LA COSTA CANYON HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

On Tuesday morning the North County Times Newspaper Announced that La Costa Canyon's Justin Machado was this year's North County High School Baseball Coach of the Year. On Tuesday afternoon the 2003 Maverick Baseball team exhibited the tremendous mental focus and extra ordinary physical effort to make a coach truly proud of his players. The Mavericks record setting 3-1 win over Eastlake, the second victory in 5 days over the South Bay power house, put La Costa Canyon in to the CIF Division I Championship game for the second time in Coach Machado's seven year career. On Saturday night the Mavericks (32-1) beat Rancho Bernardo 5-4 to win their first CIF Championship. This year Coach Machado was assisted by Rudy Rodriguez, Tim Kechter and Mark Miller. The Maverick baseball program is averaging 23 wins per year and includes 1 CIF Division I Championship, 5 Avocado League Championships, 1 San Diego Lions Tournament - Classic Div. Championship, 5 Falcon/Pirate Tournament Championships, 2 North County Tournament Championships, 7 straight CIF playoff appearances, two CIF Div I Championship games, a CIF record setting 27 wins in arow, a CIF record 32 wins in a single season, a Cal-Hi Sports 2003 Number One ranking in the State, and a Students Sports.com 2003 Number One ranking in the Nation.

On a wet evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium on the campus of San Diego State University the La Costa Canyon Mavericks won their first CIF Championship 5-4 over Rancho Bernardo. In front of a packed house the mavericks showed why they are considered one of the best teams to play in San Diego. Doug Konoske took the mound going seven strong innings allowing 4 runs. The Broncos scored a run in first inning and three in the sixth on a combination of weird plays. One run scored on a double, the next on a pass ball and the third on a controversial balk call. The Mavericks answered every call of the Broncos with runs of their own. In the first Andrew Nacario reached on an error, Joey Burke walked and Chris Fuller sacrificed them over. Nacario eventually scored on a pass ball. In the third the Mavericks got on the board again when Nick Burke walked and was driven in by his brother on a single up the middle. In the fifth the Mavericks answered again when Andrew Nacario scored on Johnny Zepeda's perfectly executed squeeze bunt. In the sixth with the Mavericks trailing by one Mark Whalen, pinch running for Peter Bethea, scored on a wild pitch tying the game. The eighth inning started when Joey Burke was walked, and Chris Fuller singled to left. Michael Scharbarth then hit a swinging bunt down the the third base line which was caught by Lopez and thrown away down the right field line. The throwing error allowed for Joey to score and the Mavericks to win. Drew Logan relieved Konoske in the eighth inning getting out of a bases loaded jam to earn the victory. With the win the Mavericks move to 32-1, and continue their 27 game consecutive win streak. They will finish the year as the #1 team in the state, and #1 in the nation according to StudentSports.com. Final Scores DIV I LA COSTA CANYON 5 RANCHO BERNARDO 4 DIV II EL CAPITAN 5 PATRICK HENRY 4 DIV III UNIVERSITY 2 MISSION BAY 0 DIV IV CHRISTIAN HIGH 2 MARIAN CATHOLIC 1 RECENT DIV I CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES 2002 RBV 6, Rancho Bernardo 0 2001 Rancho Bernardo 6, Poway 2 2000 Rancho Bernardo 1, Vista 0 1999 Rancho Bernardo 8, Helix 2 1998 Granite Hills 6, Grossmont 2 1997 Grossmont 5, La Costa Canyon 3

LOS ANGELES CITY SECTION PLAYOFFS Semi Finals - 6/6/03 Chatsworth 4 Banning 2 Carson 1 Roosevelt 0 Quarter Finals - 6/4/03 Chatsworth 2 Granada Hills Kennedy 0 Carson 8 El Camino Real 7 Prior Round Chatsworth 12 Fremont 0 (5 Inn) El Camino Real 6 San Pedro 1 Chatsworth is ranked 1-2 and 2-1, with La Costa Canyon depending on which poll it is. SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION I PLAYOFFS Valley View 3 Servite 1 Santa Margarita 11 Capistrano Valley 5 Marina 4 Mater Dei 3 Arlington 4 Mission Viejo 1

Thanks to some incredible defensive plays and clutch hitting the Mavericks were able to defeat Eastlake 3-1. With the victory the Mavericks move to Saturdays Championship game at Tony Gwynn Stadium. In the sixth inning Eastlake loaded the bases with one out. The next hitter laced a shot down the right field line, one that looked like extra bases. Nick Burke came from no where to make a spectacular diving catch, only allowing the runner on third to advance. The next batter popped out and the Mavericks were able to maintain their lead. Chris Fuller was the clutch hitter for the Mavericks today as he went 3-3 with two RBI's. Both RBI's came with two outs and men in scoring position. On the mound the Mavericks were led by a combination of pitchers in Kenney and Logan. Michael Kenney started the game pitching five great innings. He was relieved by Drew Logan in the sixth. Logan finished the Titans in the seventh for the save. Quote of the Day - Eastlake Coach Dave Gonzalez - "That was one of the top 10 catches I've ever seen in a high school game."

With their second victory over Eastlake on Tuesday the Mavericks (31-1) set a new all time San Diego Section CIF Record for 26 consecutive wins and tied another CIF record for the most wins in a single season (31) which was set last year by Montgomery.