The Mission Bay High baseball team swept Cathedral Catholic to claim the right to call themselves Western League champions.
In the final 6-5 victory, pitcher Jesse Moore delivered a, “gem” according to head coach Greg Farrar.
“Jesse had a great outing, holding them in the final innings. He did his part, big-time, to help us beat Cathedral.”
Moore had seven strikeouts while having an equally great day at the plate ” he batted 2 for 4 with a solo home run in the second inning.
The Buccaneers went up 4-0, but Cathedral punched through for a five-run fourth. Then the Bucs rallied with two more runs in the fifth. Mario Arellano delivered the game-winning RBI.
The win completed regular-season play and gave the Bucs a 20-10 record, 9-3 in league play. Cathedral finished 23-8 (7-5) while Coronado was 21-8 (9-3) for a share of the league title.
On Sunday afternoon, the Buccaneer family of players at all levels gathered at the varsity field for their annual awards picnic.
Moore was honored as the varsity team MVP.
“Jesse had a remarkable season,” Farrar said. “In addition to clinching the Western League championship, he had a 1.96 ERA and batted .433 this season with an on-base percentage of .551.”
Varsity awards presented after the potluck luncheon also included Defensive MVP to shortstop Brian Segun, Offensive MVP to outfielder/pitcher Rob Santos and Pitching MVP to Francisco Valdez. Most Improved awards went to sophomore right fielder Eric ‘The Arm’ Espinosa and Hiram Castillo.
Other seniors on the varsity squad that earned a “league champ” patch for their varsity jackets include catcher Nick Croce, center fielder Evan Taylor and second baseman Arellano.
The junior varsity players honored for their outstanding play included Team MVP Nick Qunitero, Offensive MVP Gabe Aranda, Defensive MVP Michael Duran, Pitching MVP Mike Austin and Most Improved Mark Otero.
The playoff seedings were determined on Saturday, May 17. The Bucs were seeded third behind Montgomery at No. 2 and El Capitan at No. 1.
El Cap is ranked No. 7 in the state according to Max-Prep sports. La Jolla is seeded 4th.
CIF playoffs begin this week. The Bucs will likely have a home game Friday, May 23, at 3:30 p.m. in the double-elimination playoffs.
Division III games will be played through May 31, when the championship game will be played at 1 p.m. in the SDSU stadium.