The 72nd annual San Diego Lions Baseball Tournament graced area ball fields April 3-6 with hefty participation from South County teams.
Fourteen local hardball squads participated in this year’s tournament with a great deal of success.
The Montgomery Aztecs won the 5A Division championship while five other area teams placed runner-up in their respective divisions: Eastlake (Open A Division), Bonita Vista (Premier A Division), Southwest (3B Division), Chula Vista (2A Division) and Sweetwater (2B Division).
All 13 Metro Conference teams participated along with High Tech High Chula Vista.
As always, the tournament was very competitive given the nature of the beast.
“The Lions tournament is the oldest and most prestigious in season baseball tournament we play in,” Chula Vista coach Jim Westlund said.” In order to do well, you need to have both good pitching and timely hitting. We really enjoy participating against the high quality of competition that the Lions Tournament creates.”
The Spartans upheld their end of the bargain by winning their opening three pool games before finally tasting defeat in the championship game against Colfax.
Chula Vista, which competes in the Metro-Pacific League, defeated San Jacinto (5-4 on April 3), Heritage Christian (13-7 on April 4) and Las Vegas El Dorado (4-2 on April 5) before dropping a 4-1 decision to Colfax to close out tourney play on April 6.
Westlund said top players on this year’s team include seniors Ian Morales (catcher), Wally Iribe (pitcher) and Gilbert Ponce (first base).
The Spartans (6-11 overall) also have an outstanding junior play er, Guillermo Romero, who Westlund expects to be the team’s top pitcher. Second year sophomore Pablo Alvarado is expected to contribute much to this year’s team as well, the CVHS skipper said.
“We expect to have a solid season this year,” Westlund noted.
Morales collected three RBI in the win over San Jacinto while Ponce drove in two runs. The Spartans used four pitchers in the game with senior Braulio Beltran (three innings, seven hits, one earned run) picking up the win.
In the victory against Heritage Christian, Morales (double) and Iribe (double) each drove in three runs while Alvarado plated two runs. Ponce (3.2 innings, two hits, one earned run, two strikeouts) received credit for the win
Sophomore Jose Alterado and senior Ruben Meza each collected one RBI while Morales, freshman Isaiah Martinez, senior Jacob Pedroza and Alvarado each scored one run in support of winning pitcher Romero (6.2 innings, three hits, seven strikeouts).
Besides the Spartans, Southwest, Sweetwater and Castle Park round out league membership. Teams will play one another three times for nine league games.
Chula Vista hosts Castle Park on April 19 to open Metro-Pacific League play.
Aztec Territory
Teams received an engraved bat as the championship trophy in their division and Montgomery can swing for the fences now after winning all three of its tournament games.
“The Lions Tournament has been a prestigious event always,” Aztec head coach Manny Hermosillo said.
Montgomery opened tourney play with a 6-0 win over San Dieguito Academy on April 3 and claimed a tight 4-3 decision over Bakersfield Ridgeview on April 5.
The Aztecs (11-1) came victorious by defeating Durango High School from Las Vegas, 2-1, in 10 innings on April 6.
“We have played well all season with excellent pitching and defense and timely hitting,” Hermosillo said. “Our expectations are to compete at every at-bat and to play unselfish team baseball. Trust your teammates, execute and pass the baton to the next guy.”
There have many contributors on the mound: senior Jose Mendoza, junior Luis Arturo Chavez, junior Anthony Gonzalez, junior Luis Torres and senior Antonio Serena.
Offensive contributors include sophomore Noah Solano, senior Danny Alcala, Mendoza, junior Khalyl Perez, Serena, Torres, Chavez and a few others, according to the Aztec coach.
Alcala (double) had three RBI in the win over SDA while Mendoza hurled a complete-game six-hit shutout with nine strikeouts.
Junior Kenneth Razo, Torres (double) and junior Aaron Herrera each drove in one run in the win over Ridgeview while Chavez hurled a complete-game six-hitter with seven strikeouts.
Mendoza (home run) and Chavez each had one RBI in the championship game win over Durango. Mendoza and Torres scored the two runs in the victory. Gonzalez went eight innings with four hits allowed, one run and eight strikeouts while Torres earned the win in relief with two scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
The three tournament wins raised Hermosillo’s career coaching record to 751 victories.
Barons banter
Bonita Vista (2-0 in Metro-Mesa League play) won its opening three games in the Lions tournament: 4-3 over South Gate South East, 17-0 over Sacramento McClatchy and 4-3 over West Hills.
The Barons ended their tournament odyssey with a 3-2 loss to Lone Peak from Highland, Utah.
“This is the furthest we’ve gone since I’ve been coaching the team,” BVHS coach Dave Palet said. “The key thing for this team is that we have a lot of seniors, but we had some guys concerned with individual stats. Now going into the last month, it’s about the team and not about individual stats.”
Bonita Vista received RBI from seven players in the win over South East: two by junior Harry Shin and one each by junior Gavin Brown, senior Victor Castaneda, senior Aaron Miranda, junior Xander Iniguez, junior Ty Vann and senior Adriel Torres. Senior Michael Moreno pitched four innings with four hits, zero earned runs and four strikeouts to record the win on the mound.
The Barons lead McClatchy 8-0 after two innings and tacked on seven more runs in the fourth inning. Castaneda had three RBI and scored twice while junior Ismael Castanon had two RBI and also scored twice.
Senior Aaron Morales scored three runs and had two RBI while senior Noah Vargas (double) had two RBI and scored two runs. Shin (triple) had two RBI while Brown had two RBI and scored two runs. Senior Kasey Regala (four innings, no hits, no runs, three strikeouts) was the winning pitcher.
Senior Jesus Camacho had two RBI and three hits in the win over West Hills while junior Luis Sosa had two hits and one RBI. Shin had one RBI while Castaneda scored two runs. Sophomore Michael Maywood collected the win on the mound with two hits scattered over four innings with no earned runs and four strikeouts.
The game against Lone Peak was tied 1-1 until the out-of-town visitors pushed across two runs in the top of the 10th inning. The Barons responded with one run in the bottom of the 10th inning but fell short. Castaneda (triple) had two RBI on four hits.
Bonita Vista scored twice in the bottom of the fifth inning and made them hold up in Monday’s 2-0 league win over visiting Otay Ranch.
Sosa had the big hit to score both Castaneda and Torres while Moreno notched a complete-game five-hitter with five strikeouts as the Barons improved their overall record to 7-8.
“We got off to a slow start to start the season, so our next goal is to win league,” Palet said. “Otay Ranch is one of the better teams in our league and to beat a good Otay Ranch team is a good sign.”
The Mustangs (8-7) finished 2-2 in the Lions tournament with wins over Woodland Hills Taft (9-5) and South Pasadena (7-3) and losses to Lone Peak (6-2) and Vista Grande, Casa Grande, Ariz. (7-5).
Seniors Alan Camarillo and Michael Rodriguez each hit a home run in the win over Taft while junior Charlie Singleton had three RBI in the win over South Pasadena.
Titans on parade
Eastlake is off to a 14-2 start, 3-0 in league play, after Monday’s 9-3 Mesa League win over Olympian. The Titans finished 3-1 in the Lions tournament with pool wins over Pt. Loma (6-4), St. Augustine (9-6) and Cathedral Catholic (11-4) and a 3-1 loss in the championship game to La Costa Canyon (12-2).
Seniors Isaiah Lane and Daniel Mora (two doubles) both had two RBI in the win over Pt. Loma while senior Benjamin Melendrez had three RBI in the win over Saints (11-3). Mora (double) had three RBI against Cathedral Catholic (10-5) while senior Matthew Duran (double) and junior Noah Betanco both had two RBI.
Junior Brody Wells, senior Trevor Adame and junior Josh Garcia picked up pitching wins for the defending Division I champions.
Raider Nation
Southwest cobbled together a 3-1 tourney mark with opening wins over Holtville (6-5 in eight innings), Castaic (11-8) and Calabasas Viewpoint (6-0) and a 12-6 loss to Bishop’s in the championship game.
Sophomore Hugo Avila-Marquez (triple) had four RBI in the final for the Knights (10-2).
Red Devil pride
Juniors Manuel Carrillo and Angel Quintero each had two RBI in Sweetwater’s 5-1 win over West Valley while junior Carlos Solis (double) had four RBI in a 6-4 win over Delano Kennedy.
The Devils (6-7) lost, 14-0, to Sutter in the championship game.
Green machine
Hilltop (6-8 overall) finished 2-2 in tournament play with wins over Imperial (8-7) and La Jolla (5-3) and losses to Maranatha Christian (11-1) and Mission Bay (6-5).
Head coach Kurt Gritts echoed comments about participating in the spring break tournament.
“You get to see teams you haven’t seen before; you get to see different teams than you’re used to playing,” he said.
Prep Baseball Standings
Metro-Mesa League
League/Overall
Eastlake 3-0, 14-2
Bonita Vista 2-0, 7-8
Otay Ranch 1-2, 8-7
Montgomery 0-1, 11-1
Olympian 0-3, 2-16
Monday, April 10
Eastlake 9, Olympian 3
Bonita Vista 2, Otay Ranch 0
Metro-South Bay League
League/Overall
San Ysidro 0-0, 11-6
Mar Vista 0-0, 8-7
Hilltop 0-0, 6-8
Mater Dei Catholic 0-0, 7-11
Metro-Pacific League
League/Overall
Southwest 0-0, 7-6
Sweetwater 0-0, 6-7
Chula Vista 0-0, 6-11
Castle Park 0-0, 1-8
Non-League
Monday, April 10
Hilltop 13, El Capitan 2
Tuesday, April 11
Mar Vista 14, Castle Park 2
Bonita Vista sophomore Natalie Gonzalez winds up to deliver the ball to the plate in Monday’s non-league game against visiting Patrick Henry. The Lady Barons found themselves down 8-0 after two innings but mounted a late rally to come up short, 9-8, to see their overall record dip to 6-7-1. Freshmen Ariana Magdaleno and Leilani Wilson both delivered two RBI in the loss for Bonita Vista. Magdaleno, junior Alexis Jimenez and sophomore Olympia Jara each scored two runs in the game for the hosts. Senior Maura Evans racked up three RBI to lead the Lady Patriots (6-7-1). Photo by Phillip Brents
Prep Softball Standings
Metro-Mesa League (non-league): Otay Ranch 11-4, Mater Dei Catholic 8-5, Bonita Vista Barons 6-7-1, Eastlake 2-5-1
Metro-South Bay League (league): Olympian 1-0 (6-8), Hilltop 1-0 (6-11-1), Mar Vista 0-0 (5-6), Sweetwater 0-1 (1-11), Sanb Ysidro 0-1 (2-7)
Metro-Pacific League (non-league): Chula Vista 9-3-1, Castle Park 10-4, Montgomery 7-4, Southwest 3-9-1
Hilltop Softball Tournament
Last Day of Pool Play
Championship game: April 22 at 1:15 p.m.
