EAGLES PROVE BEST IN HILLTOP TOURNEY

Winning the championship of the 40th annual Hilltop Baseball Tournament was a special moment for Granite Hills High coach James Davis.

“John Baumgarten started this tournament, and it has grown into one of the best around, a tournament that teams want to play in,” Davis said of the longtime Hilltop coach, who is in the hospital, suffering from stomach cancer.

“John is such a class act, loved Hilltop. I’m honored to win this tournament any time, but especially this season.”

Granite Hills scored all its runs with two outs in edging La Costa Canyon (8-2) 5-4 Saturday at Hilltop’s John Baumgarten Field.

The Eagles (6-3) beat a tournament field that included Bonita Vista, Cathedral Catholic, Santana, Rancho Buena Vista, Poway and host Hilltop.

Granite Hills overcame several mental and physical errors with clutch hitting.

DH Ethan Heider had a twoout, two-run single in the second inning.

Heider and Cody Macias had two-out RBI singles in the fourth, and Austin Smith was hit with a pitch with the bases loaded and two out in the sixth to force in a run.

“La Costa Canyon is a real good team, so this is a big win,” Heider said. “They beat us 3-1 earlier in the tournament, so we knew we could play with them.

“I’m not the quickest guy on the field, so driving in runs is what I do. So, yes, it feels good to contribute.”

Heider now has seven RBIS in eight games.

Granite Hills second baseman Alex Gibaud scored three times, reaching on a walk, a ringing twoout double in the fourth and an error.

Plus, he made a nice play on Christian Kielor’s bid for a base hit to open the seventh inning.

The defensive gem was followed by a long home run by Jake Woltman that pulled LCC within a run.

“Defensive plays just happen,” Gibaud said. “It’s just instincts.

“But it was huge to get the first out in the seventh inning.”

La Costa Canyon, which has played near-flawless defense the entire season, made three errors Saturday, leading to unearned runs in the second and sixth innings.

“We were a little sloppy in the field and just couldn’t seem to get the third out in an inning,” said LCC coach Justin Machado, whose team won a section of the Lions Tournament Classic/premier Division. We’ve played a lot of tough teams and have been in a lot of close games. And Monday we start the North County Tournament.”