California: Rancho Bernardo's Haynal Hits Historic Cycle

Brad Haynal, Rancho Bernardo

Photo By Kirt Winter

This guy is going places in the future.

Haynal had a solid three games last week as he batted .636 (7-for-11) and became the first player in the Broncos’ 19-year history to hit for the cycle in Rancho Bernardo’s 20-3 rout of No. 4 ranked Rancho Buena Vista.

More than half of Haynal’s 26 hits have been of the extra-base variety, including six home runs. He also has seven doubles and two triples to go with a .426 batting average (26-for-61). He driven in 18 runs and scored 19 runs.

Defensively, Haynal is sound. He blocks pitches in the dirt, make base-runners honest with his robust throwing arm and calls a smart game.

Lately, however, Haynal has been more satisfied with his hitting.

"Some days the ball looks as big as a balloon,” Haynal told the North County Times. “This was just one of those days.''

Haynal tripled in the first inning, grounded out in the second, reached on an error in the third, doubled in two runs in the fourth and singled in the sixth inning to set the stage for his trump card in the seventh inning.

He was a bit lucky in this final at-bat, slashing a single to center field that took a high hop over the head of the RBV defender and rolled to the fence for a two-run, inside-the-park homer. If for nothing else, this blow gave Haynal a chance to exhibit speed uncommon for those who work behind the plate.

More Baseball: Marina slugger hits gusher against Fountain Valley

One has to wonder why Fountain Valley continued to pitch to Marina senior J.J. Baccari on April 15. He was belting home runs faster than the IRS was collecting taxes. The senior third baseman hammered four home runs, scored five runs and logged nine RBI in leading his team to a 16-4 victory.

El Camino upsets SDSCIF’s top-ranked Vista

Junior Daniel Brooks drove in five runs with a single and a home run to help El Camino (9-8) snap top-ranked Vista’s 17-game winning streak with an 8-3 upset victory. El Camino starter Matt Swilley held Vista (17-2) to six hits and one earned run over six innings while striking out nine. The hard-throwing right-hander touched 94 mph and was consistently hitting 92.
 
San Ysidro infielder bats .889

San Ysidro junior shortstop Ismael Pena went 8-for-9 with four doubles, two triples and 4 RBI as the Cougars clobbered Olympian 15-1 and 9-3. Pena was 5-for-5 in the first meeting between the two SDSCIF rivals.

Softball: Horizon’s Coleman is next to perfect

Junior Cassidy Coleman of Horizon Christian has been about as close to perfect as a pitcher can be, allowing just one earned run in 127 2/3 innings for an ERA of 0.05. She has 305 strikeouts over that span along with a 19-0 record.

Other Top Performances

— Santana junior right-hander Kyle Hayes picked up two wins and a save in three pitching appearances. He struck out 11 and did not allow an earned run in 9 1/3 innings. He also was 5-for-11 with three doubles and four RBI.   

—  Chelsea Kunin’s grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning propelled La Costa Canyon to a 5-2 upset  of Poway (17-3), the No. 1-ranked softball team in the SDSCIF.

— Joe Cooks of Vista Mission Hills recorded the second fastest time in the state this year when he burned to a 10.55 to win at the Valley Center Jaguar Invitational. He also won the 200 in 21.73.

— Vista junior Danielle Littleton darted to a section-leading time of 14.48 seconds in the 10-meter intermediate hurdles, which is No. 5 on the all-time list and a Valley Center Jaguar Invitational meet record.

—  Ryan Boeger had three hits – including a grand slam – and five RBI in leading Redlands East Valley to a 12-2 upset of nationally-ranked Yucaipa.

—  La Jolla senior Alyssa Taylor clubbed two home runs in a 20-1 softball victory over Kearny. Taylor leads the SDSCIF with nine home runs.

—  Kaili Anderson of San Diego went 3-for-4 with two triples, a home run, two runs and five RBI as the Cavers outslugged Hoover 12-10 in a SDSCIF softball game.

— Junior Rebecca Sandoval of Mar Vista was 3-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI in the Mariners’ 12-1 South Bay League romp over Sweetwater.

—  Erica Prentice pitched a complete-game shutout, allowed one hit and struck out 15 in Rim of the World’s 2-0 softball win over Serrano.

— The CIF-Southern Section Division V Covina softball Saints have outscored their last seven opponents, 90-6.

Coming Attractions

The Metro Conference Tournament baseball championship will take place later than normal this year as it will be held Saturday, May 2 at Bonita Vista at 10:30.

On the horizon is the five-game regular season set at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. On Friday, May 8 Cathedral Catholic will face rival St. Augustine at 4 and Vista takes on Carlsbad at 7. On Saturday, May 9, the lineup is as follows: Canyon Crest vs. Francis Parker at 10; Bonita Vista vs. Chula Vista at 1; and Central Union vs. El Centro Southwest at 4.

This is the second year the Padres have welcomed the preps into their home ballpark.

Dickens Dealings

Baseball teams in the SDSCIF have taken steps to make sure that quality cannot dominate quantity.

That is, league schedules are divided into two- and three-game series so as to deny ballclubs with one blue-chip pitcher from using their ace exclusively against their primary rivals.

First came the 10-inning, three appearance rules, which were designed to keep coaches from overworking one pitcher to gain the nod in pivotal games. In the past three seasons, the coaches have done more to force teams worthy of championship status to earn the crown by creating a variety of series combinations.

The North County Conference’s Avocado League adopted a three-day format for its six-team league. In other words, all teams will meet in a three-game series over a six-day stretch. No saving your ace or stacking your rotation for the future. It’s put up, or shut up.

It’s a bit more creative in that conference’s Palomar League. The three-game series is still the ticket, but there are differences. The twist here is one week the teams will play a single game on Wednesday and a doubleheader on Saturday. That should make for some long nights of planning for the nit-picking coaches.

Word out of North County is changes in this format may be forthcoming. Wow! When will they ever be satisfied?

In the East San Diego County Grossmont Conference they too are serious about series. The Grossmont South League begins the 15-game campaign with a doubleheader and then plays game three in that series a couple of weeks later.

Clearly this not as stringent as what the North County faces. East County teams can deal their ace as a starter in two of the three games in the series.

The Metro Conference’s South Bay and Mesa Leagues, as well as the City Conference, follow a format similar to that of the Grossmont Conference, except the South and City play only a home-and-home two-game series due to the expanded size of their leagues.

Give coaches credit for trying to create a level playing ground. But no matter what they do, somebody is always going to be unhappy.