CIF Championships: Wednesday D-2 wins for Helix, Christian

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: May 21, 2026

2026 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL
CIF-San Diego Section Championships

East County Sports.com

EL CAJON — Wednesday was the start of the double-elimination portion of the CIFSD playoffs. Thus, all winners moved to the winner’s bracket semifinals. The losers must win four straight to gain a berth in a division title game or go home for the summer.

ivision 2
D(3) Helix 8, (6) Brawley 5
At La Mesa: Helix allowed a 5-1 advantage to slip away, but after Brawley pulled even in the fifth inning, the Scotties responded back with four tie-breaking runs in the sixth to whip the Wildcats.

Helix (18-11 overall), the co-champions of the Grossmont Hills League, received an RBI single from Jake Johnson on a hard grounder up th middle for the go-ahead run.

Johnson then stole second base, then joined Angel Watkins at the plate on a two-run, line single from Isaac Fierro.

Josh Rivera then capped a five-hit inning with a double to score Fierro.

Early on,Bryan Herman and smacked homers in the fourth, then senior Bryan Herman belted a two-run homer in the fifth for Helix.

A quartet of Scotties pitchers allowed just three Brawley hits.

(1) Christian 6, University City 2
At Greenfield: The Christian Patriots, which earlier shut out their former league rivals, 5-0, again skated past the visiting Centurions.

The Patriots (19-9-1) tallied five times in the fifth to snap a 1-1 pitchers’ duel.

Winning pitcher L.J. Rook allowed just one earned run in his complete-game effort. Rook struck out four UC batters.

In the decisive fifth frame, Benji Molina took the second pitch off the Centurions’ bullpen deep to left on a line drive for a 2-1 lead.

The Patriots then added fur additional runs against the deflated Cents. Included was an RBI single by Xander Molina, then Braeden Casey was credited with a steal of home.

Small ball continued with a squeeze bunt from Alker Kane. The UC collapse was capped on a wild pitch to score Kyler Lybarger.

(4) Santa Fe Christian 6, (12) Grossmont 1 At Solana Beach: Sante Fe Christian pitcher Owen Mauser carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but a single by Grossmont’s Trey Crawford ended the effort.

Mauser, a senior, struck out 11 Hillers batters for the host Eagles (16-12). Grossmont (12-18) next faces an elimination contest with University City (13-17), hosting the Cents on Friday.

Division 3
Ramona 17, Rancho Buena Vista 5
At Ramona: For the first time in 20 years, Ramona reached the 20-victory plateau for a second consecutive season after swamping former league rival Rancho Buena Vista, 17-5.

The Dayws (20-8 overall) last reached back-to-back 20-win campaigns in 2005 (21) and 2006 (23).. However, the current ballclub has now reached the target three times in four seasons, owning 78 triumphs under head coach Dean Welch.

In its laughter over the Longhorns, Ramona scored on five of its six trips to the plate, including nine runs through three innings.

Dawgs second baseman Derek Taylor paced the offense with four RBI, including a three-run homer to push the lead to 9-3 in the third.

Westview 14, Santana 7
At Del Sur: The high of posting a play-in round upset failed to carry over for Santana, especially after Westview mounted a 13-0 lead through just two innings.

The third-seeded Wolverine (23-6) was led by Eli Irvine, who collected three RBI.

Santana (13-16), the 10th-seed, received three RBI from junior Ryder Davie.

Division 4
(7) Foothills Christian 4, at 2) Mountain Empire 3
At Buckman Springs: Seventh-seeded Foothills Christian snapped a tied ballgame with a run in the seventh inning, edging two-time Manzanita League champion Mountain Empire, 4-3.

The Knights scored in the first and the contest remained 1-0 through five innings, but a wild sixth inning ended in a 3-3 deadlock before FCHS pulled through.

(Computer play-by-play was unavailable).

For the Knights, Trevor Cochrum registered three hits to drive in a pair of runs. The junior also scored once.

Fresman Anthony Garcia stroked a run-scoring triple.

Apparently, Foothills Christian enjoys traveling. The Knights’ next CIF ballgame is further on the road, traveling to the Imperial Valley to meet El Centro-Central on Friday.

The third-seeded Spartans shut out No. 111 Mar Vista, 6-0. However, ECC elected to utilize its No. 1 pitcher in muzzling the Mariners, so the Knights are hopeful to win in order to advance to the bracket’s championship round.

— Nick Pellegrino

Division 4
(1) San Dieguito 4, (9) San Diego HS 1
(4) Escondido Charter 9, (5) Francis W. Parker 5
(3) El Centro-Central 6, (11) Mar Vista 0
(7) Foothills Christian 4, at 2) Mountain Empire 3

Division 5-AA
(1) Borrego Springs 12, Army-Navy 1
(4) Victory Christian 19, )5) Ocean View Christian 8
(6) Tri-City Christian 8, at (3) Liberty Charter 4
(2) Calvin Christian 4, (10) Vincent Memorial 2