Metro handballers named to San Diego Section baseball all-star game

The San Diego Padres will host their annual High School Baseball All-Star Night Wednesday, June 25, at Petco Park. The event tips off at 5 p.m. with a home run derby following the Padres-Washington Nationals regularly scheduled MLB contest that starts at 1:10 p.m.

Following the home run derby, the all-star game pitting East vs. West prep squads will hit the diamond.

The East roster includes two players each from Eastlake High School (centerfielder Angel Laya, pitcher Nick Romero) and San Ysidro High School (infielder Axel Reyes, catcher/outfielder Armann Robles) and one player from Mater Dei Catholic High School (outfielder Joey Castillo).

Laya hit 0.326 with 18 RBI and five home runs while Romero fashioned an 8-5 record with a 1.67 earned-run average and 108 strikeouts in 75.2 innings.

Reyes hit 0.333 with 19 RBI and two home runs while Robles batted 0.326 with 25 RBI and three home runs.

Castillo hit 0.361 with 20 RBI and four home runs.

Both Eastlake (Open Division) and San Ysidro (Division II) recently completed their seasons deep in the San Diego Section playoffs.

San Ysidro finished runner-up in its division while Eastlake advanced to the semifinals.

The East and West rosters each feature 24 players from a total of 32 schools.

The East roster is top-heavy with four players from Open Division champion Granite Hills. The Eagles will be represented by pitcher Luke Bailey, third baseman Tommy Entreken, shortstop/pitcher Brenden Lewis and centerfielder Trevor Smith.

Entrekin batted a cool 0.429 with 39 RBI and seven home runs while Smith hit 0.395 with 20 RBI and four home runs. Lewis averaged 0.373 with 26 RBI and eight home runs while posting a 7-0 pitching record with a 1.50 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 56 innings. Bailey finished 12-0 on the hill with a 1.03 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 68 innings.

Poway (infielder/outfielders Parker Smith and Trenton Uyeda) and Rancho Bernardo (infielder/outfielder Hugo Gonzalez, right fielder Brady Strachan) each have two players named to the East squad, which includes 17 schools.

Also named to the 2025 East squad all-star roster are Calexico shortstop Randy Baez, Patrick Henry catcher/outfielder Ian Brooke, Brawley outfielder Sergio Garcia, West Hills catcher Joey Monetti, El Centro Southwest shortstop/pitcher Cole Redden, Scripps Ranch pitcher Jake Sakurauchi, San Pasqual pitcher/shortstop Evan Seneres, Helix pitcher/infielder Antoin Simpson, Classical Academy third baseman/pitcher Aidan Suitor, Imperial pitcher Carter Tucker and Valhalla catcher Mace Wheeler.

East County has seven representatives on the roster.

Wheeler blasted opposing pitchers with a Herculean 0.493 average to go with 22 RBI and six home runs.

Monetti hit 0.429 with 26 RBI and four home runs while Simpson batted 0.345 with 26 RBI and four home runs while notching a 1-2 record with a 2.07 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 23.2 innings in 12 pitching appearances.

Western exposure
Coronado (infielder Patch Moore and pitchers Mateo Villanueva and Taylor Werth), San Marcos (shortstop Max Farrell, pitcher Carter Tsai, catcher Grayson Wren) and Madison (pitcher Jeremiah Jennings, outfielder Jack O’Toole, first baseman Leo Wilderman) each topped the West roster with three players apiece.

St. Augustine (pitcher Grayson Boles, shortstop pitcher Tyler Wick), University City (first baseman/outfielder A.J. Curry, infielder/outfielder Jayden Parker) and Torrey Pines (catcher Dolan Maher, pitcher Brody Martin-Grudzielanek) each had two players selected to the West roster.

Also rostered on the West team are Point Loma outfielder/pitcher Phoenix Brant, La Jolla infielder/outfielder Hank Hansen, Bishop’s pitcher/shortstop Clyde Kates, Mt. Carmel catcher Bryce Miller, La Costa Canyon pitcher Logan Mosman, El Camino pitcher Zane Nordquist, La Jolla Country Day centerfielder/pitcher Jackson Norum, Del Norte infielder/outfielder Liam O’Day and Sage Creek pitcher/first baseman Elijah Stephens).

St. Augustine earned the No. 5 seed in the Open Division playoffs and advanced to the semifinals while San Marcos received the No. 2 seed in the division and advanced three rounds deep into the playoffs.

Torrey Pines received the No. 4 seed in the Division I playoffs and advanced to the semifinals while Coronado, the No. 1 seed in the Division II field, also made it as far as the semifinals. University City defeated Calexico to win the Division III section title.

CIF playoffs
The Metro Conference advanced two teams to the section finals — San Ysidro in Division II and Otay Ranch in Division IV. Both teams recorded runner-up finishes after coughing up leads.

San Ysidro (21-13) received the No. 7 seed in the Division II playoffs and upset No. 2 Madison and No. 6 San Pasqual to reach the division final played May 30 at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Cougars, the second-place finisher in the Metro-Mesa League regular season standings, met No. 5 Mt. Carmel (23-13) in the division championship game.

San Ysidro defeated 10^th-seeded Classical Academy, 11-7, in the opening round of the playoffs before handing the second-seeded Warhawks (22-8) at 7-4 defeat in the second round. The Cougars promptly defeated sixth-seeded San Pasqual, 8-1, in the next round. However, the Golden Eagles (19-14) remained alive with a 3-2 win over El Camino (17-14) to force a double-elimination game against San Ysidro.

San Pasqual edged the Cougars, 4-3, to force another double-elimination game, this time won 4-2 by the South County visitors. San Ysidro played three consecutive road games in Escondido against the Golden Eagles, plus a fourth road game at Madison.

Mt. Carmel recovered from an early 3-2 deficit to end San Ysidro’s championship hopes with a 7-3 victory. The Sundevils would go on to Division III Southern California regional championship game against University City, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Centurions (23-12).