The 71st Lions Baseball Tournament wrapped up its annual four-day stay in San Diego County April 11-14 with four South County teams advancing to the championship round in their respective divisions.
Otay Ranch lost, 4-1, to Santa Fe Christian in the Premier A Division championship game while Montgomery dropped a 9-1 decision to Francis Parker in the Premier B Division championship game.
Olympian came up short by a 12-3 score to Classical Academy in the 4-A Division final while Sweetwater lost, 10-3, to Sutter Union in the 1-A Division championship game.
Make no mistake, winning a Lions tournament division championship is no easy task with four games played in as many days. Teams will find their pitching stretched and every run counts.
Otay Ranch (12-9-1, 4-3 in Mesa League) was perfect in pool play with victories against Ramona (5-4 in eight innings on April 11), Sacramento McClatchy (10-0 on April 12) and Brawley (11-8 on April 13).
Senior Daniel Leon (triple) had two RBI while freshman Kalani Jauregui and senior Diego Flores both drove in one run in the win over Ramona as three Mustang hurlers struck out 10 Bulldogs.
Jauregui racked up three RBI in the win over McClatchy while senior Julian Padilla and Flores both had two RBI. Three other Mustangs each drove in one run: senior Xavier Franco (home run), junior Efren Sanchez and senior Octavio Mendivil.
Steven Arciniega and Franco combined on a three-hitter with Arciniega going five innings to pick up the win.
Otay Ranch erased an 8-5 Brawley lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Flores and junior Sebastian Castillas (triple) both drove in two runs while four other Mustangs each had one RBI: Jauregui, Padilla, Sanchez and Franco (double, triple).
Montgomery (15-6, 5-3 in Mesa League) also finished undefeated in pool play with victories against Rancho Buena Vista (4-3 on April 11), Henderson (Nev.) Coronado (2-1 on April 12) and Clairemont (10-0 on April 13).
Junior Jose Mendoza and senior Andres Alvarez both had two RBI in the tourney opening win while senior Louis Morales and junior Antonio Serena combined on a four-hitter with six strikeouts.
Sophomore Luis Arturo Chavez (double) and freshman Noah Solano (double) each had one RBI as the Aztecs made one run in each of the second and fourth innings stand up in the tight win over the out-of-state Cougars, who were held to three hits by Chavez, Morales and junior Jose Mendoza (who picked up the win with three strikeouts in five innings).
Senior Benji Solano led the Aztecs with three RBI in the win over Clairemont while senior Aldo Camargan drove in two runs. Five Montgomery player each had one RBI: sophomore Kenneth Razo, Mendoza (two doubles), senior Azael Martinez, sophomore Khalyl Perez and junior Daniel Alcala.
Junior Fidel Lopez picked up the victory on the hill by scattering four hits with five strikeouts over five innings. Junior Santiago Hernandez also pitched one inning to combine on the shutout win.
Senior Nevan Noonan led Francis Parker (18-2) with five RBI in the championship game. The Lancers rolled across five runs in the first inning and amassed 12 hits in the game while holding the Aztecs to one run on four hits.
Veteran Montgomery head coach Manny Hermosillo called Francis Parker a “tough young team.”
“We pitched two JV pitchers but overall, it was a good tournament,” he said. “Congrats to my guys.”
Hermosillo has increased his career coaching record to 733 entering Tuesday’s upcoming home game against Bonita Vista.
Olympian finished 3-0 in pool play with victories against Bishop’s (8-7 on April 11), Mt. Carmel (6-0 on April 12) and Imperial (7-6 on April 13).
Senior Aidan Bleisch drove in three runs in the win over Bishop’s while senior Colin Overheim had two RBI. Senior Carlos Cerda struck out eight batters in six innings.
Overheim had three RBI in the win over Mt. Carmel while junior Ivan Murillo and Bleisch each had one RBI. Senior Sebastian De La Toba fired a complete game three-hitter with 12 strikeouts.
Cerda drove in two runs in the victory against Imperial while Bleisch, seniors Ghianni Rosario, Gael Rivera, Odell Chantalla and Alejandro Obeso (two doubles) each had one RBI.
Obeso and Overheim each drove in one run in the championship game loss to the Caimans (7-10).
Sweetwater (13-6 overall, 2-1 in Metro-Pacific League play) won all three of its Lions pool games — topping Caruthers (8-1 on April 11), Lincoln (4-0 on April 12) and Gridley (10-2 on April 13).
Senior Alberto Iribe Hernandez (six innings, one run, 11 strikeouts) and senior Aaron Gallarzo (one inning, no runs, one strikeout) combined on the win over Caruthers while junior Damian Hernandez scored two runs. Junior Ivan Rodriguez doubled while senior Gian Laborin tripled to aid the SuHi offense.
Sophomore Isaac Tovar (six innings, six strikeouts) and Gallarzo (one inning, two strikeouts) combined on the three-hit shutout against Lincoln. The Devils made the most of their four hits in the game.
Gallarzo (double), senior John Svehla and Tovar (double) each had two hits in the win over Gridley while Laborin, Tovar and Iribe Hernandez all scored two runs.
Svehla started and went four innings on the mound with three strikeouts. Sophomore German Vega added 2.1 scoreless innings in relief with two strikeouts.
The National City team’s tournament winning streak ended with the loss to Sutter Union, which collected 13 hits in the division championship game. Tovar led Sweetwater with two hits while Iribe Hernandez, senior Jancarlo Meza and Damian Hernandez each scored runs. Gallarzo went 5.1 innings on the mound.
Sweetwater athletic director Ervin Hernandez lauded the Red Devils’ tournament showing.
“It’s very exciting to have coach Juan Romero provide some consistency to our program after having three different baseball coaches the past three years,” Hernandez said. “He’s coached the youth in National City for many years and knows the community well. He’s planning on building the program and it’s great to see immediate success on the field.”
Metro-Mesa League
Tuesday, April 19
Otay Ranch 6, Olympian 0
Bonita Vista 9, Eastlake 2
Standings: Eastlake 5-2, Montgomery 5-3, Otay Ranch 4-3, Bonita Vista 3-4, Olympian 1-6
Metro-South Bay League
Tuesday, April 19
Mar Vista 20, Hilltop 6
Mater Dei Catholic 7, Southwest 5
Standings: Mar Vista 3-0, Mater Dei Catholic 3-0, Hilltop 0-3, Southwest 0-3
Metro-Pacific League
Tuesday, April 19
San Ysidro 5, Sweetwater 2
Castle Park 3, Chula Vista 2
Standings: San Ysidro 3-0, Sweetwater 2-1, Castle Park 1-2, Chula Vista 0-3
SOFTBALL:
Hilltop and Olympian have both gotten off to 2-0 starts in Metro-South Bay League play. Hilltop (11-11 overall) defeated host Sweetwater, 16-4, on April 12 and followed that up with an 8-1 win over visiting Chula Vista on Tuesday.
Olympian defeated visiting Mar Vista, 10-4, on April 14 and Sweetwater, 10, on Tuesday. Junior Arianna Kumar and sophomore Gaby Rodriguez both had three RBI in the win over Mar Vista while junior Viri Rodriguez pitched the shutout over SuHi.
