Sweetwater Valley Little League keeps up winning ways

The Sweetwater Valley Little League 11U all-stars are one win away from winning this year’s Southern California state championship while their older counterparts, the SVLL 12I squad, is one win away from advancing to the state final and a potential trip to the Little League West Region tournament in San Bernardino.

It’s a big deal for the California District 42 and California Section 7 champions looking to add yet another banner to their collection this summer.

The SVLL 11s will meet one of three teams still in the hint to make it to Saturday’s state championship game hosted by Mira Mesa Little League. Game time is 10 a.m. If necessary, a double-elimination replay would be played the following day, also at 10 a.m.

Golden Hill (District 56) and Claremont (District 20) are scheduled to meet in Thursday’s challenger bracket elimination game at 5 p.m. The winner will take on San Carlos (District 33) in Friday’s challenger bracket final.

Friday’s winner will advance to Saturday’s championship final to close out tournament play.

Sweetwater Valley defeated San Carlos, 13-5, in Wednesday’s winners bracket final.

A bit of history is in the making. Sweetwater Valley won last year’s 10U state title. The Bonita bunch (12-1 so far in 2026 all-star play) is thus searching to become intrepid back-to-back Little League state champions.

Not an easy task with teams populating 39 individual districts and 10 sections in the 11U division in Southern California.

But so far the District 42 champs have looked good on the diamond with a 4-0 showing at the state level, inclusive of a 10-0 win over Santa Margarita (District 68) on Thursday, 9-2 win over Claremont (District 20) on Saturday, 10-0 win over Golden Hill (District 56) on Sunday and the most recent eight-run decision over San Carlos.

Also on tap is a potential all-San Diego County state final should San Carlos emerge victorious in Friday’s challenger bracket final.

The SVLL 12s will need to wait until Friday to see if they qualify for Sunday’s championship game at the hallowed Al Houghton Little League complex in toasty San Bernardino.

Sweetwater Valley defeated Encino (District 40) in a tight 2-1 matchup on Tuesday to advance to Thursday’s scheduled division winners bracket final against Glendora American (District 20), which had defeated Scripps Ranch (District 32) in Tuesday’s other semifinal matchup.

Tuesday’s losing teams were originally scheduled to duel it out in an elimination game on Wednesday. Encino remained alive with a 7-0 win over Golden Hill (District 56). But the Scripps Ranch-Vineyard (District 71) game was instead moved to Thursday (6:30 p.m.), necessitating a winner to meet Encino in a rescheduled elimination game on Friday (6:30 p.m.) prior to Saturday’s rescheduled challenger bracket final (11 a.m.)

Saturday’s winner gets no break in the schedule with a quick trip the next day to toasty San Bernardino for a 4:30 p.m. start time. If a second championship game is required in the double-elimination format, it would be played later that evening on site at 7 p.m.

That’s a lot of games in a row in potentially 100-degree weather. Only the strong will survive.

Sweetwater Valley is 3-0 in tourney play while Glendora American is 2-0. Overall, the SVLL 12s carry a 10-1 record into Friday’s winners bracket contest.

Meanwhile, Santee National Little League is hosting the 10U state tournament, also in warm weather in East County. Two games are scheduled for Thursday: an elimination game beween Point Loma (District 32) and Huntington Valley (District 62) at 5 p.m. and the winners bracket final between Encino (District 40) and East Hills (District 56) at 6 p.m.

The Point Loma-Huntington Valley winner will meet the Encino-East Hills loser in Friday’s challenger bracket final (6 p.m.).

Thursday’s Encino-East Hills winner advances to Saturday’s championship game at 11 a.m. against the winner of Friday’s losers bracket semifinal. If a double-elimination game is required, it would be played Sunday at 11 a.m.

California District 41 champion Fletcher Hills, the representative from California Section 7, wrapped up play at 2-2 following Wednesday’s 6-5 setback to Huntington Valley (District 62). Fletcher Hills opened the tournament in promising fashion with a 7-2 win over Fontana Community (District 71) and 2-1 victory over Temecula (District 28).

But the East County champions could not maintain their momentum with a 6-0 loss to Encino on Tuesday.

Point Loma defeated Claremont (District 20), 4-3, on Wednesday to remain in contention with a 3-1 tourney record.

Encino and East Hills are both 2-0 entering Thursday’s matchup.