The Chula Vista High School baseball team has put together one of its more memorable seasons in recent years. Perhaps a good deal of the Spartans’ success in 2017 has come courtesy of playing for the memory of former CVHS coach Bob Kennedy.
Kennedy, who coached the school’s baseball team for 28 years, passed away last November at the age of 94. He was an avid sports fan, Spartan supporter and one of the most congenial men to walk the Earth.
Chula Vista’s baseball team dedicated its season to Kennedy at the start of the current high school campaign. It has blossomed into something special.
By virtue of Monday’s 6-0 victory against visiting Castle Park, the Spartans secured no worse than a co-championship in this year’s South Bay League standings.
Chula Vista improved to 10-2 in league play, 21-7 overall, after defeating host Castle Park, 4-0, on Wednesday to wrap up sole rights to this year’s league title.
The Spartans ended regular season play one game ahead of second place Mar Vista in the league stanings after the Mariners (9-3 in league, 17-11 overall) topped host Sweetwater, 7-3, in Wednesday’s final regular season contest.
Mar Vista defeated visiting Sweetwater, 10-6, on Monday to keep pace.
Wednesday’s victory was the fifth straight for Chula Vista; the Mariners carry an eight-game winning streak into psotseason competition.
“It’s been a tight year,” Chula Vista head coach Jim Westlund explained. “We did a great job against Mar Vista in our head-to-head series (a pair of 5-1 wins April 19 and 21) that put us where we are now. Mar Vista has kept us focused. They’ve pressured us all the way.”
The CVHS baseball field is named in honor of Kennedy; the Spartans have kept his memory alive this season with a personal tribute in the dugout (a painted jersey on the wall wth his name).
There’s been no shortage of inspiration for the team this season.
“Bobby’s been with us this year,” Westlund said. “We’ve had the good fortune this year in coming back from deficits. There’s no doubt that he was watching over us.”
Javier Garcia hurled a complete game one-hit shutout to pick up Monday’s win over the Trojans (4-7, 14-12). He struck out eight batters.
Ricky Yoquigua and Bryan Valenzuela delivered the clutch hits in the game. Yoquigua had a key two-out RBI-single in the third inning while Valenzuela collected three RBI in the contest with a two-run double and one-run single.
Antonio Garcia picked up the victory on Wednesday.
The Spartans appear ready to make some noise in the upcoming San Diego Section playoffs. The team entered its regular season finale at the top of the Division IV power rankings ahead of Imperial (14-7), Classical Academy (19-8), league rival Olympian (16-13), Monte Vista (18-11), Calipatria (15-5) and Foothills Christian (22-8).
Play-in games are scheduled next Monday and Tuesday, followed by double-elimination bracket play next Wednesday.
The division finals are scheduled June 2-3.
“We’ve finished strong,” Westlund said. “We’ve had a good year. We finished as a team. We have eight seniors. We don’t have eight senior starters but we have eight senior leaders. We could not have done this without our eight senior leaders.”
The Spartans will be looking for an assist from their guardian angel in pursuit of a CIF cham banner.
Extra bases
Bonita Vista defeated Otay Ranch, 6-3, on Wednesday to complete a sweep of the teams’ two-game series. In the process, the Barons closed out Mesa League play with a 5-5 record and improved to 13-14 overall.
Alex Verdugo led Bonita Vista with a home run and two RBI while Reymundo Reyes scored two runs to highlight monday’s win. Omar Vega pitched six innings with four strikeouts to pick up the win.
Bonita Vista, Montgomery (16-12 overall) and Otay Ranch (14-13 overall) finished a three-way tie for second place in Mesa League play with 5-5 league records.
Montgomery shut out host San Ysidro, 4-0, on Wednesday after the Cougars (3-7 in league, 12-17 overall) squeezed out a 2-1 victory on Monday
