Metro-Mesa League teams played three games against each league opponent this season. The Eastlake Titans needed all three games against the Montgomery Aztecs to win this year’s league championship.
The Titans defeated the Aztecs, 3-1, on March 31 to take a one-game lead in the standings. But a 2-1 loss in eight innings to the Bonita Vista Barons on April 28 evened the teams at one game apiece in the loss column.
Eastlake scored a clutch 4-3 come-from-behind win at Montgomery on May 3 to go up by a game again in the standings.
Senior Isaiah Lane keyed Eastlake with two RBI while juniors Noah Betanco (double) and Jacob May each drove in one run. Senior Diego Uribe picked up the win in relief of junior starter Brody Wells.
However, the Aztecs still had a chance to forge a co-championship by winning a rainout make-up game in Otay Mesa on May 9.
The Titans won, 3-1, to sweep the season series against Montgomery to finish two games ahead of the Aztecs in the standings.
Junior Jeremiah Vargas had a double and triple with one RBI while senior Matthew Duran and senior Benjamin Melendrez each had one RBI. Junior Jake Davis picked up the win on the mound by scattering three hits with three strikeouts over seven innings.
Eastlake compiled an 11-1 league record, followed by Montgomery at 9-3 (all three losses to the Titans), Bonita Vista at 6-6 in third place, Otay Ranch at 3-9 in fourth place and Olympian at 1-11 in fifth place.
Of note, Olympian’s lone league win counted as the Eagles’ first-ever win against Bonita Vista — 7-5 on April 12.
With the league title and a 24-3 overall record, Eastlake secured the No. 3 seed in this year’s double-elimination Open Division playoffs while the Aztecs (19-5 overall) received the No. 1 seed in the Division II playoffs.
Bonita Vista received the No. 9 seed in the Division I playoffs.
Overall, seven South County teams, including six Metro Conference teams, nailed down playoff berths this season.
San Ysidro and Mar Vista were seeded fifth and 10th, respectively, in the Division III playoff field while Sweetwater received the No. 10 seed in Division IV. Victory Christian Academy was awarded a play-in game in Division V.
Eastlake and Bontia Vista both won their opening playoff encounters.
The Titans defeated sixth-seeded Granite Hills, 3-1, on May 17 behind RBI from sophomore Angel Laya and Melendrez and eight strikeouts by Davis.
Eastlake had its momentum temporarily stalled following an 11-3 loss to second-seeded Rancho Bernardo but returned to the win column with subsequent victories over Granite Hills (4-3 on May 20) and RB (9-5 on May 23).
May and Betanco both had two RBI in the second win over Granite HIlls while senior Nico Libed had three RBI and Lane had two RBI in the rematch win over RB. Duran, May, senior Dereck Borurel and Betanco each had one RBI in the win over the Broncos. Davis went the distance with five hits and two strikeouts,
The Titans (28-4) won a 16-5 double-elimination rematch against the Broncos on Wednesday to advance to Friday’s Open Division championship game against top-seeded La Costa Canyon (23-6) Friday at 7:30 p.m. at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Montgomery was shut out 1-0 and 2-0 in its two playoff games.
