SMALLER LIONS TOURNEY ON TAP
For 69 years, the Lions Tournament was the premier high school baseball event in San Diego, one of the best tournaments in the country.
Then the coronavirus hit and the 70th edition of the tournament that had grown to 144 teams was wiped out in 2020.
This week, the 70th annual Lions Tournament gets a replay, but in a somewhat reduced format.
Instead of 10 divisions and 144 teams from all over the country with semifinal and finals on Thursday, the tournament will have 88 teams, with 79 from San Diego County, six from Imperial County and three from Riverside County.
“Not playing last year was a major disappointment,” said Judge Peter Gallagher, director of the Lions Tournament. “We tried everything to play, but it just didn’t work.
“We were determined to play again this season. The field is reduced. The out-oftown teams are almost nil, but we have a great local field, all the top teams.”
Santana (2-1), Torrey Pines (2-1), Madison (1-2), Eastlake (3-0), Granite Hills (2-0), Carlsbad (1-1), Rancho Bernardo (2-0), Grossmont (3-0), Cathedral Catholic (1-1), San Marcos (2-0), Bonita Vista (2-0), Helix (1-2), La Jolla Country Day (1-2), Poway (0-2), La Costa Canyon (3-0) and Temecula Chaparral (3-1) make up the 16-team Dennis Pugh Open/ Classic Division.
The Lions Tournament has always run Monday through Wednesday of Easter Week with semifinals and finals on Thursday.
This year, however, high school teams aren’t allowed to play two games in the same day, and no more than two teams can play at one site.
So Gallagher came up with a plan that splits the large divisions into four, four-team brackets.
Instead of bracket winners playing a semifinal with the right to advance to the finals, the Bracket A winner will play Bracket B in a championship game while the Bracket C winner will play Bracket D in another final.
“It’s not ideal but it’s close to what we had traditionally done,” Gallagher said.
“And when it’s all done, it’s still high school baseball at its best, it’s still the Lions Tournament.”