The Granite Hills High School baseball team —20-0-2 in the regular season — has turned aside all challengers this spring to remain undefeated. Now, the newly crowned Grossmont Hills League champions will have to do it all over again as the San Diego Section playoffs get under way.
The Eagles, with their 0.955 winning percentage, received the No. 1 seed in the Open Division playoffs. It’s a prestigious honor but there’s still unfinished work to be done to call the season an unqualified success.
If there is any consolation, the Open Division has become a double-elimination tournament. If someone else is going to snatch away the championship, someone is going to have to beat the Eagles twice.
The question of the day: who is up to that task?
Granite Hills finished 12-0 in league play — well ahead of runner-up Helix (7-5 in league, 15-12 overall) and El Capitan, the third-place team with a 5-7 league record, 10-14 overall.
Joining the Eagles in the elite fray are No. 2 San Marcos (19-6-1), No. 3 La Costa Canyon (16-10), No. 4 Carlsbad (17-10), No. 5 St. Augustine (18-9-1), No. 6 Patrick Henry (18-8-2), No. 7 Eastlake (17-8-1) and No. 8 Del Norte (17-10).
Playoffs were scheduled to start Wednesday. Semifinals are slated Tuesday, May 27. A fifth round, if necessary, will be played May 28. The division championship game is May 30 at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium.
All other playoff brackets are single-elimination format.
Helix received the No. 8 seed in the Division II playoffs while Grossmont 12-17) received the No. 12 seed in the division after defeating Steele Canyon (14- 13) by a 7-4 score in a play-in game on Monday.
Summit League champion Mountain Empire (15-5) received the No. 9 seed in the Division IV bracket while Summit League runner-up Liberty Charter (12-9) received the No. 4 seed in Division V-AA.
The baseball and softball playoffs both feature seven divisions: Open Division (eight teams for both genders), Division I (12 teams), Division II (12 teams), Division III (12 teams), Division IV (12 teams), Division V (10 teams) and Division V-AA (10 teams).
Other championship venues for baseball include University of San Diego’s Fowler Field (May 31 at 1 p.m. for Division II, 4 p.m. for Division III and 7 p.m. for Division I), SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium (May 30 at 4 p.m. for Division II), USD’s Fowler Field (May 31) and UC San Diego (May 29 at 4 p.m. for Division V-AA and 7 p.m. for Division V).
Softball championships are scheduled May 29-31 at the following venues: Division V-AA (May 29, 4 p.m. at UC San Diego), Division V (May 29, 7 p.m. at UC San Diego), Division II (May 30, 4 p.m. at SDSU), Division I (May 30, 7:30 p.m. at SDSU), Division IV (May 31, 1:30 p.m. at IC San Diego), Division III (May 31, 4 p.m. at UC San Diego) and Open Division (May 31 at 7 p.m. at UC San Diego).
League champions automatically qualify for the playoffs, while at-large teams fill the remaining bracket.
City Western League champion Christian (21-6-1) received the No. 4 seed in the San Diego Section Open Division softball playoff as the top-ranked East County team.
El Capitan (15-13) and Steele Canyon (15-12-1) were seeded sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Division I bracket, while Grossmont Hills League champion West Hills (17-9-1), Santana (15-10) and Grossmont Valley League champion Helix (16-6) were seeded second, fifth, and 10th, respectively, in Division II.
Foothills Christian (9-10) received the No. 11 seed in Division III after defeating Maranatha Christian, 7-3, in a playin game on Monday. Mt. Miguel (5-11) and Patriot League champion Mountain Empire 10-2) were seeded eighth and 10th, respectively in the Division V bracket. Fast track to success
The road to this year’s high school state track and field championships stepped off with last weekend’s San Diego Section divisional finals. Student- athletes across the three divisional meets advanced to this Saturday’s sectional state qualifying meet at Mt. Carmel High School by hitting predetermined time and distance standards.
East County looks to have another blockbuster showing at the state meet if last weekend’s results are any indicator.
Helix finished runner-up in the Division I championship meet at Del Norte High School while Steele Canyon was fourth. In the Division I girls field, Steele Canyon was third.
“We had a lot of improvement over the course of the season on the boys team — the girls team is young but fast,” Steele Canyon coach Charles Tyler said.
The Division I championship meet was top heavy with East County medalists, especially with individual and relay event champions.
The top three place-finishers in each event at the section finals (top two only in the 4×800 relay) qualify for the state meet, plus those who meet at large qualifying standards.
A total of 18 athletes in each event from the divisional championships qualified for the section championship meet.
The top six place-winners in each event at the divisional finals received medals.
East County individual champions from the Division I finals included Grossmont sophomore Torin Sotelo in the boys pole vault (15-2), Helix senior Spencer Gray in the boys 200-meter dash (21.41), Helix junior Jackson Ellis in the boys 400 dash (48.30), Helix junior Aiden de Hoyos in the boys 300 intermediate hurdles (38.67) and Helix senior Shani Ford in the girls shot put (37-6.5).
Relay event champions included Helix in both the boys 4×100 (41.95) and 4×400 (3:19.24) while Steele Canyon finished runner-up in both events — 42.26 in the 4×100 and 3:23.97 in the 4×400. Steele Canyon finished runner- up in the girls 4×100 relay (46.79). T
op-level finishes appeared to be the norm for East County athletes.
Individual champions at the Division II finals at University City High School included West Hills’ Cameron Bishop in the boys 200 dash (21.62), West Hills’ Daniel Vestemean in the boys 1600 (4:19.71), Monte Vista’s Elekana Taa in the boys shot put (48-3.5), Santana’s Dainian Diaz in the boys discus throw (155-11.5 and Santana’s Harper Diaz in the girls 800 run (2:11.68).
Liberty Charter, drum roll, won the boys 4×800 relay championship at the Division III championship meet at Valley Center High School. Running legs on the four-man unit were junior Caleb Acosta, seniors Aiden Burr and Luke Mapes and sophomore Sam Rohrer in 8:26.11.
Steele Canyon senior Micah Senn represented himself quite well at the Division I finals with a third-place finish in the boys 800 run (1:58.40) and fourth place finishes in both the 1600 (4:19.52) and 3200 (9:41.58) distances.
