The San Diego Padres will honor the top high school baseball players in the CIF-San Diego Section at the Padres High School All-Star Night on Sunday, June 18, at Petco Park.
The game will showcase the section’s best players in an exciting East-West format. Some of the top young talent in the country will enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to suit up and play in Petco Park, which is considered one of America’s top MLB stadiums.
The prep all-star game will begin at approximately 5 p.m. with a pregame home run hitting derby that will feature eight players. The two teams will take the field immediately after the home run derby is finished.
Cathedral Catholic’s Gary Remiker will coach the hone West squad while Christian’s Mike Mitchell will coach the East squad.
The all-star teams and home run derby contestants were chosen by the section’s baseball advisory committee on May 13.
Each geographic team includes 24 players.
Five Metro Conference players highlight both teams – Eastlake senior Isaiah Lane, Bonita Vista senior Coco Castaneda and Otay Ranch senior Allan Camarillo on the East squad and Montgomery’s Jose Mendoza and Khalyl Perez on the West squad.
Lane, who is making a return trip as a Padres high school all-star, hit 0.291 with 30 runs scored, a team-high 33 RBI, nine doubles, three triples and one home run for the Metro-Mesa League champion Titans (29-6, 11-1 in league).
Castaneda batted 0.269 with 20 runs scored, 12 RBI, two doubles, two triples and one home run for Bonita Vista (13-18, 6-6 in Mesa League) this spring.
Camarillo topped the Mustangs (10-17, 3-9 in Mesa League) with a 0.411 hitting average to go with 25 runs scored, 12 RBI, eight doubles, three triples and one home run.
Mendoza, a senior, compiled a 6-2 record in 10 pitching appearances with a 0.86 earned-run average and 56 strikeouts in 65 innings. He also hit 0.333 at the plate with 21 runs scored, four doubles, two triples and one home run for the Mesa League runner-up Aztecs (20-6, 9-3 in league).
Perez, a junior, batted 0.329 with 12 runs scored, team-leading 26 RBI and team-leading four home runs.
Eastlake, seeded third in the elite eight Open Division field, advanced to the championship game against top-seeded La Costa Canyon, which received a three-run home run by senior Hayden Kline to provide the difference in a 5-2 victory. The CIF playoff odyssey marked the fifth time the Titans had advanced to the Open Division championship game and the 10th time the school had advanced a team to a CIF division final since 1999.
Eastlake had to persevere through the losers bracket to do so, necessitating three elimination wins, including two over second-seeded Rancho Bernardo, after dropping an 11-3 decision to the Broncos in the second round of double-elimination play.
The Titans played six games total in this year’s double-elimination championship tournament, going 4-2.
“This year’s Open Division bracket was probably the toughest we’ve faced,” EHS coach Dave Gallegos said. “Granite Hills (a 3-1 win in the opening round and 4-3 in an elimination game) was a league champion. Rancho Bernardo was a high placer (second) in their North County league. We started to play well at the end of the season. We want to beat the best to be the best.”
After the runner-up finish to the Mavericks (26-7), Eastlake played two more games after being seeded third in the Southern California regional Division I bracket, defeating sixth-seeded Orange Lutheran, 2-1, on May 30 and dropping an 11-5 rematch against second-seeded LCC on June 1.
The Aztecs earned the No. 1 seed in the Division II playoffs but suffered elimination by scores of 1-0 to ninth-seeded Del Norte and 2-0 to fourth-seeded Christian in the opening two rounds of the double-elimination tournament.
Bonita Vista qualified as the No. 9 seed in the Division I playoffs, defeating eighth-seeded Madison, 6-1, in the play-in round before suffering elimination with back-to-back losses to top-seeded Santana (4-1) and fifth-seeded Point Loma (4-0).
Otay Ranch did not qualify for this year’s playoff tournament.
Overall, East County is well represented by 10 selections, including three from Grossmont Hills League co-champion Granite Hills: senior first baseman Jacob Embleton (0.320, four home runs), senior infielder Camden Sos (0.378, 16 RBI) and senior pitcher Nico Tomasello (1.67 ERA, 51 strikeouts in 58.2 innings).
Santana’s Division I championship team is represented by seniors Destin Allen-Fox (11-1 on the mound, 0.60 ERA) and Landen Bailey (0.290, 15 RBI).
Open Division champion LCC is represented by four players on the West roster: senior first baseman Gabe Camacho, senior infielder Nolan Farley, senior pitcher Caden Pearlman and senior outfielder James Theodore, who topped the Mavs with a 0.423 hitting average and 21 RBI.
MLB on deck
The Padres (32-34) are once again chasing the Los Angeles Dodgers (38-29), as well as the Arizona Diamondbacks (41-26) and San Francisco Giants (36-32), in the West Division standings in a season projected for greatness.
The Friars have been here before, however.
PADRES 2023 HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL ALL-STAR NIGHT
Sunday, June 18, at Petco Park
East Squad
Trent Abel Rancho Bernardo 12 (SS)
Destin Allen-Fox Santana 12 (IB)
Tyler Arnold Rancho Bernardo 11 (P)
Landen Bailey, Santana 12 (C)
Allan Camarillo Otay Ranch 12 (SS)
Jacob Campagna Classical Academy 12 (SS/C)
Tanner Carranza Brawley, 12 (OF/C)
Coco Castaneda Bonita Vista 12 (OF/INF)
River Diaz De Leon Grossmont 12 (OF/P)
Brady Dockan Rancho Bernardo 11 (P)
Jacob Embleton Granite Hills 12 (1B)
Xavier Farnum, Christian 11 (C)
John Folkl Scripps Ranch 12 (P)
Talin Gardini Patrick Henry 11 (P/1B)
Ryan Kroepel, Poway 12 (P/INF)
Isaiah Lane Eastlake 12 (SS)
Anthony Matthiesen Helix Charter 12 (OF)
Ashton McCurty Christian 11 (P/SS)
Tommy Molina Steele Canyon 12 (SS/C)
Liam Myers San Pasqual 12 (P)
Camden Sos Granite Hills 12 (INF)
Kevin Takeuchi Rancho Bernardo 12 (3B)
Nico Tomasello Granite Hills 12 (P)
Leo Veliz Calexico, 12 (OF/3B)
West Squad
Flynn Barnes Mission Bay 12 (C)
Max Bayles Cathedral Catholic 12 (P)
Grayson Bonano Torrey Pines 12 (P)
Camden Burdick Carlsbad 12 (OF/P)
Gabe Camacho La Costa Canyon 12 (1B)
Van Coughlin La Jolla Country Day 12 (C)
Christopher DiPrima Del Norte 12 (SS/2B/P)
Nolan Farley La Costa Canyon 12 (SS/2B)
Jack Haferkamp Santa Fe Christian 12 (OF)
Jake Jackson Madison 12 (OF/P)
Brett Lawton La Jolla Country Day 12 (P/1B)
Alex Leyva Morse 11 (SS/2B)
Jose Mendoza Montgomery 12 (P/1B)
Jake Molinar Bishop’s 12 (P/1B)
Nico Newhan Maranatha Christian 12 (INF)
Jorden Otjen Point Loma 12 (OF/P)
Caden Pearlman La Costa Canyon 12 (P)
Khalyl Perez Montgomery 11 (C)
Carson Reese Del Norte 12 (P)
Peyton Rodgers Torrey Pines 11 (P/OF)
M.J. Sweeney St. Augustine 12 (1B)
James Theodore La Costa Canyon 1 2 (OF)
Zyan Watson Madison 12 (3B)
Joey Wittig Maranatha Christian 12 (P/OF)
San Diego Section 2023 Baseball Champions
Open Division: (1) La Costa Canyon 5, (3) Eastlake 2
Division I: (1) Santana 8, (2) Patrick Henry 0
Division II: (12) Sage Creek 6, (2) Cathedral Catholic 0
Division III: (2) Fallbrook 2, (1) Maranatha Christian 1
Division IV: (2) Calexico 12, (1) Bishop’s 4
Division V: (3) Lincoln 7, (4) St. Joseph Academy 2
San Diego Section 2023 Softball Champions
Open Division: (1) Poway 3, (2) Rancho Bernardo 2
Division I: (1) Otay Ranch 4, (2) Mater Dei Catholic 3
Division II: (3) Hotlville 7, (1) Santana 1
Division III: (1) Imperial 3, (6) Christian 2
Division IV: (1) Madison 4, (7) Palo Verde Valley 1
NIKE outdoor nationals:
Eastlake High School freshman Jaelyn Williams, fresh off a meteoric fourth-place finish in the girls 3200-meter run at the state championship meet, will participate in the one-mile and two-mile events this weekend.
The two-mile event, in which she hopes to dip under the 10-minute mark, is slated for Saturday, June 17, at 8:16 p.m. while the mile is slated for Sunday, June 18, at 1:28 p.m., also to be webcast (nikeoutdoornationals/runnerspace.com).
