Wrap: Only Henry survives CIF Friday

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: May 21, 2022

2022 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL

ECS staff report

Division 2
Patrick Henry 5, Mission Hills 4
DEL CERRO — Moments after Mission Hills scored the game-tying run in the sixth inning, Patrick Henry responded with a run of its own, the difference in a CIFSDS Division 2 triumph over the Grizzlies.

The victory is the first of four straight needed by the Patriots to land a berth in the championship game. The trek continues with Saturday’s elimination contest at Del Norte, starting at 11 a.m.

The Patriots held a 3-1 lead, but the Grizzlies scored twice in the fifth to pull even. However, the hosts reclaimed the lead. The ballclubs then repeated the process in the sixth before the bullpen of Patrick Henry (23-8 overall) closed out the Grizzlies (21-10).

Individual information was not supplied.

Division 2
Canyon Crest 4, Christian 2
DEL SUR — When the traffic along the State Route 56 freeway slowed down, the bats of Canyon Crest began to hat up. The fourth-seeded Ravens rallied with three runs in their final at-bat in the sixth inning, racing past visiting Christian, 4-2, in Division II

The Patriots (22-8), seeded at No. 8, in suffering their first postseason loss, move on to Saturday’s elimination contest at Francis Parker. Both schools need to win three straight contests — including two over Canyon Crest next week — to land a title game berth.

Trailing 1-0. Christian scored its runs in the fifth to take the lead. However, the Ravens’ AJ Prag fought back with a go-ahead, two-run single in the sixth to spell the difference.

Winning pitcher Zach Danon went six innings, allowing just six hits. Ethan Swidler pitcher a perfect seventh to garner the save. Both are seniors.

Division 3
Olympian 10, West Hills 7
CHULA VISTA — The finest regular season in West Hills baseball history ended with a disappointing postseason appearance.

The Wolf Pack, seeded third in Division III, were eliminated from the CIF San Diego Section playoffs in two outings, capped by Friday’s (May 20) setback to the second-seeded Olympian Eagles, 10-7.

Both programs dropped their respective first-round contests on Wednesday, so somebody would really go home disheartened. And that would be the Wolf Pack after Olympian overcame a 2-0 deficit by tallying nine runs in the third inning.

West Hills needed just two batters to reach the scoreboard. A lead single by Bryce Smith was followed by an RBI double from senior Connor Evans.

In the third, Smith led off by reaching on an error, scoring on a one-out single by Evon Drake.

From then on, Olympian pitcher Sebastian De La Toba shut down the Pack for four innings. When he tired in the fifth, when West Hills tried to come back with five mostly cosmetic runs, reliever Alejandro Obeso entered in the seventh to keep the Eagles alive in the playoffs.

West Hills received four RBI from Evans, featuring a 3–run triple in the fifth. Evans batted 2-for-4, while Smith, Drake, and Freddy Rowbotham added two hits each.

Division 5
Palo Verde Valley 16, Liberty Charter 2
LEMON GROVE — Less than 24 hours after the Liberty Charter Lions celebrated their first-ever CIF San Diego Section postseason victory, reality set in when the Palo Verde Valley Yellowjackets drove more than four hours from Blythe to spank the hosts, 16-2, in a winners bracket contest in Division 5.

Liberty Charter (15-7) will host Calipatria (12-9) on Saturday at 11 a.m.in an elimination contest to gain a re-match with Palo Verde Valley (9-21) next week.