CIF Championships: Helix’s ‘Big Ben’ stars

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: May 22, 2026

2026 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL
CIF-San Diego Section Championships

East County Sports.com

Benji Molina: 5 RBI on trile, grand slam

Division 2
Helix 7, Mission Hills 5
At La Mesa: With apologies to baseball fans north of Camp Pendleton, the Helix Highlanders have their own pitcher who can ht baseball.

“Bog” Ben Williams might have officially earned the nickname following Friday’s winners bracket final of the CIF-San Diego Section Division 2 baseball championship.

Williams not only collected the go=ahead double to lift the Scotties from an early 4-0 deficit, he then shut the door on Mission Hills rally in the seventh for the save in a 705 decision over the Grizzlies.
‘
Helix now receives two chances to win just one game next week in the double-elimination portion of the tournament to gain a berth in the section title contest. Suck a victory will give the Scotties (19-11) their 20th triumph of the season.

Mission Hills (17-14) seeded seventh yet upset second-seeded Bonita Vista on Wednesday, messed up a chance to score in the opening inning with poor base-running, but bounced back with four runs in the second.
Helix chipped away to move within 5-4 in the fourth, then took overt the contest in the sixth behind Williams.

The two-out rally started on basehits from Jaxon Gottlieb and Josh Rivera, both advancing on a passed ball.

Kei Smith followed with an RBI single on a liner to left field to move Helix to pull the ballclubs even at 5-all.

Williams then followed by a bombing an 0-2 pitch to center field for a two-run double and the lead.

In the seventh, Mission Hills opened with a pair of runners on an error and a walk, but Williams again took over. He posted a strike out, then lazy fly ball pits to Smith in left field, then Angel Watkins in center to close it out.

Scotties reliever Owen Liddell tossed 1.1 perfect innings to gain the victory. Starting pitch Romero Briones lasted 4.2 innings, but all five runs allowed were unearned off the left-hander who allowed out four hits by the Grizzlies.

Gottlieb and Smith led Helix with two hits each; Smith also scored twice

Helix waits for the winner in Saturday’s challenger bracket final between Mission Hills and Bonita Vista. The Barons survived by nipping Brawley, 2-1, in the desert, despite a Wildcats run in the home-half of the seventh.

FYI: Did you know… the historic clock tower in London is not actually named “Big Ben”? It’s named “Elizabeth Tower” for the late Queen Elizabeth II…. Also, Williams is also known as “The Big One: since that is also his uniform number.

Division 2
Grossmont 4,University CIty 3
At University City: The Grossmont Foothillers extended their season by scoring late to nip the host Centurions.

Talk about “Sticks and stones”: The Hillers posted single runs in innings 3-6, off-setting three-run rally by the Cents in the third.

The game-tying run saw Nate McCance slug a solo home run to left in the fifth. For McCance, the second baseman, the blast was his third in five ballgames.

An inning later, a two-out, ground ball by Tyler Holmes was booted, allowing Dom Guerra to score the go-ahead run.

A key highlight was the Hillers bullpen, which tossed five innings of shutout ball.

Reid Barnett and Nathan Clark each allowed just one hit, but the standout was Max Tufugafale.

The senior tossed the final 2.1 frames, facing just seven batters. Tufugafale struck out three Cents batters,walked one (later caught stealing), and did not yield a basehit.

Grossmont (13-18 overall) will host Santa Fe Christian on Saturday at 4 p.m. University City (also 13-18) is eliminated; the Cents haven’t defeated the Hillers since 2005.

Division 4
El Centro-Central11, Foothills Christian 9
At Brighton Field, El Centro: Although it took six innings, Foothills Christian rallied froman early 5-0 deficit to pull even in the sixth inning.

The Spartans then re-gained the lead at 11-8 in the sixth, but the Knights’ second rally came a few inches short.

As reported by the IV Sports Network, Foothills Christian answered with a run, then placed two runners in scoring position with two out, but the team’s best hitter was at the plate.

However, a line drive to the opposite field by “Captain”Jack Morgan caught the webbing of Spartans second base,am David Madero, giving El Centro-Central an 11-9 victory in a CIFSDS Division 4 winners bracket game.

The top batter for the Knights was right fielder Tylor Burrell, who went 3-for-4 with a triple and a double, scoring all three times.

In addition, Trevor Cochrum posted three hits including a double, coming home twice.

ECC (11-17-1) now gets two chances next week to advance to the section championship game. FCHS (19-12) must win Saturday, then defeat the Spartans twice next week to reach the section finale.