Reeling to red-hot, Grossmont to battle Santana for first

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: April 21, 2023

2923 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL / GHL & GVL

ECS staff report

JAMUL – The last time anybody bothered to check, Grossmont was all-but-dead in the water, especially after going 0-4 in the Lions Tournament.

The question is” Who turned on ther “On” switch?

Grossmont remains unbeaten in Grossmont Hills League competition, grabbing a share of first place with idle Santaa after the Foothillers bounced the Steele Canyon Cougars, 10-5, in a contest that really wasn’t that close.

Grossmont jumped out of the gate to a quick 4-0 lead, then increased the margin to 6-0 by the third inning.

Meanwhile, after claiming a division of the Lions Tournament by claiming the Classic Division flight, Steele Canyon can’t even taste a victory, hanging just a half-game ahead of last-place Helix.

What happened? Who nows?

We’ll know more by the end of Friday, when the Hillers visit Santana for an unlikely first-place showodnw, starting at 4 p.m.

Over the past few seasons, Grossmont owns a reputation for hitting the long ball. Not this season – until River Diaz de Leon, Anthony Box and Brayden Bennett — all seniors — went deep to mount the early cushion.

Diaz de Leon, the cleanup batter, sent a three-run bomb to near the “Great Wall of Jamul” in left field for a fast start at 3-0.

An inning later, Box sent a two-out blast to an idewnitcla spot to make it 5-0. Then in the third, Bennett also found left with a leaqdoff sot.

Bennett, the designated hitter, and Jcenter fielder Jacob Lanza each recorded three of Grossmont’s 13 hits. Collecting two hits each were left fielder Sammy Danto, Box and Diaz de Leon.

Steele Canyon catcher Tommy Molina led the Cougars with two hits and a par of RBI.

Granite Hills 7, at Helix 0

LA MESA – In a pairing of ballclubs finding difficulty swinging the bats, Granite Hills marched out to register a season-best with 12 hits, while Nico Tomasello fired a three-hit shutout to paced the Eagles over host Helix, 7-0, to sweep the GHL series on Thursday (Apr. 20). Granite Hills out-scored the Scotties, 14-1, in the two-gae set.

Tomasello struck out five Highlanders batters without issuing a walk, allowing the senior to toss his third complete game over his last four starts, completely this job is less than 80 pitches.

Leading the Eagles offense was junior catcher Jody Macias, who belted a pair of home runs.

After the Eagles tallied four times in the thirdinning, Macias openedthe forth with a solo bast to left field Macis repeated the feat in the sicth with a two-out shot.

The opening rally in the third saw a a single and two walks load the bases, followed by a two-run single byacob Embleton (Sr)m with a third run scoring on an error in the outfield.

Sophomore Parker Vance then singled for a 4-0 cushion.

Granite Hills (10-5 overall) moved to sole possession of third place in the GHL at 3-2. Struggling Helix (2-13) fell to0-4 in league.

Grossmont Valley

West Hills 4, Valhalla 0

SANTEE – Atlast check, Valhalla was coming off an importnat shutout victory to get backito the Grossmont Valley League race, while West Hills was in the process f getting eliminated fromfirst-place consideration.

How things can change in a 24-hour period.

West Hills pitchers Nate Hikes and Shave Stevens combined on a 4-hit shutout, powering the Pack to a 4-0 thumping of Orange Nation to completely revamp the GVL standings.

The pitchers — both juniors — allowed just four hits each,as Hikes struck out six Norsemen over the first three innings, then Stevens added five more whiffs over the final four frames to garner the pitching victory.

Small was the rule for the Wst Hills offense.

In the third, a walk and an error set up a sacrifice fly to center by catcher Joey Monetti, a sophomore.

An inning later, a pair of error led pushed the lead to 3-0. Then in the fifth, Stevenson singled, took second on yet another Valhalla error, then came home on a ground single by Braden Wilson.

All four runs against Norsemen pitcher Colton Stinkeoway were unearned despite a complete-game, effortg

West Hills ( moved to 7-8-1 overall; Valhalla slipped to 11-6

Monte Vista 14, ECVHS 0

EL CAJON – Monte Vista designated hitter Justyn Stone smashed a pair of doubles for four RBI, while shortstop Luke Cross also pounded out a pair of doubles, allowing the Monarchs to down host El Cajon Valley, 14-0, in Thursday’s (Apr. 20) Grossmont Valley League ballgame.

Following a scoreless first inning, Monte Vista its runs over the next four innings to coast home/

Monarchs starting pitcher Cian Ketterer (Sr) strick out 13 Braves over six innings to gain the win.

Monte Vista jumped to 10-9 overall; ECVHS fell to 3-7.

El Capitan 15, Mount Miguel 2

SPRING VALLEY – El Capitan pitcher Preston McMillin pitched three shutout innings, then hit a home run after moving to first pace, as the Vaqueros jumped to a 7-0 advantage to down host Mount Miguel, 15-2, in GVL action on Thursday (Apr. 20).

McMillin allows just two hits by the Matadors, then hit a ttwo-run homer to right to cap th scoring in the seventh.

Leadoff batter Andrew Conyers added two hits with a triple and scored three times. Otherwise, El Cap kept the game in check with station-to-station base-running only despite a season-best 19 hits.

Wyatt Carrillo (Sr) led the “Vaq Attack” with four basehits, while Jett Hayes and Brody McAuliffe (Jr) added three each.

El Capitan (13-5 overall) remains in first place; Mount Miguel went to 5-11.

Scoreboard

Grossmont Hills League
Grossmont 10, at Steele Canyon 5
Granite Hills 7, at Helix 0
Bye – Santana
Grossmont Valley League
West Hills 4, Valhalla 0
Monte Vista 14, ECVHS 0
El Capitan 15, Mount Miguel 2
Eastern League
Christian 16, at Clairemont 3
Coronado 8, at Scripps Ranch 3
Bye – La Jolla
Western League
Patrick Henry 9, Point Loma 6
Madison 5, Cathedral Catholic 4
Non-League
Westview 5, St. Augustine 3
Avocado East League
Mt. Carmel 3, Ramona 0
Rancho Buena Vista 4, San Dieguito 0
San Pasqual 2, at Oceanside 1
Summit League
Liberty Charter 19, Ocean Views Christian 3
CV-High Tech 23, at Bayfront Charter 0 (4 inn.)
Bye – CV-LCC, Mountain Empire (played Wed.)