Entering the final quarter of the 2025 high school spring sports season, the Mater Dei Catholic and Bonita Vista softball teams remain top contenders to capture San Diego Section championships.
The same could be said about fellow Metro-Mesa League foes Eastlake and Otay Ranch.
“There is no easy game in the Metro-Mesa League this season,” incoming Bonita Vista coach Vanessa Kalavi said. “The league is stacked from top to bottom.”
No doubt about that.
And the Metro’s other two playing circuits are shaping up as equally competitive. Metro-Pacific League leader Sweetwater is ranked second in the Division IV power rankings with a bead on winning a CIF title.
Southwest is ranked third among Division V schools.
Things could get very interesting, indeed, as the season comes to a close.
Top heavy
Mater Dei Catholic entered the week on top of the Division I softball power rankings with a 17-5 record, followed by Bonita Vista at No. 2 with a 16-3 record. A couple weeks ago, the league rivals were flipped in the rankings.
El Cajon Christian (18-4-1) continues to hover behind the leaders at No. 3, though a gap could be developing. Mater Dei Catholic clubbed the Lady Patriots, 12-2, in a non-league game on April 8.
The top eight teams receive entry into the section’s elite Open Division playoffs with the remaining 12 teams battling it out for the Division I championship.
Other Open Division hopefuls include No. 4 Poway (15-5), No. 5 Cathedral Catholic (13-8), No. 6 Imperial (16-5), No. 7 La Costa Canyon (15-6-1) and No. 8 San Marcos (11-8).
But the rankings remain fluid and nothing is set in stone yet.
No. 9 Mission Hills (10-8) would move into the No. 1 slot for the remaining Division I teams, followed by No. 10 Del Norte (10-8-1) in the No. 2 slot, No. 11 Eastlake (16-5-1) in the No. 3 slot and No. 12 Otay Ranch (10-8-1) in the No. 4 slot.
Rounding out the division would be No. 13 Torrey Pines (12-8), No. 14 Rancho Bernardo (8-8-1), No. 15 El Capitan (6-12), No. 16 Patrick Henry (8-11), No. 17 Steele Canyon (9-11-1), No. 18 Our Lady of Peace (6-13), No. 19 Granite Hills (6-13-1) and No. 20 Carlsbad (3-12).
Teams that have played challenging non-league schedules could have a surprise for opponents as league play starts to fill out the remaining regular season schedule.
Mater Dei Catholic entered Wednesday’s league opener at Eastlake riding a five-game winning streak.
Mater Dei Catholic hosts Bonita Vista on Friday in the first of the teams’ two league matchups. The Lady Barons host the rematch on May 14.
Other key contests included Otay Ranch at Bonita Vista on Wednesday and Otay Ranch at Eastlake on Friday.
Team leaders on Mater Dei Catholic included sophomore Arri Romero with a 0.467 hitting average, 23 RBI, 10 doubles and three home runs, sophomore Charlize “Chuck” Masingale with a 0.433 average, 22 RBI, nine doubles and four home runs.
Other players hitting over the 0.300 mark included junior Giana “Gigi” Flores (0.391, 15 RBI), senior Analesse Garcia (0.370), junior Bella Harris (0.365, 11 RBI, three home runs), senior Lilia Alpuche (0.356, 11 RBI) and sophomore Maya Matthies (0.304, 20 RBI, three home runs).
The Lady Crusaders boasted a prodigious 0.351 team hitting average, 50 doubles, six triples and 17 home runs.
Romero was the master in the pitching circle with a dazzling 14-2 record, 1.67 earned-run average and 80 strikeouts in 84 innings.
Junior Ariana Magdaleno keyed Bonita Vista with a 0.464 hitting average through 19 games with 13 RBI, six doubles, one triple and two home runs. Senior Danica Aboytes followed on the scoresheet with a 0.420 average, nine RBI and three home runs.
Junior Kianna Balajadia-Brooks (0.306) and senior Anaissa Del Rio (0.296) also carried top averages to the plate.
Aboytes (6-2) and fellow senior Nat Gonzalez (4-2), along with sophomore Noelle Kalavi (4-0), had cobbled together a 14-4 pitching record between them. Kalavi had a 0.34 ERA with 19 strikeoutrs in 20.2 innings while Gonzalez had a 1.00 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 42 innings. Aboytes had a 1.56 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 63 innings.
The Lady Barons had a collective 0.293 hitting average and 1.15 ERA in 20 recorded games.
Eastlake leaders included senior Mackenzie Olshenskie with a 00.469 hitting average, 27 RBI and seven home runs, junior Kaili Balajadia with a 0.357 average and nine RBI, senior Rachel Del Busto with a 0.348 average and seven RBI, senior Desiree Gomez with a 0.344 average and 11 RBI and senior Bri Ayap, junior Bryn Grayson and senior Jaz Hernandez with 0.33 averages.
As a team, the Lady Titans were hitting 0.309 with and home runs.
Baladia keyed Eastlake in the pitching circle with a 4-1 record to go with a 2.51 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 47.1 innings. Junior Addison Suriano was 4-4 with a 3.14 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 81.2 innings in a team high 15 appearances. Freshman Camila Castillo was 2-0 with a 0.38 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 18.1 innings in eight appearances.
The Lady Titans staff boasted a 2.09 ERA and 134 strikeouts in 147.1 innings.
Otay Ranch leaders included senior Kaylin Phillips with a 0.407 average, 22 RBI and three home runs, senior Itzel Soto with a 0.371 average and 11 RBI, freshman Avah Gonzales with a 0.357 average and 14 RBI, junior Kalina Sangalang with a 0.345 average and six RBI, freshman Zoey Gonzales with a 0.310 average and 11 RBI, senior Ariele Torres with a 0.308 average and four RBI and senior Melanie Contreras with a 0.306 average and six RBI.
The Lady Mustangs were hitting 0.298 collectively with 93 RBI.
Sophomore Scarlett Martinez led the pitching staff with 62 strikeouts in 48 innings to go with a 2.77 ERA.
Around the horn
Sweetwater (13-2-1) looks to challenge for the Division IV section title with the No. 2 power ranking in the division behind No. 1 Mission Bay (10-4-0).
The Lady Red Devils improved to 2-0 in Metro-Pacific League play following a 16-5 run-rule win over visiting Southwest on April 22. SuHi opened league play with a 22-5 win at Montgomery on April 15.
Junior Ariana Tovar the attack in the win over Montgomery with two doubles, a triple, four RBI and four runs scored while freshman Emily Romero tacked on two doubles, four RBI and four runs scored. Senior Alexa Abarca also had four RBI in the run-rule win.
Senior Tatyana Mosqueda picked up the win in the pitching circle.
Mosqueda keyed the offense in the win over Southwest with a double and home run to go with four RBI. Freshman Layla Silva added a double and three RBI while sophomore Rianna Dela Paz also drove in three runs.
Mosqueda struck out eight batters in the run-rule victory.
Romero tops the Lady Devils with a 0.510 hitting average while Tovar is hitting 0.500. RBI leaders include Mosqueda (24), Romero (23), Tovar (19), junior Gabriela Sena (19), Silva (18), freshman Aolani Aguilar (17), freshman Vanessa Rodriguez (16), Dela Paz (12), junior Melanie Lopez (12) and Abarca (11).
Mosqueda is 11-0 in 14 appearances with a 2.62 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 72 innings.
First-year varsity head coach Victoria Mejia is excited to be caught up in all the excitement of the season.
“I’m just excited to continue the tradition — I played four years here on varsity,” Mejia said. “It’s exciting to give back and hopefully lead these girls to a banner.”
The 2025 SuHi team is braced by six returners, led by Mosqueda, and four freshmen newcomers: Romero, Aguilar, Silva and Rodriguez.
“We have our veteran pitcher — she’s been great all year,” the SuHi coach said. “The new freshmen are a big part of the team — they’re all starters.”
The best part of the season could be in the making. “I expect us to take league and get a pretty good run in the playoffs,” Mejia said. “We’re getting there and capable of going all the way.”
By the numbers
Metro Conference Standings
Metro-Mesa League
League/Overall
Mater Dei Catholic 1-0, 18-5
Bonita Vista 1-0, 17-4
Eastlake 0-1, 16-6-1
Otay Ranch 0-1, 10-9-1
Metro-South Bay League
League/Overall
Olympian 1-0, 7-12-1
Hilltop 1-0, 11-10-1
Chula Vista 0-1, 9-6
Mar Vista 0-1, 6-13
Metro-Pacific League
League/Overall
Sweetwater 5-0, 16-2-1
Montgomery 2-2, 13-10
Southwest 1-3, 9-7
Castle Park 0-4, 0-7
Prep Baseball:
Bonita Vista 4, Montgomery 2
Bonita Vista 8, Montgomery 3
San Ysidro 5, Eastlake 3
Eastlake 3, San Ysidro 2
Otay Ranch 5, Hilltop 3
Hilltop 7, Otay Ranch 5
Sweetwater 4, Chula Vista 3
Olympian 6, Mater Dei Catholic 3
Mater Dei Catholic 9, Olympian 5
Chula Vista 8, Southwest 2
Southwest 5, Chula Vista 2
