ROUNDUP: Vaqueros win Valley title

East County Sports staff report

LA MESA (5-11-2019) — The El Capitan Vaqueros captured the Grossmont Valley League title with an unbeaten record after defeating the host Helix Highlanders, 4-2, in the season finale on Friday.

The Vaqueros were expected to be a top-five seed when the San Diego CIF Division II playoff brackets are revealed on Saturday.

El Capitan’s Allyson Von Yokes drove in a pair of runs to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth inning.

Alexa Williams hit a home run in the fourth inning and pitched a complete game to earn the victory in the circle.

Avery Perez had two hits and an RBI for the Highlanders. He singled in the last of the fourth tied the game at 1-all, scoring Kasey Castro.

El Capitan finished 8-0 and league and 21-6 overall for the regular season.

Second-place Helix was 6-2, with a 17-11 overall record. The Highlanders will qualify for the Division III playoffs.

MONTE VISTA 8, MOUNT MIGUEL 3: At eastern Spring Valley, the host Monarchs rallied from a 3-1 deficit with seven unanswered runs to complete the GVL campaigns with Friday’s (May 10) triumph over the Matadors.

A rally of four runs in the 5th inning saw Kayla Gonzalez single home Abigail Johnston with the game-tying run, then Dessire Corona came home on a passed ball to garner the lead.

Vanessa Varela later added a 2-run double, giving Monte Vista (15-10 overall, 4-4 league) a third-place finish in the GVL.

Johnston finished with two hits. In the circle, she also overcame a slow start to toss a 5-hitter, blanking Mount Miguel (6-12, 2-6 league) over the final 4.1 innings.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 18, ORANGE GLEN 8: At Escondido, cleanup hitter Carly Robbins drove in six runs despite registering just two base hits, as the Knights needed only six innings to run-rule the host Patriots in Friday’s (May 10) rain makeup.

The ballclubs saw both originally scheduled games postponed due to weather or wet grounds, but only the game in North County was finally played, leaving Foothills Christian a half-game short of claiming a share of the Pacific League title.

Maranatha Christian and Tri-City Christian both went 9-3 in the league, while the Knights were a half-step back ay 8-3. However, because the trio was all even in the loss column, the league could declare any of the three as the league champion and receive an automatic bye in the first round of the CIF playoffs.

Considering that Foothills Christian (13-5 overall) owns the best record among the group and is listed as the top Division IV program in the latest power rankings listed on a CIF-sponsored website, the Knights will probably not receive the “league champion” designation. The same goes for Maranatha at No. 3 in Division V, so expect Tri-City to get named the league representative.

After the game started with three straight walks, Robins lifted a sacrifice fly for her first RBI. However, when the ball was dropped, all three runners came home for a 3-0 lead.

In the third, again the bases were loaded, and Robbins cleared them with a 3-run double. A throwing error also allowed the freshman to score on a “Little League home run.”

Then in the sixth, a line double plated two more runners to initiate the run rule.

For Robbins, it’s her second 6-RBI performance, yet it’s not a season-high. n the second games of the season, she drove in eight runs against Escondido Adventist — equalling the sixth-highest mark in East County history.

Other weapons for the Knights included Lacie Baty, who batted 4-for-5 with a double and three RBI, while Josie Lopez went 2-for-3 with two runs and a pair of RBI.

Carissa Wolford also scored three times, backed by a hit, two walks and a pair of stolen bases.

KEARNY 22, EL CAJON VALLEY 0: At ECVHS, the Braves (0-19) finished a winless season with a home diamond setback to the Komets (10-9) in Friday’s non-league game.

The 22 runs were the third-best total by Kearny all season. The top mark was 31 runs in a narrow 31-30 decision over Mount Miguel on March 22.

The low-point for ECVHS was allowing a school-record 32 runs to Crawford in a 32-15 loss on March 13. In league play, the Braves have dropped 53 consecutive games, last winning on Apr. 25, 2013, in a 14-8 decision over Mount Miguel.