Granite Hills High School’s record-breaking baseball season, replete with an elite Open Division championship and undefeated 24-0-2 record, did not pass muster in the ensuing Southern California regional championship tournament, though five section teams did advance to the championship round with two teams — Rancho Bernardo in Division II and University City in Division III — emerging with regional titles.
It was a bonus to add to an already exceptional hardball campaign — not just that by Granite Hills.
Patrick Henry finished as the runner-up in Division I, Pt. Loma finished as the runner-up in Division II and Mt. Carmel finished as the runner-up in Division III. The high-flying Eagles received the No. 4 seed in the Division I bracket and hosted No. 5 Villa Park in a quarter final round game on June 3.
The visiting Spartans, Crestview League runners-up, scored twice in the top of the first inning and tacked on another run in the top of the second inning to take a 3-1 lead in the single elimination game.
The Eagles trimmed the Villa Park lead to 3-2 with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning and took a 4-3 lead with a two-run rally in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Spartans tied the game, 4-4, with a run in the top of the seventh inning and the contest went to extra inning when the hosts came up empty in the bottom of the frame. The teams played two extra innings before the outcome was decided.
Grossmont Hills League champion Granite Hills lost, 5-4, in nine innings to end the season 24-1-2. Both teams clearly had their chances to push runners around the baseballs with 12 hits apiece. The Eagles left eight runners on base while Villa Park had six players left on base. Senior Tommy Entreken hit a home run for Granite Hills while junior Aidan Young homered for the Spartans.
Entreken finished the game with three RBI on two hits and scored twice. Sophomore Brody Vicars led the hosts with three hits in the game while junior Anthony Miotti stroked a double in the season-ending setback and drove in one run. Senior Brenden Lewis had two hits and scored twice while senior Luke Bailey and sophomore Eurijah Schutza both collected two hits. Senior Trevor Smith had one hit. The Eagles swiped three bases, including a pair by Bailey and another by Lewis. Granite Hills employed the services of four players on the mound.
Lewis pitched three innings with five hits, two strikeouts and three runs allowed (none earned) while Entrekin pitched three innings with four hits, one strikeout and two earned runs allowed. Smith pitched one inning with no hits and one strikeout while junior Scott Russell pitched two innings with two hits, one strikeout and no runs allowed. Entrekin took the loss on the hill.
Sophomore Logan Hoppie got credit for the win with four hits and runs allowed to go with two strikeouts in four innings. Senior Nate Lewis led Villa Park (25-8) offensively with three RBI. The Spartans met top-seeded St. John Bosco in the regional semifinals, absorbing a 7-4 loss to end their season. St. John Bosco (30-4) would go on to defeat seventh seeded Patrick Henry, 4-0, in the championship game on June 7 to record its 19th consecutive victory of the season.
Granite Hills had defeated the Patriots (23-11-2) by a 3-0 score in the section championship game. Patrick Henry upset second-seeded Santa Margarita, 2-0, in the regional opener, then promptly upset No. 3 Crespi, 5-3, in the semifinals. St. John Bosco opened the regional playoffs with a tight 2-1 win over eighth-seeded St. Augustine.
Senior Tyler Wick drove in the lone run for the Saints (20-12-1) with a home run. Entrekin paced Granite Hills with a 0.429 hitting average and 39 RBI with seven home runs while Vance followed with a 0.342 average, 29 RBI with four home runs, and Lewis at 0.373 with 26 RBI and eight home runs. Bailey finished 12-0 on the mound with a 1.03 earned-run average and 75 strikeouts in 68 innings. Lewis finished 7-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 56 innings.
The Eagles placed seven players on this year’s Grossmont Hills League all-league team: Lewis, Entrekin, Smith, Vance and Bailey on the First Team and Vicars and Miotti on the Second Team.
Lewis earned the league player of the year award while Bailey was tabbed as the league pitcher of the year. Around the section The Division II regional bracket included No. 4 Eastlake (Metro-Mesa League champion), No. 6 Pt. Loma (fourth in the City Conference Western League) and No. 8 Rancho Bernardo (fourth in the North County Coastal League). All three San Diego section teams won their opening games to advance to the division semifinals. RB (21-13) upset No. 1 Fountain Valley (18-15) by a score of 4-2 in the quarterfinals while Eastlake (21-11-1) held back No. 5 Glendora (23-11) by a score of 4-1.
The Broncos overpowered the Titans, 8-5, in the semifinals to meet the Pointers (22-13-1) in the division final after Point Loma swept past No. 3 El Camino Real (23-9) and No. 7 San Dimas (20-12) by identical scores of 6-4. No. 8 Rancho Bernardo emerged as the ultimate bracket buster with a 2-1 win over the host Pointers as juniors Brady Strachan and Nathan Bembenek each picked up RBI in support of freshman winner Brayden Kotera (three hits in 5.1 innings).
The Division III regional bracket featured two SD section teams and both second-seeded Mt. Carmel (Division II section champion) and fifth-seeded University City (Division III section cham pion) both advanced to the championship game.
Mt. Carmel (23-13) shut out seventh-seeded Elsinore (23-8) by a score of 5-0 in the quarterfinals and upstaged third seeded Venice (29-4) by a score of 3-2 in the semifinals.
