Granite Hills stops Birmingham, 6-4, to complete Lions sweep

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: April 3, 2026

2026 EAST COUNTY PREP BASE BALL

East County Sports.com

Thurs., Apr. 2
Lions Tournament
Premiere/Open Division
Granite Hills7, Birmingham (Lake Balb oa) 5
At Granite Hills: The Eagles (11-3 overall) completed a 4-game sweep in the top division of the annual Lions Tournament by stopping Birmingham Patriots.

Birmingham(13-4)enter the final round by out-scoring a trio of CIF-San Diego Section opponents, 23-2.

Granite Hills took the lead for keeps in the third inning.

Moments after Birmingham pulled even on a sacrifice fly and a solo homer, the Eagles snapped the 2-all deadlock on an RBI double by senior catcher Jake Ervin (game-winning RBI).

Local Scoreboards – Day 4

Granite Hills 6, Birmingham 4
Christian 9, Santana 1
Monte Vista 7, San Pedro 6 (walk-off)
Patrick Henry 8, El Camino Real 3
La Jolla 8, Ramona 5
Paloma Valley 12, Grossmont 3
El Cajon Valley at Liberty Charter (we believe this game was canceled)

Game Stories

Patrick Henry 8, El Camino Real 3
At San Carlos: There are parallels to Abraham Lincoln’s “Four score and seven years ago” dedication speech from a train’s caboose in 1863.

Every time El Camino Real scored, Patrick Henry would answer with “four scores.”

Included was a 4-run rally in the sixth inning to turn a 4-3 nail-biter into a comfortable triumph for the Patriots (8-5 overall) over the Royals (12-6) from the San Fernando Valley. Thus

The Pats complete Lions Tournament competition on 3-game winning streak, out-scoring their opponents by a 32-8 count heading into next week’s Boras Classic.

Center fielder NAME Mastman started the late rally with an RBI single.

Lukas Oquendo the shortstop, later added a 2-run single, followed by a run-scoring infield basehit by pinch-hitter Lukas Waite/

ECR took a 2-0 lead on an error and a passed ball, but Henry eventually got even on an RBI single from Tyson Bobo.

Sal Gagliano gained the victory with a complete-game 4-hitter. Only one run was earned, scoring on a sacrifice fly.

Monte Vista 7, San Pedro 6 (walk-off)
At Spring Valley: There is an old baseball adage, “take one for the team.” That’s exactly what Dylan Bryce did.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, Bryce was nailed by a pitch. forcing home Reece Williams with the winning, walk-off run in a 7-6 victory for the Monarchs over the San Pedro Pirates.

Monte Vista (8-8 overall) finished the Lions Tournament with a split of its four contests, waiting for the Grossmont Valley League opener by hosting WestHills (1-9) on Apr. 14.

With every other GVL ballclub holding a record below .500, the Monarchs are the favorites to win a league title for the first time since 1997.

Other Monte Vista runs were produced Adraib Gutierrez (sac fly), Tanner Meyer (single), and Ben Kurtz (single),

Christian 9, Santana 1
At the green field on Greenfield Drive: The visiting Sultans scored on their first trip to the played, but the Patriots responded with nine answered runs for the decision.

Santana opened with an RBI single from designated hitter Xander Bennett. However, Christian pitching allowed just three additional hits to gain the victory.

The Patriots, playing their fourth game in as many days, squeezed everyone from the pitching staff utilizing five different arms, with senior Jackson Oman earning the win.

The Pats RBO ;leader was once again Xander Molina with three, followed by older brother Benji Molina (2). They combined to bat 3-for-4 before the bench was cleared.