A total of five South County high school softball teams trotted onto the field at the Poway and Santee sportsplex fields on Thursday to duel in the San Diego Section semifinals.
Three recorded wins to advance to this weekend’s divisional championship games.
It’s a big deal for the sport at the local level, especially for Eastlake (Division I), which will be making its first appearance in the section finals.
Both Olympian (Division II) and High Tech High Chula Vista (Division IV) will be making their second appearances in the CIF championship game.
Olympian won the Division III title in 2015; HTH Chula Vista finished runner-up in the Division V finals in 2016.
Championship games in six divisions will be contested this weekend at UC San Diego.
A total of 17 semifinal elimination games took place on Thursday to reduce the field to the final 12 teams.
Fourth-seeded Eastlake (18-10-1) defeated second-seeded Rancho Buena Vista, 4-3, at the Poway Sportsplex to earn a berth in Friday’s Division I final (7:30 p.m. start) against fifth-seeded Rancho Bernardo (20-12).
Sophomore Sierra Tufts hurled a complete game six-hitter while the Titans rallied for two runs in the sixth inning to erase a 3-2 deficit.
The game-tying run scored on a wild pitch; Taylor Tropp then scored the game-winning run on a force-out.
RBV won the Division I championship in 2016. Eastlake is the only team in the San Diego Section to beat Open Division finalist Cathedral Catholic (26-3) this season.
Rancho Bernardo earned its spot in Friday’s finals after dealing RBV a 12-2 loss in a game called after six innings in Thursday’s ensuing double-elimination contest.
Meanwhile, fifth-seeded Olympian (22-10) employed an explosive offense — highlighted by Stephanie Alvarez’s grand slam and six RBI — to down second-seeded Brawley, 11-1, in a game played at the Santee Sportsplex.
The Eagles will play Brawley in a rematch in Saturday’s Division II championship game at 4:40 p.m. after the Wildcats came back to top third-Santana, 8-1, in an ensuing double-elimination game on Thursday.
Olympian did not allow a run in winning its opening three games in this year’s playoff tournament — defeating 12th-seeded Our Lady of Peace, 1-0, in the opening round on May 15, then following with a 2-0 win over fourth-seeded Mt. Carmel in second-round play on May 17 and a 6-0 victory against top-seeded Clairemont in third-round play last Saturday.
High Tech High Chula Vista (18-4) will meet eighth-seeded Canyon Crest Academy (16-13) in Saturday’s Division IV championship game at 11:30 a.m. after downing second-seeded San Diego, 9-6, at the Santee Sportsplex.
The Summit League co-champion Bruins scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning to erase an early 2-0 Caver lead.
Almost famous
Bonita Vista (Open Division) and Bayfront Charter (Division V) also reached Thursday’s semifinal round, but each team needed to win two games in the double-elimination format to advance.
Second-seeded San Marcos (27-2) eliminated fifth-seeded Bonita Vista, 7-4, behind a pair of home runs by Payton Tidd while top-seeded Liberty Charter (18-4) eliminated fourth-seeded Bayfront Charter, 12-1, in a shortened five-inning contest after the Sharks had staved off elimination with a 13-6 win over fifth-seeded Holtville earlier in the day.
The Mesa League champion Barons finished the season 18-9-2 while Bayfront Charter concluded 2018 play with a 17-10 record.
San Marcos blasted four home runs in Thursday’s win over Bonita Vista. Tidd, who also picked up the win in the pitching circle, gave her team a 1-0 lead with a home run in the first inning. Teammates Cydney Sanders and Maddie Helms followed with back-to-back home runs in the second inning to propel the Knights to a 3-0 lead against BV pitcher Mia Marinakis.
The Barons, who lost 1-0 to top-seeded Cathedral Catholic in the second round, scored three runs in the seventh inning to chase Tidd from the game but not from picking up the win.
In other division finals this weekend:
- Liberty Charter will test second-seeded Guajome Park (17-6) in Friday’s Division V title game at 5 p.m.
- Top-seeded Southwest El Centro (26-6) will meet ninth-seeded El Capitan (21-10-1) in Saturday’s Division III championship game at 2 p.m.
- Cathedral Catholic will pair up against San Marcos in Saturday’s Open Division final at 7 p.m.
