The San Diego Section will stage its annual softball and baseball divisional championships this weekend at three playing sites.
All six softball finals will be played at UC San Diego on Friday, May 24, and Saturday, May 25. San Diego State University’s Tony Gwyn Stadium will host four baseball games — two each on Friday and Saturday — while two more finals will be played on Saturday at Poway High School.
Four Metro Conference teams will be represented on the diamond this weekend — two each in the softball and baseball finals.
In the baseball finals:
Top-seeded Eastlake (25-4-1) will meet third-seeded Poway (26-5) in Saturday’s Open Division CIF “Clash of the Titans” at SDSU (7 p.m. start).
At the other end of the county, top-seeded Southwest (25-9) will meet third-seeded Mt. Carmel (16-15) in Saturday’s Division IV championship game at Poway High School (3:30 p.m. start).
In the softball finals:
Second-seeded Montgomery (14-12) will meet top-seeded Mountain Empire (17-4) in Friday’s Division V championship game (5 p.m. start).
Meanwhile, top-seeded Mater Dei Catholic (30-4) will meet second-seeded Rancho Bernardo (23-5) in Saturday’s Open Division final (7 p.m. start).
Softball capers
Nine South County softball teams entered the week still in contention for division titles. But only two remained standing following elimination play on Tuesday and Thursday to advance to this weekend’s championship round.
Six Metro Conference teams advanced to Thursday’s semifinal round. But only two could make it through to the finals in the double-elimination tournament.
Third-seeded Bonita Vista (16-10) needed just one win to advance to the Open Division championship game but dropped both games to second-seeded Rancho Bernardo.
South Bay League champion Mar Vista defeated sixth-seeded Oceanside (18-10-1) by a score of 5-2 in an elimination game on Thursday to advance to a semifinal showdown against fifth-seeded Central Union later in the day.
However, Central Union (24-11) won, 3-1, to advance to meet third-seeded Mission Bay (18-6) in Saturday’s Division III championship game (2 p.m. start) .
Mar Vista ended the season 23-4.
Top-seeded Southwest entered Thursday’s Division IV semifinals needing to pick up just one win to advance to the finals. However, the Lady Raiders left the Santee Sportsplex with an 0-2 showing.
Third-seeded Mission Vista edged, Southwest, 1-0, in seven innings to drop the Lady Raiders to the challenger bracket final against second-seeded Canyon Crest Academy.
Southwest (17-8) had a much better offensive showing in the second game but dropped a 10-7 decision to end its season.
Mission Vista (17-9) will play Canyon Crest Academy (16-12) in Saturday’s division final (11:30 a.m. start).
Montgomery and San Ysidro were paired in a winner’s bracket game, meaning that one of the South Bay League teams would advance to Friday’s Division V championship game. Montgomery defeated fifth-seeded San Ysidro, 8-3, to secure a berth in the final.
San Ysidro met top-seeded Mountain Empire, rising from the challenger bracket, in the next game. Mountain Empire captured a high-scoring 10-9 contest to end the season for San Ysidro (13-15).
Prime time players
Mater Dei Catholic got the win it wanted to punch its ticket to Saturday’s Open Division final when it topped eighth-seeded Poway, 2-0, in Thursday’s opener.
Senior Alexis Morales drove in two runs for Mater Dei Catholic in the bottom of the sixth inning, as sophomore Bria Sosa and senior Jalyse Hanson scored.
Lexi Sosa (23-2) pitched a complete game one-hitter, striking out 10 batters while walking three. She faced 25 batters, throwing 102 pitches to record the win.
The UCLA-bound Sosa has appeared in 32 of her team’s 34 games this season, recording a 1.07 earned-run average and 228 strikeouts in 170 innings.
The Crusaders recorded nine hits in the game – two each by Hanson and junior Alena Ramirez — to extend their winning streak to 17 games.
Senior Alyssa Garcia, also bound for UCLA, leads the reigning Mesa League champions with a .524 hitting average and 14 doubles. Sosa (.461) leads the team with 38 RBI and 11 home runs.
Rancho Bernardo advanced to meet Mater Dei Catholic after downing third-seeded Bonita Vista twice on Thursday.
Bonita Vista entered the semifinals undefeated in two playoff games and needed to record just one more win to advance to a championship game showdown with the Mesa League rival Crusaders.
But the Broncos stalled the Lady Barons, 6-1, in the opening game to force a replay in the double-elimination tournament. Rancho Bernardo won the rematch, 2-1, to eliminate Bonita Vista (16-10).
Heather Menzer connected on a two-run home run to account for the Broncos’ two runs in the replay.
RB registered 10 hits in the opener. Boston University-bound Allie Boaz pitched in both games on Thursday. She collected three hits in the first game and pitched to 24 batters – three over the minimum – in the second game.
Sophomore Micaela Macario had three hits in the first game for Bonita Vista, the 2019 Mesa League runner-up team, while junior Julia Hill drove in Macario for the Lady Barons’ only run.
Bonita Vista collected seven hits in the game and held an early 1-0 lead. But three pitchers could not hold off the Broncos.
Senior Iliana Tejeda took the loss while yielding five hits and four earned runs in 3.2 innings. Freshman Giulianna Clavel pitched two innings and gave up one run while Alexis Guevara pitched 1.1 innings with two strikeouts.
Kodi Gora accounted for Bonita Vista’s only run in the second game on a second inning home run.
Hard knocks
Eastlake (Open Division) and Southwest (Division IV) each won games on Tuesday to secure berths in Saturday’s championship round.
However, inclement weather forced three other games featuring South County teams to be postponed from Wednesday to Thursday.
Third-seeded Sage Creek (29-5) ended the season for sixth-seeded Bonita Vista (20-12) with a 5-4 victory in a Division II fifth-round contest.
The Barons pounded out 10 hits but lost for the second consecutive time to the Bobcats in the double-elimination tournament. Sage Creek won a 2-1 contest in 11 innings on Tuesday to force a replay.
Caiden Ragadio drove in two runs for Bonita Vista in Thursday’s game while Alec Bruce, Isaac Almendarez, Bubba Villegas and Nate Nankil each scored runs.
Almendarez led the Barons with two hits, including a double.
Justin Snarponis was charged with the loss. He pitched 3.1 innings and gave up six hits and four runs. DiMaggio Cazares pitched 2.2 innings and allowed one run on three hits.
The teams met three times in the playoffs. Bonita Vista topped the Bobcats, 7-3, in an eight-inning contest in the first round of double-elimination play while Sage Creek came back with two must-wins against the Barons to advance through the bracket.
A potential All-South County match-up of small school opponents was lined up with top-seeded Chula Vista Calvary Christian Academy facing fourth-seeded Morse and third-seeded High Tech High Chula Vista taking on sixth-seeded Mt. Miguel in a pair of fifth-round elimination games.
However, both local teams lost.
Morse (19-11) defeated Calvary Christian Academy (19-5) by a score of 6-3 while Mt. Miguel (14-18) topped HTH Chula Vista (18-6) by a score of 14-5.
Morse out-hit CCA 10-6 in building a 6-0 lead while Mt. Miguel overcame an early 3-0 deficit to post a come-from-behind win. HTH Chula Vista led 4-2 through four innings until the Matadors poured across eight runs in the top of the fifth inning.
Mt. Miguel finished the game with 10 hits while the Bruins had seven hits. Both teams committed five errors.
Mt. Miguel and HTH Chula Vista met three times in the playoffs, with the Matadors finishing 2-1.
Mt. Miguel will take the field against Morse in Saturday’s Division IV championship game at noon at Poway High School.
SAN DIEGO SECTION
SOFTBALL CHAMPIONS
Open Division: (1) Mater Dei Catholic 5, (2) Rancho Bernardo 1. Records: Mater Dei Catholic 31-4; Rancho Bernardo 23-6
Division I: (1) Scripps Ranch 6, (2) San Marcos 5. Records: Scripps Ranch 22-11; San Marcos (16-12)
Division II: (3) Mission Hills 4, (5) San Pasqual 1. Records: Mission Hills 22-11; San Pasqual 24-11
Division III: (3) Mission Bay 3, (5) Central Union 2 (8 innings). Records: Mission Bay 19-6; Central Union 24-12
Division IV: (3) Mission Vista 2, (2) Canyon Crest Academy 1 (8 innings). Records: Mission Vista 18-9; Canyon Crest Academy 16-13
Division V: (2) Montgomery 10, (1) Mountain Empire 6. Records: Montgomery (15-12); Mountain Empire (17-5)
SAN DIEGO SECTION
BASEBALL CHAMPIONS
Open Division: (1) Eastlake 5, (3 (Poway) 3. Records: Eastlake 25-4-1; Poway 26-6
Division I: (11) Westview 1, (1) Grossmont 0. Records: Westview 12-21; Grossmont 18-14
Division II: (3) Sage Creek 14, (1) Classical Academy 1. Records: Sage Creek 30-5; Classical Academy 29-5
Division III: (4) Valhalla 6, (3) San Paaqual 5. Records: Valhalla 25-8; San Pasqual 22-11
Division IV: (1) Southwest 5, (3) Mt. Carmel 3. Records: Southwest 26-9; Mt. Carmel 16-16
Division V: (4) Morse 7, (6) Mt. Miguel 5. Records: Morse 20-11; Mt. Miguel 14-19
