was braced by teammates Kevin Bristow (four RBI) and Tyler Nevin (two RBI).
SAN DIEGO SECTION BASEBALL FINALS
University of San Diego
Friday, June 5
Division III
(1) Christian 5, (3) Del Norte 4. Records: Christian 29-2, Del Norte 17-17
Division I
(6) Poway 10, (1) Eastlake 6. Records: Poway 23-13, Eastlake 26-7
Saturday, June 6
Division II
(2) San Ysidro 7, (1) La Jolla 2. Records: San Ysidro 31-3, La Jolla 24-9
Open Division
(2) Rancho Bernardo 3, (1) La Costa Canyon 2, (8 innings). Records: LCC 27-6, Rancho Bernardo 25-8
Cal-State San Marcos
Saturday, June 6
Division V
(1) Calvin Christian 7, (2) Calipatria 2. Records: Calvin Christian 18-8, Calipatria 18-8
Division IV
(4) San Diego 3, (2) Bishop’s 1. Records: San Diego 22-11, Bishop’s 16-13
