Seven South County high school teams qualified to compete in this year’s San Diego Section playoffs. They included Eastlake in the Open Division, Olympian in Division I, Bonita Vista and Hilltop in Division II and High Tech High Chula Vista, San Ysidro and Sweetwater in Division III.
Action took place in rapid-fire succession. The opening round took place on May 1, followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals in successive days.
Of the seven local qualifiers, only two advanced in their respective brackets.
High Tech High Chula Vista (6-0 in Frontier League competition) defeated San Ysidro, 13-5, in the opening round while Sweetwater, which entered the playoffs with a 10-0 South Bay League record (11-1 overall), defeated Monte Vista 17-1.
Eastlake entered the playoffs with a 12-0 league record but fell 13-5 to second-seeded La Jolla Country Day in its playoff opener.
Bonita Vista, seeded fourth, entered the playoffs with a 10-2 league record but fell 10-8 to 13th-seeded Mira Mesa.
Hilltop, seeded fifth, lost 10-8 to 12th-seeded Rancho Buena Vista to end its season
Sweetwater and High Tech High kept winning to advance to the division semifinals with a prospect of facing one another in the Division III championship game.
Both teams upset higher-seeded teams in the quarterfinals. Sweetwater defeated third-seeded San Pasqual, 10-8, while HTH took down fourth-seeded El Cajon Valley by a score of 11-7.
Sweetwater improved to 13-1 following the win over San Pasqual (11-4) while HTH improved to 10-6 after topping the Braves (7-4).
Sweetwater advanced to meet second-seeded Carlsbad in the semifinals while HTH met top-seeded University City.
Both local teams ended their seasons with 12-6 setbacks to the top two seeded teams in the division.
Making tracks
The semifinal appearance was a first for the Red Devils, according to coach Keith Barksdale.
Seniors Phillip Tauzon (first place) and Reynaldo Naanos (second place) met in the South Bay League singles final while the Sweetwater doubles team of senior Santiago Pinon De La Torre and junior Dave Gutierrez also captured first place at the league finals.
The Red Devils also notched the second-place doubles team at the league finals with juniors Jesus Gomez and Roman Esperanza.
High Tech High Chula Vista completed its second consecutive undefeated season in Frontier League play.
Team members include Carlos Robles, Paolo Alvarez, Hector Pichardo, Carlos Alfaro, Andres Cerrillo, Francisco Morales, Adrian Sandoval, Emilio Arce, Javi Belendez, Alan Beyler, Michael Buna and Aldo Delfino.
Robles has earned selection as the Frontier League Player of the Year the past two seasons. He joins Alvarez, Cerillo and Morales as members of this year’s Frontier League all-league team.
Team managers include Daniela Guerrero and Sofi Sanchez.
Curtain call
The section finals took place at the Balboa Tennis Club.
Top-seeded Torrey Pines defeated third-seeded Bishop’s, 16-2, last Thursday to claim the Open Division title.
Second-seeded La Jolla defeated top-seeded Coronado, 12-6, to win Monday’s Division I championship.
Second-seeded Francis Parker defeated top-seeded St. Augustine, 12-6, in last Friday’s Division II final.
In last Friday’s Division III championship game, second-seeded Carlsbad defeated top-seeded University City, 11-7, to hand the Centurions their first loss of the season. UC had entered the game 19-0 on the season.
Mesa League Standings
School W-L
Eastlake 12-0
Bonita Vista 10-2
Hilltop 8-4
Olympian 5-7
Otay Ranch 4-8
Chula Vista 2-10
Mater Dei Catholic 0-12
South Bay League Standings
School W-L-T
Sweetwater 10-0-0
San Ysidro 8-2-1
Castle Park 6-4-0
Montgomery 4-6-0
Mar Vista 3-7-0
Southwest 0-10-0
San Diego Section
Boys Tennis Playoffs
Open Division
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, May 1
(1) Torrey Pines 17, (8) Grossmont 1
(4) Canyon Crest Academy 9, (5) Del Norte 9 (Canyon Crest Academy wins in total games 84-79)
(3) Bishop’s 11, (6) Rancho Bernardo 7
(2) La Jolla Country Day 13, (7) Eastlake 5
Semifinals
Wednesday, May 2
Torrey Pines 9, Canyon Crest 9 (Torrey Pines wins in total games 82-72)
Bishop’s 9, La Jolla Country Day 9 (Bishop’s wins in total games 73-71
Championship Game
Thursday, May 3
(1) Torrey Pines 16, (3) Bishop’s 2
Records: Torrey Pines 21-3; Bishop’s 14-4
Division I
First round
Tuesday, May 1
(1) Coronado 16, (16) Mission Hills 2
(9) Scripps Ranch 12, (8) San Dieguito Academy 6
(12) Point Loma 10, (5) Steele Canyon 8
(4) San Marcos defeated (13) Olympian by forfeit
(6) Vincent Memorial 13, (11) Patrick Henry 5
(3) La Costa Canyon defeated (14) Helix, score unavailable
(7) Westview 17, (10) Santa Fe Christian 1
(2) La Jolla 15, (15) San Diego 3
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, May 2
(1) Coronado 11, (9) Scripps Ranch 7
(4) San Marcos 15, (12) Point Loma 3
(2) La Jolla 13, (7) Westview 5
Thursday, May 3
(6) Vincent Memorial 10, (3) La Costa Canyon 8
Semifinals
Thursday, May 3
(1) Coronado 15, (4) San Marcos 3
Friday, May 4
(2) La Jolla 9, (6) Vincent Memorial 9 (La Jolla wins 65-63 in total games)
Championship Game
Monday, May 7
(2) La Jolla (14-4) 12, (1) Coronado 6
Records: La Jolla 15-4, Coronado 14-6
Division II
First round
Tuesday, May 1
(1) St. Augustine 12, (16) Poway 6
(9) Calexico 10, (8) Santana 8
(13) Mira Mesa 10, (4) Bonita Vista 8
(12) Rancho Buena Vista 10, (5) Hilltop 8
(6) El Camino 10, (11) Pacific Ridge 8
(3) Cathedral Catholic 12, (14) Sage Creek 6
(10) Mt. Carmel 12, (7) Southwest El Centro 6
(2) Francis Parker 16, (15) Valhalla 2
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, May 2
(1) St. Augustine 13, (9) Calexico 5
(13) Mira Mesa 11, (12) Rancho Buena Vista 7
(3) Cathedral Catholic 10, (6) El Camino 8
(1) Francis Parker 13, (10) Mt. Carmel 5
Semifinals
Thursday, May 3
(1) St. Augustine 14, (13) Mira Mesa 4
(2) Francis Parker 14, (3) Cathedral Catholic 4
Championship Game
Friday, May 4
(2) Francis Parker 12, (1) St. Augustine 6
Records: Francis Parker 12-6, St. Augustine 18-5
Division III
First round
Tuesday, May 1
(1) University City 13, (16) Classical Academy 5
(9) Army-Navy Academy 11, (8) Morse 7
(4) El Cajon Valley 16, (13) Brawley 2
(5) High Tech High Chula Vista 13, (12) San Ysidro 5
(6) Sweetwater 17, (11) Monte Vista 1
(3) San Pasqual 16, (14) El Capitan 2
(7) Ramona 13, (10) Madison 5
(2) Carlsbad 17, (15) Tri-City Christian 1
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, May 2
(1) University City 12, (9) Army Navy 6
(5) High Tech High CV 11, (4) El Cajon Valley 7
(6) Sweetwater 10, (3) San Pasqual 8
(2) Carlsbad 12, (7) Ramona 6
Semifinals
Thursday, May 3
(1) University City 12, (5) High Tech High Chula Vista 6
(2) Carlsbad 12, (6) Sweetwater 6
Championship Game
Friday, May 4
(2) Carlsbad 11, (1) University City 7
Records: Carlsbad 12-9, University City 19-1
Boys golf: Mesa League honor roll announced from league finals
Olympian and Eastlake earned distinction as Mesa League co-champs during the 2018 boys golf season while Mater Dei Catholic’s Jorge Petro earned honors as the player of the year.
First team all-league selections, based on low scores at the league championship tournament, were as follows: Jorge Petro (Mater Dei Catholic) 73-76, 149; Steven Deutsch (Olympian) 71-83, 154; Cal Johnson (Eastlake) 76-78, 154; Jumpei Hanaoka (Eastlake) 78-76, 154; Alexis Abalos (Olympian) 73-82, 155; and Adrian Soriano (Mater Dei Catholic) 76-79, 155.
Second team all-league selections, based on low scores at the league championship tournament, were as follows: Umaan Avvari (Otay Ranch) 72-84, 156; Jared Vlchek (Eastlake) 78-79, 157; Ashton Stencil (Olympian) 83-79, 162; Edward Jeon (Otay Ranch) 83-81, 164; Anthony Aguilar (Hilltop) 86-78, 164; and Sam Lee (Eastlake) 79-86, 165.
Final league standings: Olympian 8-2, Eastlake 8-2, Mater Dei Catholic 6-4, Otay Ranch 6-4, Bonita Vista 2-8, Hilltop 0-10.
CIF notepad: golf, swim and dive, gymnastics finals set this weekend
The San Diego Section golf championships feature dual team and individual competition.
Play-in rounds, scheduled for May 10 and May 11, help seed the final rounds that are scheduled Monday, May 14, and Wednesday, May 16, at the Admiral Baker Golf Course, 2400 Admiral Baker Road in San Diego.
Sixteen teams will compete in Division I, 12 teams in Division II and eight teams in Division III.
Play-in rounds will be held in the Division I and Division II fields.
This week’s play-in matches included Eastlake at Mission Hills, Olympian at Canyon Crest Academy, Otay Ranch at Steele Canyon and Mater Dei Catholic at Vincent Memorial.
Twelve teams will compete on the Admiral Baker course in Division I, eight teams in Division II and four teams in Division III. Low team scores advance to the second day of competition. Twelve teams total will advance (72 players).
The top 12 players at the section finals, based on the two-day score, will advance to the Southern California state regional tournament May 24 at the Brookside Golf Club in Pasadena.
The top three teams and top six individuals from each region will advance to the state championship tournament May 30 at the San Gabriel Country Club.
Swim and dive
The section diving competition is scheduled for Friday, May 11, at San Diego Mesa College. The combined Division I/Division II girls field will start at 10 a.m., followed by the combined Division I/Division II boys field at 2 p.m.
The swim finals are scheduled Saturday, May 12, at Granite Hills High School. The Division I meet starts at 9 a.m., followed by the Division II meet at 3 p.m.
Gymnastics
The section finals are scheduled May 18 at West Hills High School. Competition is slated to start at 12:30 p.m.
Events include vault, bars, balance beam and floor exercise.
Track and field
Prelim competition is scheduled for May 19, at Mt. Carmel High School. Girls events start at 9 a.m., followed by boys events at 2 p.m.
The section championship meet is scheduled the following weekend, on May 26, at the same site. Field events start at 10 a.m., followed by running events at 12:30 p.m.
The top three place-finishers in the state-qualifying heats, plus those athletes who meet a predetermined standard at the section finals, advance to the state championship meet June 1-2 in Clovis.
On deck
The softball playoffs are slated to start Monday, May 14, and culminate with championship games May 25-26 at UC San Diego.
The baseball playoffs are scheduled to start May 22 and cap the season with championship games June 1-2 at the UC San Diego and University of San Diego.
It’s Dave Gutierrez not David Gutierrez