The Eastlake High School baseball team continues to play in high gear. The Titans defeated the host Chula Vista Spartans, last year’s San Diego Section Division IV champions, by a score of 7-2 Tuesday at Bobby Kennedy Field.
Brian Leonhardt pitched a complete game four-hitter while striking out eight batters.
The win improved the team to 20-3-1 on the season, 8-1 in Mesa League play.
But, according to Leonhardt, who remained undefeated on the season at 6-0 with a miniscule earned-run average, that’s all it did for the team.
He said the team can’t rest on the laurels of winning last year’s Open Division championship.
He’s absolutely right.
“Forget about last year,” Leonhardt said bluntly after turning in Tuesday’s otherwise masterful performance. “New team, new year. We haven’t done anything this year. We can’t bank on what we did last year.”
This season isn’t over, of course. The best in 2018 still could be in the making.
The section playoffs start May 22 and culminate with division championship games June 1-2. At this point, it appears the Titans will once again be vying for inclusion in the exclusive Open Division.
But anything could happen over the team’s final five games. Eastlake plays a pair of non-league games this coming week against Point Loma (Wednesday, May 9, at Point Loma Nazarene College and Thursday, May 11, at Francis Parker High School).
The Titans close out regular season play with a two-game series against Mesa League rival Montgomery — May 15 at home and May 17 away.
As for Tuesday’s win, the fourth consecutive since an April 19 league loss at Otay Ranch, seven different players scored runs for Eastlake. The Titans scored three runs in the top of the third inning, added a single run in the sixth inning and broke up a tight 4-2 contest with three more runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Leonhart helped his own cause by going two-for-three at the plate with one RBI. Keoni Cavaco went three-for-four with one RBI while Micah Pietila-Wiggs went two-for-three with one RBI. Jalen Fejeran also went two-for-three with one RBI.
Leonhardt gave up a leadoff single to Chula Vista to start the bottom of the ninth inning; the runner then moved to second base on a passed ball. However, Leonhardt promptly bore down on the Spartans, striking out three consecutive batters to end the game.
“I focused on keeping the ball low, mixing up my pitches, throwing a lot of change-ups, and keeping them off their front foot,” noted Leonhardt, who has committed to play at San Diego State University next season.
Leonhardt entered Tuesday’s game with a .0724 ERA. He also has one save to his credit this season.
As of Tuesday, only Poway (20-4-0) and Torrey Pines (20-5-0) had reached the 20-win plateau among Division I teams other than Eastlake.
Junior Ricky Tibbett sported a 6-1 record while senior Grant Holman was 5-1 to rank behind Leonhardt in number of wins on the team this season.
Otay Ranch (16-6 overall) remained in hot pursuit of Eastlake in the Mesa League standings with a 5-2 league record after Tuesday’s 8-0 win over visiting Montgomery.
Randy Abshier tossed a one-hitter, striking out 13, to record the win.
The Mustangs topped visiting Calexico, 11-3, in non-league play last Saturday as Noah Isley went two-for-four with a single, double and two RBI.
Otay Ranch ranks fourth among Division II teams this season in win-loss percentage (.727), trailing Mission Hills (.760), Santa Fe Christian (.750) and Francis Parker (.739).
Chula Vista (3-6 in league, 12-14 overall) ranks eighth overall in the Division III standings. Mesa League rival San Ysidro (4-4 in league play, 18-8 overall) ranked second in the division with a .692 winning percentage.
Chula Vista is one spot ahead of Mater Dei Catholic (11-13 overall) in Division III win-loss records.
Mar Vista defeated host Mater Dei Catholic, 2-0, in a showdown for first place in the South Bay League standings on Tuesday. The teams had entered this week tied for the league lead with 3-1 league records.
Daniel Ortiz pitched a complete game four-hitter for the Mariners, who improved to 4-1 in league play, 18-6 overall.
Mar Vista is second overall in the Division IV standings to Holtville (18-3-1). Monte Vista is third with a 15-8 overall record.
Metro Conference
Baseball Standings
Mesa League
(Through May 4)
League/Overall
Eastlake Titans 9-1, 21-3-1
Otay Ranch Mustangs 6-2, 17-6
Chula Vista 4-6, 12-14
Bonita Vista 3-5, 10-13
San Ysidro 3-5, 17-9
Hilltop 3-5, 8-16
Montgomery 2-6, 7-16
Tuesday, May 1
Bonita Vista 10, Hilltop 2
Otay Ranch 8, Montgomery 0
Eastlake 7, Chula Vista 2
Thursday, May 3
Eastlake 5, Chula Vista 1
Hilltop 6, Bonita Vista 2
Otay Ranch 2, Montgomery 0
Tuesday, May 8
Otay Ranch at Chula Vista, 3 p.m.
Hilltop at Montgomery, 3 p.m.
Bonita Vista at San Ysidro, 3 p.m.
Wednesday, May 9
Eastlake vs. Point Loma at Point Loma Nazarene University, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 10
Chula Vista at Otay Ranch, 3 p.m.
Montgomery at Hilltop, 3 p.m.
Bonita Vista at San Ysidro, 3 p.m.
Friday, May 11
Eastlake at Francis Parker, 6:30 p.m.
South Bay League
(Through May 4)
League/Overall
Mar Vista Mariners 4-2, 18-7
Southwest Raiders 4-2, 15-10
Mater Dei Catholic 3-3, 11-15
Olympian Eagles 3-3, 7-16
Sweetwater 2-4, 5-15
Castle Park 1-5, 12-12
Tuesday, May 1
Mar Vista 2, Mater Dei Catholic 0
Southwest 2, Castle Park 1
Sweetwater 5, Olympian 4
Thursday, May 3
Southwest 3, Castle Park 0
Mater Dei Catholic 7, Mar Vista 4
Olympian 4, Sweetwater 3
Friday, May 4
Classical Academy 9, Mater Dei Catholic 2
Tuesday, May 8
Olympian at Mar Vista, 3 p.m.
Mater Dei Catholic at Castle Park, 3 p.m.
Southwest at Sweetwater, 3 p.m.
Thursday, May 10
Mar Vista at Olympian, 3 p.m.
Castle Park at Mater Dei Catholic, 3 p.m.
Sweetwater at Southwet, 3 p.m.
