Granite Hills is undefeated at 24-0-2, stacked with talent and the newly crowned CIF San Diego Section Open Division champion.
Somehow, the Eagles are a No. 4 seed in the state playoffs, which begin Tuesday. Granite Hills will host Villa Park in the first round of the Division 1 Southern California Regionals.
It’s more of the same for San Diego schools, who don’t seem to be getting much respect outside the county lines. Despite winning the toughest division in the section, Granite Hills is ranked No. 11 in the state by MaxPreps.com. Patrick Henry, the team Granite Hills beat in Friday’s finals, is ranked No. 49. The Division 1 champion, Point Loma, is 75th.
Patrick Henry is the No. 7 seed in Division 1, and will travel to second-seeded Santa Margarita. Point Loma is the No. 6 seed in Division 2 and will travel to El Camino Real. Fourth-seeded Eastlake and eighth-seeded Rancho Bernardo could meet in the second round of the Division 2 state playoffs with wins on Tuesday.
State playoffs can be a polarizing topic.
“I’m excited about playing in the regionals because the boys are,” Point Loma coach Rigo Ledezma said Saturday at USD with his team chanting “State, State, State!” in the background. “We’ve fought through adversity, injuries. And they’re excited to represent our school and San Diego.”
Granite Hills baseball coach James Davis was a little less enthusiastic after a hard-fought season and playoffs.
“We’re going to give it our best effort, make no mistake about that,” Davis said. “But I’m OK with winning our section. The guys want to keep playing, show what they can do at a regional level. We have a special group, so maybe we’ll make some noise.”
Granite Hills’ group includes pitcher/shortstop Brenden Lewis, who has signed to play at Arizona State. Outfielder Trevor Smith is headed to Washington State, infielder Tommy Entrekin is headed to Cal Baptist, pitcher Luke Bailey is off to UC Santa Barbara, and outfielder Parker Vance, who played the championship game with a broken hand, is headed to Southern Utah to play football.
“I think baseball is his best sport, but he had 10 interceptions and our football coaches say he’s a football player at the next level,” Davis said.
Vance had a bases-loaded double Friday to for the only runs in a 3-0 Open Division championship game win over Patrick Henry.
To put Granite Hills’ unbeaten season in perspective, Cal-Hi Sports lists only 13 baseball teams that have gone through a season unbeaten.
That list is headed by the Chatsworth team that finished 35-0 in 2004. Pacific Grove was 31-0 in 2013 and Maxwell was 30-0 in 2011.
San Diego’s best team is the 2003 La Costa Canyon squad that went 32-1 and was crowned mythical national champion.
The 1952 San Diego High team was 35-2. That was eight years before the San Diego Section was formed.
Notable
Granite Hills’ graduation is scheduled for Thursday, which would require a baseball schedule change should the Eagles advance Tuesday.
• San Diego’s softball teams, like in baseball, aren’t held in high regard by MaxPreps.com. Open Division champion Mater Dei Catholic is No. 15 in the state, Bonita Vista is No. 25 and Poway is No. 33.
Southern California Regional Baseball Playoffs
All games at 4 p.m.
Division 1
Quarterfinals
Tuesday
(8) St. Augustine at (1) Bellflower St. John Bosco
(5) Villa Park at (4) Granite Hills
(6) Santa Ana Mater Dei at (3) Encino Crespi
(7) Patrick Henry at (2) Santa Margarita
Semifinals
Thursday at home sites
Championship game
Saturday at home sites
Division 2
(8) Rancho Bernardo at (1) Fountain Valley
(5) Glendora at (4) Eastlake
(6) Point Loma at (3) El Camino Real
(7) San Dimas at (2) Santa Maria St. Joseph
Semifinals
Thursday at home sites
Championship game
Saturday at home sites
Division 3
(8) Long Beach St. Anthony at (1) Goleta Dos Pueblos
(5) University City at (4) Lake Balboa Birmingham
(6) Valencia Trinity Classical at (3) Venice
(7) Elsinore at (2) Mt. Carmel
Semifinals
Thursday at home sites
Championship game
Saturday at home sites
Division 4
(8) Lemoore at (1) Banning
(5) Rancho Mirage at (4) Ramona
(6) L.A. Mary Star of the Sea at (3) Costa Mesa Estancia
(7) Riverside Notre Dame at (2) Bakersfield Ridgeview
Semifinals
Thursday at home sites
Championship game
Saturday at home sites
Division 5
(8) Los Angeles University at (1) Corcoran
(5) Port of Los Angeles at (4) Nuevo Nuview Bridge
(6) Mountain View at (3) Whittier Pioneer
(7) High Tech-San Diego at (2) Fillmore
Semifinals
Thursday at home sites
Championship game
Saturday at home sites
Southern California Regional Softball Playoffs
All games at 4 p.m.
Division 1
Quarterfinals
Tuesday
(1) Orange El Modena, bye
(5) Poway at (4) Chino Hills Ayala
(3) Bonita Vista, bye
(2) Mater Dei Catholic, bye
Semifinals
Thursday at home sites
Championship game
Saturday at home sites
Division 2
(1) Christian, bye
(5) Long Beach Poly at (4) Monache
(6) Eastlake at (3) Bakersfield Christian
(7) Rancho Bernardo at (2) Westlake
Semifinals
Thursday at home sites
Championship game
Saturday at home sites
Division 3
(8) Port of Los Angeles at (1) Point Loma
(5) Stevenson Ranch West Ranch at (4) Olympian
(6) Southwest-El Centro at (3) Ventura St. Bonaventure
(7) Elsinore at (2) South Gate Legacy
Semifinals
Thursday at home sites
Championship game
Saturday at home sites
Division 4
(1) Santa Maria Pioneer Valley, bye
(5) Woodland Hills Taft at (4) Arcadia Rio Hondo Prep
(6) Huntington Park Marquez at (3) Irvine University
(2) Woodlake, bye
Semifinals
Thursday at home sites
Championship game
Saturday at home sites
Division 5
(8) Lincoln at (1) Rancho Mirage
(5) L.A. Westchester at (4) Culver City
(6) Oxnard Hueneme at (3) North Hollywood
(7) Cathedral City at (2) Orcutt Academy
Semifinals
Thursday at home sites
Championship game
Saturday at home sites
