The San Diego Section power rankings are out for three spring sports: baseball, softball and boys volleyball.
South County teams are very well represented with Bonita Vista and Mater Dei Catholic at Nos. 1 and 2 in the San Diego Section Division I softball rankings, Otay Ranch at No. 1 among Division IV baseball teams and Bayfront Charter at No. 1 among Division V baseball squads, Mater Dei Catholic at No. 1 among Division III boys volleyball teams and San Ysidro at No. 1 among Division V boys volleyball teams.
For additional prestige value, Southwest entered the week at No. 3 in Division V softball teams, Ocean View Christian Academy at No. 3 among Division V-AA baseball teams, Castle Park at No. 4 among Division V baseball teams, Sweetwater at No. 4 among Division III boys volleyball teams, Sweetwater at No. 5 among Division IV softball teams and National City’s San Diego Academy at No. 5 among Division V-AA softball teams.
It gets even more interesting from there.
Eastlake entered the week at No. 8 among Division I baseball teams, pushing for an elite Open Division playoff berth, while San Ysidro was at No. 7 among Division II teams, Olympian at No. 6 among Division IV baseball teams and Hilltop at No. 7.
Eastkake’s softball squad entered the week at No. 7 in the Division I rankings, making a statement for the inclusion of three Metro Conference teams in this year’s Open Division playoffs.
It’s getting downright crowded near the top, and that’s a good thing for southern exposure.
The power rankings will help seed the section’s upcoming divisional playoffs.
Baseball
Eastlake ran its current unbeaten streak to three games with a 2-2 tie against second-ranked Pt. Loma on April 10, a 9-1 win over visiting West Hills last Friday and a key 8-3 win over visiting Helix on Monday to raise its season record to 9-6-1.
The Titans face off Metro-Mesa League play April 23 against San Diego Lions tournament Classic Division champion San Ysidro.
Eastlake leaders include junior Jordan Gomez and senior Kalani Jauregui with a 0.296 hitting averages, junior Hamza Hatahet (0.293), junior J.P. Conero (0.292), senior Austin Stroberg (0.279), freshman Joel Vargas (0.27u7) and senior Angel Laya (0.277).
Stroberg is the team leader with nine RBI, followed by Laya with eight and Conero and Vargas with seven each.
Gomez leads the pitching staff with a 4-1 record to go wth a 2.30 earned-run average and 27 strikeouts in 21.2 innings. Senior Nick Romero is 3-3 with a 1.85 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 34 frames.
Granite Hills (10-0-2) remains at the top of the section rankings after dealing Helix a home-and-home series sweep in the teams’ Grossmont Hills League opener — 2-0 on April 9 and 8-1 on April 10.
Granite Hills is followed in the Division I power rankings by Pt. Loma (10-3-1), Carlsbad (9-4), St. Augustine (10-5), Torrey Pines (9-6), La Costa Canyon (7-6), San Marcos (9-3-1) and Eastlake (8-6-1) all battling to join the high-flying Eagles in this year’s Open Division playoffs.
Horse power
Otay Ranch (14-4) is out to a 2-0-start in Metro-South Bay League play following 8-3 and 9-0 wins over Olympian.
Senior Jake Medina (double) had two RBI in the first encounter against the Eagles on April 7 while classmate Victor Bennett (two doubles) had one RBI and scored twice. Juniors Luis Sanchez (four innings) and Fernando Tovalin (three innings) combined to scatter five hits on the mound.
In the rematch on Monday, sophomore Moyses Salcido and Medina each knocked in two runs while junior Carlos Martinez scored twice. Tovalin pitched six innings to pick up the win.
Team leaders include Martinez with a 0.373 hitting average, Medina with 15 RBI and Tovalin with a 3-0 pitching record and 0.30 ERA.
Olympian, Sweetwater, Mater Dei Catholic and Hilltop join Otay Ranch in league play.
Olympian (13-6-1) jumped out to an 8-2 start to the season, then 11-3.
The Eagles defeated Mar Vista, 5-4, to win the 2014 Division IV title and lost 7-3 to the Mariners in the 2022 Division III final.
Team leaders in 2025 include juniors Hector Peralta (0.362 hitting average, eight RBI), Josh Alo (0.333, 10 RBI) and Luke Hill (0.333, 14 RBI), senior Josh Rodriguez (0.327, 10 RBI). junior Aaron Gonzalez (0.318, seven RBI) and senior Daniel Rodriguez (0.316, 12 RBI).
Gonzalez is 5-1 on the hill with a 1.40 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 40 innings.
Mater Dei Catholic is off to a 3-1 start in league play while Hilltop is 1-1. Hilltop (5-12) earned a split with Mater Dei Catholic, wining 6-5 on April 9 before the Crusaders squeaked out a 1-0 win in nine innings last Friday.
Senior Gianni Castellanos drove in three runs in the April 9 contest.
Sweetwater and Olympian follow at 1-3 in league play.
The Division II top hierarchy includes No. 1 San Pasqual (9-2), No. 2 Mt. Carmel (10-5), No. 3 El Camino (10-5), No. 4. Coronado (10-4), No. 5. Southwest El Centro (17-3), No. 6 Grossmont, No. 7 San Ysidro (12-7), No. 8. Christian, No. 9 Helix and No. 10 Mission Hills (6-8).
San Yisdro leaders include senior Adrik Sanchez (0.355 hitting average), senior Jorge Baez (13 RBI) and senior Marco Hernandez (3-0 pitching, 1.25 ERA).
Playoffs are scheduled to start May 19 and wrap up with championship contests May 29-31 over Memorial Day weekend.
