GVL title tiebreaker goes to Steele

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: May 16, 2025

2025 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL

East County Sports.com

Grossmont Valley League

Steele Canyon 10, at West Hills 2

SANTEE – Steele Canyon grabbed a narrow, 1-run decision on Tuesday to forge a deadlock for first place with West Hills, leading to Thursday’s winner-take-all ballgame for the Grossmont Valley League championship.

The contest was close throughout until the seventh inning, when the Cougars erupted for six runs to propel a 4-2 lead into a 10-2 smackdown of West Hills at Wolf Pack Park.

Steele Canyon pitcher Hunter Haase overcame a pair of Pack runs in the second to close with 5.1 innings of shutout ball in his complete-game 5-hitter. Haase struck out five.

Bothballclubs scored twice in the second.

Steele Canyon started the scoring when Austin Hall opened with a basehit, then took three bases on an ensuing error.

Jonah Arens reached second base, then scored twobatters later on yet another Wolf Pack bobble.

West Hills received an RBI hdouble from Ethan Vergne, who then score don a basehit by Trevor Youngdale. Both are seniors.

The Cougars took the lead for keeps when Gavin Caha accepted a one-out walk, later scoring on a double to right field by Logan Oagem for what turned out to be the GVL title-winning RBI in the fifth.

Two innings later, six singles and a walk sandwiched around three consecutive Cougars who were hit bny a pitch as West Hills wilted.

Steele Canyon (14-12 overall, 8-2 GVL) will probably be awarded a first-round home CIF playoff game (unless they are seeded high enough for a bye).

West Hills (14-13, 7-3 GVL), which receviedf two hits from senior Carson-Kai Lewis, is in the middle of the pack as far as rankings are concerned, so the Pack is hopeful for first-round home game.

CIF-San Diego Section pairings are expected to be announced on Saturday,

Santana 5, Monte Vista 2

SPRING VALLEY – Monte Vista moved into position for a magical Grossmont Valley League season after sweeping Steele Canyon, the eventual league champion.

Still, desite Thursday’s (NMay 15) setback to Santana, the Monarchs did make a touch of history.

Monte ista (8-19 overall) finished GVL action with a 6-4 record, marking the third straight season the Monarchs posted a winning record in league play.

In fact, three straight marks above .500 is a first for Monte Vista in the 21st Century. The last streak of its kind was a ledger of seven sraight campaigns above .500 from 1993-99.

Game Stuff

Santana (14-13 overall, 7-3 GVL) finishes in a deadlock with West Hills for second place after stopping the host Monarchs for the 13th straight meeting — a stretch dating back to 2014.

The Sultans utilized five pithers — three juniors and a pair of freshmen — in a combined 5-hitter.

Meanwhile, the offense was also a shared effort as four different players drove in runs. Included was an RBI double by Michael Morrizon, who posted two hits.

The same could be said for Monarchs senior Anthony Kephart, who clubbed an RBI double to give Monte Vista 1-0 in the first.

Santana finally got even with a run in the fifth, then scored four more times in the sixth to pill away.

Mount Miguel 17, ECVHS 4

SPRING VALLEY – Senior Day at Mount Miguel was celebrated by a quartet of Matadors, all playing their final home game on Thursday (May 15),

Fonzy Nunez registered a game-best four RBI, followed by three from Pierson Williams, and two each from Angel Delgado, Eastonn Sanxhez and Angel Martinez, as the Matadors downed El Cajon Valley, 17-4, in the GVL finale.

A sixth senior, Alfreso Rodriguez, fimioshed as the leading hitter by batting 4-for-5 and scoring twice.

Delgado and Sanchez each scored three times.

Leading El Cajon Valley was Matias Herrera, with an RBI double and scoring twice. Luis Espinoza also posted an RBI for the Braves.

Mount Miguel (9-17 overall, 2-8 GVL) ended an 8-game losing strreak with this week’s sweep. ECVHS (0-20, 0-10) saw its league streak reach exactly 100 games, dating to a 2-1 victory at Monte Vista on May 6, 2015.