EAGLES ADD ON LATE TO CONQUER TITANS

Standing in the on-deck circle in the top of the sixth inning, Granite Hills High’s Kailey Sandoval wondered why Poway intentionally walked dangerous home run hitter Sofia Mujica just ahead of her.

Four pitches later, everyone knew what Sandoval knew.

Sandoval, a sophomore shortstop, lined a bases-emptying double to all but clinch an 8-4 victory Saturday over the Titans to claim the CIF Division II softball championship at UC San Diego.

But it wasn’t until Sandoval’s booming line drive that the issue was decided.

Granite Hills (19-12-1), the No. 4 seed, held a slim 5-4 lead at the time when two walks and the intentional walk to Mujica brought up Sandoval.

“I told myself I had to pull this off,” said Sandoval, who had a single and committed two errors before her booming double. “I had 100 percent confidence in myself to go get more runs.

“That was the best feeling ever when I saw it go to the fence. I know the team was excited for me.”

To reach the finals, the Eagles had to win three games in the losers’ bracket.

Granite Hills began the game with two first-inning runs. One came on a wild pitch, and Kam Flath singled in the other one for a 2-0 lead.

That lasted until the bottom of that same inning when Poway freshman Sophia Burmeister slugged a 3-1 pitch over the fence in dead center for a three-run homer. Junior Autumn Zusman singled in

Granite Hills 8, Poway 4

a fourth run in the inning for a 4-2 Poway lead.

But Granite Hills chased home a pair of unearned runs to tie the game 4-4 in the third and another unearned run in the fifth inning for a 5-4 lead.

The stage belonged to Sandoval, who entered the game hitting .299 with just six RBIS before going 2-for-3.

After that four-run outburst in the first inning, the No. 3 Titans (20-11-1) managed just three singles the rest of the way.

Open Division

Otay Ranch 2, San Marcos 0: Starting pitcher Maya Loper went the distance for the shutout and the CIF championship, but she walked the first two hitters in the bottom of the seventh inning to create some tension at the end.

Loper got a pair of strikeouts and a comebacker to clinch the No. 4 Mustangs’ first title.

Catcher Isabel Cintron’s twoout double in the top of the seventh inning drove in both runs for the Mustangs (22-8) against No. 2 San Marcos (18-9). The win was Otay Ranch’s eighth consecutive.

Pitcher Kelsey Tadlock allowed five hits and three walks while striking out seven for San Marcos, which won the Open crown in 2018.

Division III

Calexico 4, Holtville 2: Shanelle Gascon slugged a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning, breaking a tie and sending Calexico to a victory.

“I always had a vision for this team ever since the seniors were freshmen,” said fourth-year Bulldogs coach Jennifer Lopez. “We laid the foundation four years ago, and these girls all play for the team.”

Calexico (24-7), champions of the Desert League, finished the season with a 10-game win streak to claim the school’s second CIF title in softball.

Calexico scored first in the top of the second inning when Liah Valdez hit a leadoff double to center field and scored on a one-out RBI single by Victoria Vallejo.

Holtville (21-10) tied the score in the bottom of the third on a leadoff home run to deep right field by Kamryn Walker, but Gascon broke the tie one inning later with a solo home run of her own to lead off the fourth.

The Bulldogs added to their lead with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.

Winning pitcher Valeria Ruiz limited the Vikings to one run on seven hits through six innings before Holtville rallied in the seventh for one run on three hits, including an RBI double by Walker. But Ruiz induced an infield groundout for the final out.

The victory was the third for the Bulldogs in four matchups against their desert rivals.

Division IV

Escondido Charter 4, Tri-city Christian 3 (9): In the bottom of the ninth inning, Escondido Charter (23-4) rallied for the winning run on an error, a bunt single, a fielder’s choice and a final error.

Escondido Charter, which averaged 9.2 runs a game this season, had eight hits but scored all its runs in regulation in the first inning. Gionna Mehrtens singled in the first run and Jade Loper’s tworun double made it 3-0.

Pitcher Hailey Alspach allowed five hits for Charter and had seven strikeouts.

Tri-city Christian (18-5) drew even thanks to Bella Black’s runscoring triple and Olivia Hernandez’s two-run inside-the-park homer in the fourth inning.

HAYNE PALMOUR IV FOR THE U-T A Poway player walks off the field as Granite Hills players and coaches celebrate winning CIF Division II softball title.