2023 San Diego Section baseball championships: La Costa Canyon, Santana win titles on Friday night

La Costa Canyon became the first team to repeat as back-to-back San Diego Section Open Division champions.

Following two weeks of playoff baseball games across the San Diego Section, all six divisions will settle their brackets with championship games spread across three college sites in San Diego this weekend.

THURSDAY (at University of San Diego)

Division 2

Sage Creek 5, Cathedral Catholic 0

Sage Creek finished off their improbable run through the San Diego Section Division 2 playoffs on Thursday night, shutting out two-seed Cathedral Catholic in the championship game at University of San Diego's Fowler Park.

The Bobcats were forced to play a play-in game to make the playoffs and had to play a road elimination game the next day to enter the double-elimination portion of the bracket. They played a total of seven games in 11 days, winning six of them to capture their second CIF baseball title in school history.

Senior Luke Caruso delivered his best performance on the mound of the season, allowing four hits over seven shutout innings.

- Watch Caruso's postgame interview here.

FRIDAY (at San Diego State)

Division 1

Santana 8, Patrick Henry 0

Santana captured their first CIF baseball championship since 1994, shutting out Patrick Henry 8-0. Senior left-handed pitcher Destin Allen-Fox pitched seven innings, allowing five hits to earn his 10th win of the season.

"It's special, it's an honor to pitch for Santana," Allen-Fox said.

The Sultans opened the scoring on a first inning error and added four runs in the third inning and three runs in the fifth inning. Allen-Fox's twin brother Zander reached base three times, scoring two runs while stealing his fourth base of the season.

Santana will open the Southern California regional playoffs on Monday.

Open Division

La Costa Canyon 5, Eastlake 2

Tied at two with a runner on second base and two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Eastlake elected to intentionally walk La Costa Canyon right fielder Kalen Applefield. Senior designated hitter Hayden Kline responded by blasting a first pitch fastball over the left field wall for a three-run home run that gave the Mavericks a 5-2 lead.

"I got blessed to be put in that position," Kline said. "Gotta hit the ball hard, put it in play and get those guys in."

LSU commit Stunner Gonzales started for La Costa Canyon and pitched 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits. Senior Gabe Camacho entered in relief, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings. Camacho started the rally for the Mavericks in the fifth inning with a booming double off the right field wall.

Junior right-handed pitcher Cooper Walls took over on the mound in the seventh inning and sealed the win by striking out Eastlake catcher Nico Libed to end the game.

- Gabe Camacho discusses winning back-to-back San Diego Section Open Division titles. Watch the interview here.

SATURDAY (at UC-San Diego)

Division 3

Fallbrook 2, Maranatha Christian 1

The Warriors and Eagles were locked in a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning before a Jace Cervantes bunt single scored Anthony Thomas to give Fallbrook a 2-1 lead.

The Warriors combined to hold Maranatha to four hits, retiring each of the final 12 batters that the Eagles sent to the plate. Junior Tyler Allegro started on the mound for Fallbrook and struck out eight batters during his five innings. Senior Tanyon Smith took over in the sixth inning and struck out four batters during his two perfect innings.

The victory was the first CIF baseball championship for Fallbrook High School which has been in existence for more than 100 years.

Division 4

Calexico 12, Bishop's 4

Bishop's jumped ahead with two first inning runs but struggled defensively as the game went on, committing seven errors. Calexico took advantage, scoring 12 unanswered runs from the second through sixth innings to jump ahead of the Knights.

Bishop's scored a run in each of the final two innings but were unable to get any closer, resulting in the first CIF baseball title in Calexico history.

Division 5

Lincoln 7, St. Joseph Academy 4

Lincoln led 3-2 after four innings on Saturday afternoon before sophomore Julio Ojeda launched a grand slam to put the Hornets up by five runs.

St. Joseph Academy rallied in the final inning with two outs, scoring two runs but were unable to get any close. The CIF title is the first in school history for Lincoln.