It’s batter up again for preps at Petco Park

The San Diego Section’s an­nual baseball series at Petco Park is due to arrive April 22- 23 with six games total (three on each day).

Participating teams include Vincent Memorial from the Manzanita League, Coastal Academy from the Pacific League), Lincoln and Univer­sity City from the City Con­ference, Monte Vista and Mt. Miguel from the Grossmont Conference, Borrego Springs and Warner, from the Manzani­ta League, Southwest El Centro and Calexico from the Imperial Valley League, and Eastlake and Montgomery from the Met­ro-Mesa League.

Games on the first day (April 22) of this year’s slate feature Vincent Memorial and Coastal Academy at 1 p.m., followed by Lincoln-University at 4 p.m. and Monte Vista and Monte Vista at 7 p.m.

Games on the second day (April 23) feature Borrego Springs and Warner at 1 p.m., followed by Southwest El Cen­tro and Calexico at 4 p.m. and Eastlake and Montgomery at 7 p.m.

The Mt. Miguel-Monte Vis­ta game will not count in the Grossmont Valley League standings. Monte Vista is off to a 10-4-1 start in non-league play while Mt. Miguel is 9-6.

Other GVL teams include El Capitan (off to an 11-6 non-league start), El Cajon Valley (off to an 8-4 non-league start), Valhalla (off to an 8-6 non-league start) and West Hills (off to a 5-9 non-league start).

Monte Vista is slated to face off league play April 11 at Mt. Miguel. A home-and-home se­ries against El Capitan fol­lows on April 18-19 to continue league play.

GVL teams will play one another three times, with two games counting in the league standings.

Early season hitting leaders for Monte Vista included Gavin Daley with a 0.422 hitting aver­age to go with 16 runs scored, nine RBI and three home runs; senior Justyn Stone with a 0.362 hitting average, 14 runs scored and 17 RBI and one home run; senior David Aceron with a 0.333 hitting average, 10 runs scored and 17 RBI; senior Jacob Schweizer with a 0.333 hitting average and nine RBI; and junior Reuben Cabugwas with a 0.277 hitting average, 11 runs scored, two triples and eight RBI.

Daley led the pitching staff with a 5-1 record while carv­ing out a 2.23 earned-run aver­age and 50 strikeouts in 37.2 innings. ERA leaders included junior Tristan Walker (1.31), Schweizer (1.88, 39 strikeouts in 26 innings) and senior David Rodriguez (1.94, 20 strikeouts in 18 innings).

As a staff, the Monarchs had compiled a 2.22 team ERA with 121 strikeouts in 104 innings.

Early season hitting leaders for Mt. Miguel included senior Xavier Reyes with a 0.500 hit­ting average in 20 plate appear­ances with seven RBI; senior Alex Sandoval with a 0.500 hit­ting average in 28 plate appear­ances with 10 runs scored and 11 RBI; senior Jeremiah Castil­lo with a 0.367 hitting average in 63 plate appearances with 25 runs scored and four RBI; senior Tyler Kelly with a 0.365 hitting average, 13 runs scored and 12 RBI; senior Junior Ettle­man with a 0.364 hitting aver­age, nine runs scored and 21 RBI; junior Alfredo Rodriguez with a 0.357 hitting average, 11 runs scored and 11 RBI; and junior Easton Sanchez with a 0.340 hitting average, nine runs scored and 12 RBI.

Senior Matt Barton, the quar­terback on the school’s Division IV championship football team, had logged a 3-0 record on the mound with a 1.87 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 39 innings while senior James Cibrian was 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA and 27 strike­outs in 21 innings. Senior Char­lie Sandoval keyed the team with a 4-0 record while sporting a 5.02 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 30.2 innings.

Rodriguez (4.77 ERA) had col­lected three saves in 7.1 innings of duty.

As a team, the Matadors were hitting 0.325 with 99 RBI in 15 games.

The Eastlake-Montgomery matchup will count in the Met­ro-Mesa League standings as the league rivals will play one another three times in the regu­lar season.

“It’s a great experience for all involved, especially the kids and parents,” veteran Montgomery coach Manny Hermosillo said. “Playing a powerhouse like Eastlake is a challenge for us.”

Early season leasers for East­lake (10-5) included senior No­ah Betanco with a 0.419 hitting average, 12 RBI and three home runs; senior Jacob May with a 0.354 hitting average, 11 runs scored, 17 RBI and one home run; junior Angel Laya with a 0.348 hitting average and one home run, sophomore J.P. Cone­ro with a 0.316 hitting average; senior Brody Wells with a 0.306 hitting average; junior Kalani Jauregui with a 0.302 hitting average and one home run; and senior Noah Libed with a 0.282 hitting average, 11 RBI and one home run.

Pitching leaders included ju­nior Nick Romero with a 5-1 record, 1.03 ERA and 36 strike­outs in 34 innings; sophomore Nolan Nunes with a 3-1 record, 1.67 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 21 innings; and sophomore Max Tello with a 0-0 record, 2.71 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 10.1 innings.

Libed had picked up two saves on the hill to go with a 0.00 ERA and six strikeouts in 3.2 innings while junior Austin Stroberg had posted a 1.91 ERA with three strikeouts in 3.2 in­nings.

As a staff, the Titans had logged a solid 2.18 ERA with 113 strikeouts in 102.2 innings. The team’s batting average was 0.296 with 69 RBI and nine home runs in 15 games.

Early season leasers for Montgomery (7-7) included se­nior Luis Arturo Chavez with a 0.316 hitting average and five RBI; senior Aaron Herrera with a 0.295 hitting average and sev­en runs scored.