San Diego Union-Tribune

EAGLES STAY CALM, WIN

- BY JOHN MAFFEI john.maffei@sduniontri­bune.com

LA MESA

Three batters into the bottom of the first inning, junior right-hander Nico Tomasello had surrendere­d a three-run homer and a shocked Granite Hills team was trailing Helix in a first-place Grossmont Hills League showdown.

But Tomasello settled down, struck out the next four hitters, No. 2-ranked Granite Hills played Home Run Derby, Helix played fast and loose on defense and the Eagles romped to a 10-3 win, clinching their first league championsh­ip in five years.

With one league game remaining, the victory more than likely keeps Granite Hills (20-4, 10-1) as the No. 1 seed in the Open Division playoff Power Rankings.

Helix (14-9, 6-3), which has three games to play, is in a battle with La Costa Canyon, Madison, Torrey Pines and Eastlake for one of the last three spots in the eightteam double-eliminatio­n Open Division.

Helix greeted Tomasello with an infield single, a walk and a three-run homer by Ben Haar, his eighth of the year. He now has 35 RBIs.

“I made a bad pitch, and he got hold of it,” said Tomasello, who is now 5-1 on the season. “I threw him a slider down and in, and he didn’t miss it.

“But there was a lot of game left. I stayed focused, knew I had a great defense behind me, was confident we’d score some runs.

“I had to give my team a chance to win.”

Tomasello allowed just one hit after the first inning. He walked two, struck out nine and retired the last 12 Highlander­s.

“Nico really battled,” said Granite Hills

Granite Hills 10, Helix 3

coach James Davis. “After those first three hitters, he pitched well.

“Our league is really tough (also boasting No. 3 Santana, Steele Canyon and Grossmont). So to win this thing is quite an accomplish­ment.”

Granite Hills still trailed 3-0 after three innings, then the Eagles took flight, scoring four in the fourth with Camden Sos, Ethan McNish-Heider, Cody Macias and Hudson Beamon driving in runs.

Granite Hills put the game away in the sixth, thanks to a pair of Helix errors and two-run homers by Brenden Lewis and Sos.

“All the work since last season has paid off,” Sos said. “While other teams were relaxing, we kept working, kept grinding.

“This team has a great work ethic. We have great chemistry.

“Today, there was no panic. We trusted Nico would get it together, and he did.”

Granite Hills, which has won five in a row, now has 23 homers on the season.

Helix, which had a six-game winning streak snapped, has 27 homers.

“We didn’t play well today, but I think we’re an Open Division team,” said Helix coach Cole Holland. “Would it be better to be the top seed in Division I?

“No. This team wants to play in the Open Division, play against the best teams in the county.

“We have three games left (next week against Santana, Steele Canyon and Grossmont).

“We’ll put this one behind us and see what happens next week.”

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