Sweetwater High School’s baseball and softball teams represented themselves well during the 2019 season.
The Red Devils won this spring’s South Bay League baseball championship while the school’s softball team finished third in league play.
Both teams won play-in games to this year’s San Diego Section double-elimination tournament in front of home fans on Tuesday.
The Lady Red Devils, seeded fifth in the Division IV field, batted around in the bottom of the sixth inning to blast open a close game against 12th-seeded Holtville to win by a commanding margin of 13-5.
The Sweetwater baseball team, seeded sixth in the Division IV bracket, had to work extra time to prevail, 3-2, over 11th-seeded Mission Bay in eight innings.
Both teams advanced to double-elimination play. The baseball team was set to make a trip to take on third-seeded Mt. Carmel on Wednesday while the softball team is scheduled to play at fourth-seeded Escondido Charter on Thursday.
Second-round baseball playoff games are scheduled Friday, followed by third-round playoffs on Saturday.
Fourth-round playoffs are scheduled Tuesday, May 21, followed by fifth-round playoffs, if necessary, on Wednesday, May 22.
Second-round softball playoffs are scheduled Saturday, followed by elimination games on Tuesday, May 21, and Thursday, May 23.
Red alert
Sweetwater came within one victory of advancing to last year’s softball semifinals.
“We have a young team that’s jelled quickly,” SuHi head coach Mike Morales explained. “The girls enjoy each other’s company off the field as well as on the field. We have a lot of team chemistry.
“We have three seniors and two juniors; everybody else is an underclassman.”
The Lady Devils, who finished 8-4 in South Bay League play in 2019, improved to 18-8 following Tuesday’s playoff win.
Sweetwater rapped out 14 hits in eliminating Holtville, which had narrowed the score to 5-4 midway through the game after topping host Calvary Christian Academy, 9-2, in a seeding play-in game on Monday.
Senior Texas Ramirez went two-for-four with a double while junior Idaliz Castillo blasted a triple. Freshman Natalie Corrales went three-for-four with two RBI while fellow ninth-grader Penelope Cruz went two-for-four and scored three runs.
Sophomore Pamela See received credit for the win in the pitching circle while also going three-for-four at the plate and scoring two runs. See pitched six innings, with relief help from sophomore Stephanie Zepeda to close out the victory.
It’s been a team effort this season.
See led Sweetwater with a .493 hitting average in 21 regular season game appearances with 25 RBI, 34 runs scored, four doubles, six triples and three home runs.
Junior Isabel Morales hit .484 in 20 games with 25 runs scored and nine RBI while Cruz followed with a .466 hitting average, 34 runs scored, 21 RBI, nine doubles, two triples and three home runs.
Ramirez hit .426 in 19 games with 20 runs scored, 17 RBI, three doubles, seven triples and one home run.
Corrales hit .437 in 23 games with 15 runs scored, 23 RBI, six doubles, two triples and one home run.
Mar Vista shut out Southwest, 5-0, in the teams’ final regular season game to win this year’s South Bay League softball championship. Both teams received entry into the CIF playoffs — Southwest (15-6) seeded No. 1 in the Division IV bracket and Mar Vista (20-5) seeded No. 4 in the Division III bracket.
Hilltop (13-11-1) received the No. 2 seed in the Division III bracket despite finishing Mesa League play 2-8.
Montgomery (11-12, 4-8 in South Bay League play) received the No. 2 seed among Division V teams while Ocean View Christian Academy (10-12) received the No. 4 seed in the division.
Chula Vista (6-6 in South Bay League play) ended its season with an 11-10 record after dropping a 5-0 play-in game at Calipatria on Monday to finish seeding the Division III playoff bracket.
Three Mesa League teams received berths in the Open Division. League champion Mar Dei Catholic (27-4) received the No. 1 seed while Bonita Vista (14-9) received the No. 3 seed. Eastlake (19-7) received the No. 4 seed.
Mater Dei Catholic finished 10-0 in league play, followed by Bonita Vista at 7-3, Eastlake at 6-4, Olympian at 3-7, Otay Ranch at 2-8 and Hilltop at 2-8.
The Division II and Division V championship games are scheduled Friday, May 24, at UC San Diego.
The Open Division, Division II, Division III and Division IV championship games are scheduled Saturday, May 25, also at UC San Diego.
Red hots
The Red Devils’s baseball squad scored a 4-0 win over Mar Vista on the final day of regular season play to emerge as league champions with an 8-2 league record. Sweetwater finished one game ahead of runner-up Mater Dei Catholic (7-3 in league) and two games ahead of Olympian and Southwest, which tied for third place in the league standings with 6-4 league records.
SuHi coach James Martinez was obviously pleased with the outcome of this year’s league play.
“We haven’t won (a league banner) since 1984,” Martinez said. “We came from last place to first place. I’m very proud of the guys.”
Tuesday’s play-in win over Mission Bay extended the Devils’ current win streak to six games.
Sweetwater (15-12) had to rally after the Bucs (5-24) scored two runs in the top of the fourth inning. The Devils tied the game in the bottom of the frame and the score stay deadlocked, 2-2, until the bottom of the eighth inning.
Senior Danny Zepeda drew a walk, followed by an intentional walk to junior Joseph Esparza. Senior Josh Zuniga knocked in the winning run as he lofted a pop fly to shallow center field that the Mission Bay second baseman was unable to catch.
When the ball went in and out of the glove of the Bucs infielder and rolled a short distance away it allowed the winning run to score from second base.
Junior Cruz Mujica received credit for the win after pitching five innings with three hits and three strikeouts.
Mission Bay defeated Calipatria, 19-5, in a seeding play-in game on Monday to advance to meet Sweetwater on Tuesday.
Southwest (22-9) received the No. 1 seed in the Division IV bracket while Mar Vista (11-16) received the No. 9 seed in the division.
Mater Dei Catholic (15-14) received the No. 12 seed in the Division III bracket while Olympian (16-10) received the No. 12 seed.
Citrus League champion Calvary Christian (16-3) received the No. 1 seed in the Division V bracket while Summit League champion High Tech High Chula Vista (15-4) received the No. 3 seed in the division.
The top four finishers in the Mesa League all qualified for this year’s section playoffs.
Mesa League champion Eastlake (10-0 in league, 22-4-1) received the No. 1 seed in the Open Division playoffs while runner-up Bonita Vista (8-4 in league, 17-10) received the No. 6 seed in the Division II field, Hilltop (7-5 in league play, 15-12) received the No. 6 seed in the Division III playoffs and Otay Ranch (5-7 in league, 13-15-1) received the No. 10 seed in the Division II field.
Montgomery (4-8 in league, 9-16), San Ysidro (3-9, 10-17-1) and Chula Vista (3-9, 10-18) all did not qualify for postseason play.
Montgomery head coach Manny Hermosillo is sitting at 699 career wins.
The Division I and Division III championship games are scheduled Friday, May 24, at SDSU.
The Open Division and Division II championship games are scheduled Saturday, May 25, at SDSU.
The Division IV and Division V championship games are scheduled Saturday, May 25, at Poway High School.
Bonita Vista 7, Coronado 3
Rumble Reyes drove in two runs while teammates Michael Barajas, DiMaggio Cazares, Isaac Almendarez and Omar Vega each collected one RBI as the sixth-seeded Barons (18-10) scored a 7-3 win over the 11th-seed Coronado Islanders (16-14-1) in a Division II play-in game on Tuesday.
Nathan Nankil, who had two hits, scored twice for Bonita Vista, which scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to erase an early 1-0 Coronado lead.
Former Park View Little League all-star Lucas Marrujo picked up the win by scattering six hits over four innings. Cazares pitched the final three frames, striking out three batters.
Marrujo improved to 6-0 on the season with a 1.12 earned-run average.
Photo Gallery by Phillip Brents
Holtville at Sweetwater, Softball
San Diego Section
Baseball Playoffs
Play-In Round
Tuesday, May 14
Division II
(6) Bonita Vista 7, (11) Coronado 3
(10) Otay Ranch 2, (7) Southwest El Centro 1
Division III
(12) Olympian 10, (5) Steele Canyon 5
(11) Serra 8, (6) Hilltop 3
(10) Rancho Buena Vista 8, (7) Mater Dei Catholic 0
Division IV
(6) Sweetwater 3, (11) Mission Bay 2
(9) Mar Vista 12, (8) Calexico 3
Division V
(5) Mountain Empire 10, (12) Chula Vista Learning Community Charter 3
Note: Chula Vista Learning Community Charter defeated Ocean View Christian Academy 11-2 in a seeding play-in game on Monday, May 13
San Diego Section
Softball Playoffs
Play-In Round
Tuesday, May 14
Division I
(8) Santana 5, (9) Olympian 0
Division II
(6) Southwest El Centro 3, (11) Otay Ranch 0
Division V
(5) San Ysidro 11, (12) Crawford 1
(6) Bayfront Charter 13, (11) Borrego Springs 6
(10) Chula Vista Learning Community Charter 20, (7) Orange Glen 14
First Round, Double Elimination
Wednesday, May 15
Division V
(5) San Ysidro 18, (4) Ocean View Christian Academy 2
(3) Maranatha Christian 8, (6) Bayfront Charter 7
Thursday, May 16
Division III
(5) Central Union 7, (4) Mar Vista 2
(2) Hilltop 10, (7) Bishop’s 0 (5 innings)
Division IV
(1) Southwest 10, (9) Palo Verde Valley 0
(4) Escondido Charter 8, (5) Sweetwater 7
Open Division playoffs open on winning note for local prep baseball, softball teams
Four Metro Conference teams received berths in this year’s elite Open Division playoffs – Eastlake as the No. 1 seed in baseball and three teams in softball: No. 1 seed Mater Dei Catholic, No. 3 seed Bonita Vista and No. 4 seed Eastlake.
Three of the four teams bagged victories in Wednesday’s opening round of double-elimination play.
Ricky Tibbett notched a complete game victory in Eastlake’s 2-1 baseball win over eighth-seeded Cathedral Catholic to push the Titans (23-4-1) into Friday’s second-round match-up against fifth-seeded Rancho Bernardo (20-8-1).
Eastlake scored both its runs in the bottom of the first inning as Tibbett scattered five hits and struck out six batters.
Mater Dei Catholic (28-4) topped eighth-seeded Poway, 5-1, in an extra-inning thriller to get the CIF softball playoffs starting on a positive note. The Crusaders, who will play fifth-seeded Carlsbad (17-8-1) in Saturday’s second round, poured across four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to snap a 1-1 tie.
Lexi Sosa went two-for-three with a home run and drove in four runs to lead the Mesa League champions. Sosa went the distance in the pitching circle to pick up the playoff win to improve to 21-2 on the season. She scattered six hits and struck out 10 batters.
Alyssa Garcia leads MDCHS with a .525 hitting average, followed by Sosa at .471 with a team-leading 38 RBI.
Bonita Vista (15-9) battled back from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 in Wednesday’s softball game against sixth-seeded Granite Hills (21-9) to prevail by a score of 3-2. The Barons advance to meet seventh-seeded Torrey Pines (19-8) in Saturday’s second round.
Alexis Guevara (14-4) was solid in the pitching circle with a complete game five-hitter. She struck out five hitters while walking three.
Klarissa Munoz and Vinitzia Blanco were each credited with an RBI.
Nicole Hill tied the game, 2-2, after scoring on a wild pitch while Micaela Macario scored what proved to be the game-winning run on a fielder’s choice by Blanco.
Carlsbad edged host Eastlake, 2-1, in Wednesday’s opener. Hannah Slike drove in the only run for the Titans (19-8). Eastlake hosts Poway (16-12-1) in Saturday’s elimination game.
CIF BASEBALL:
Top-seeded Raiders advance with 6-3 win over league-rival Mariners
Top-seeded Southwest defeated ninth-seeded Mar Vista, 6-3, in Wednesday’s opening round of double-elimination play in the Division IV bracket. The host Raiders scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning and tacked on two more runs in the second inning for an early 4-0 lead.
Mar Vista (12-17) scored one run in the top of the third inning and added two more runs in the top of the fourth inning to narrow the score to 4-3. But Southwest (23-9) scored two runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth inning to go up to three runs on the scoreboard.
Neither teams scoring in the remaining three innings. The Raiders out-hit the Mariners 9-8 as both teams committed two errors.
The win advanced Southwest to Friday’s second-round game against fourth-seeded Palo Verde Valley (15-11).
Cesar Luna, Josh Barbato and Ryan Lee each scored runs for Mar Vista in the loss to Southwest. Chris Pardinas was credited with one RBI.
Luna allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits in 3.1 innings on the mound. Diego Garza allowed one run in 2.2 innings.
The Mariners will host 12th-seeded Maranatha Christian (17-9) in an elimination game on Saturday.
Mar Vista, which finished 2-8 in the South Bay League standings, traveled to Imperial Valley to defeat eighth-seeded Calexico, 12-3, in a play-in game on Tuesday.
Damon Thomas had four RBI to lead the Mariners in the win over Calexico while Barbato drove in three runs. Pardinas had two RBI. Dante Pacheco, Zack Hastings and Lee each had one RBI.
Pardinas picked up the win by scattering nine hits and allowing two earned runs in 6.1 innings. He struck out three batters while issuing two bases on balls.
Raiders win to advance
Southwest (24-9) defeated visiting Palo Verde Valley, 12-1, on Friday to advance to Tuesday’s contest against 12th-seeded Maranatha Christian (19-19).
Raider coach Dallas Fialkowski noted that pitchers Adrian Sanchez and Jorge Martinez have been excellent on the mound so far in the playoffs and that Diego Ruiz, Aldo Canedo, Arian Tirado, Raul Bojorquez and Ricardo Dominguez have been on fire at the plate.
Ruiz has four hits in six plate appearances in the two wins with a double, triple and four RBI. Bojorquez (four-for-eight) also has four RBI while Dominguex and Canedo have both scored three runs.
Sanchez has allowed one hit in five innings to go with a perfect 0.00 ERA while Martinez has recorded five strikeouts in six innings to go with a win and a save.
“The Raiders are playing aggressive and intense baseball,” the Southwest coach said. “We are creating offense by executing plays in pressure situations. We are playing to prove to the South Bay that they are no longer a team to overlook.”
Barons drop Sage Creek in eight innings, extend win streak to nine games
The Bonita Vista Barons came up with some timely offense to defeat the third-seeded Sage Creek Bobcats, 7-3, in Wednesday’s first-round Division II playoff game.
Trailing 3-2, the Barons (20-10) tied the contest with a run in the top of the seventh inning on a RBI-single by Raymundo Reyes and then poured across four runs in the top of the eighth inning to stun the Bobcats (25-5) and advance to Friday’s second-round game against second-seeded Point Loma (25-4-2).
Bonita Vista enters Friday’s game against the Pointers riding the crest of a nine-game winning streak.
“Right now we’re playing outstanding ball,” BVHS head coach Dave Palet said. “During the regular season, we couldn’t close games to get to know the identity of what kind of team we currently have …We have a lot of seniors who are hungry right now.”
Palet said he feels Division II has the best talent spread throughout this year’s San Diego Section playoffs.
The Barons collected 10 hits in Wednesday’s playoff victory, including two hits each by seniors Alec Bruce, Isaac Almendarez and Omar Vega. Senior DiMaggio Cazares led the visitors with two RBI while senior Michael Barajas, Almendarez, Vegas and junior Bubba Villegas each collected one RBI.
Bruce and Cazares each stroked doubles in the game. Senior Justin Snarponis pitched five innings, allowed six hits and three runs. Junior Nate Nankil pitched the final three innings, allowing no hits and no runs while striking out two batters.
Nankil improved to 2-3 in nine appearances while lowering his earned-run average to 1.09.
Senior Bryant Kitisin led Sahe Creek with a two-RBI triple while Scott Anderson (5-2) took the loss. Anderson sports a 0.82 ERA on the season.
The Pointers handed 10th-seeded Otay Ranch (14-16-1) a 6-1 loss in Wednesday’s first-round playoff game, sending the Mustangs to an elimination game against Sage Creek on Thursday.
Junior Hunter Otjen led Point Loma with three RBI and scattered six hits on the mound in seven innings of pitching duty against Otay Ranch.
David Willauer contributed to this story.
San Diego Section Playoffs
First Round of Double Elimination Play
Division II
Wednesday, May 15
(6) Bonita Vista 7, (3) Sage Creek 3 (8 innings)
(2) Point Loma 6, (10) Otay Ranch 1
Division III
(4) Valhalla 5, (8) Olympian 2
Division IV
(1) Southwest 6, (9) Mar Vista 3
(3) Mt. Carmel 4, (6) Sweetwater 3
Division V
(8) Army-Navy Academy 6, (1) Calvary Christian Academy 3
(6) Mt. Miguel 11, (3) High Tech High Chula Vista 0
Photo Gallery by Roberto Bonilla
Mar Vista at Southwest, First Round playoff game, Division IV
