San Diego Prep Baseball : Hansel Drives in Five to Lead Granite Hills, 10-4

Catcher Damon Hansel hit his 10th home run of the season and drove in five runs Monday to lead second-ranked Granite Hills to a 10-4 victory over El Capitan (3-6, 5-13) and give the Eagles (8-1, 16-3) sole possession of first place in the Grossmont Leauge, a half-game ahead of idle Valhalla.

Aaron Petrich (5-0) pitched a complete game for Granite Hills, which will face the second-place Norsemen (7-1, 15-2, ranked fourth in the county) in a showdown for first place Wednesday at Valhalla.

“I’m very happy to have had Aaron go seven innings,” Granite Hills Coach Gordon Thompson said. “Now, everybody should be rested for Wednesday.”

Earlier this season, Valhalla defeated Granite Hills, 6-4, on Tony Lozinski’s two-out, three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning.

“There’s no question that will be a big game for us,” Thompson said. “We remember what happened last time and we’d like to even things up. Whenever the two top teams in the league go at it, both are going to give it everything they’ve got.”

In other Grossmont League action:

Grossmont 3, Helix 0--Donnie Angotti slugged a two-run triple off reliever Willie Davis in the top of the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie and help the Foothillers (4-5, 8-10) upend the Highlanders (5-4, 12-7) for the second time this season at Helix. Dave Richards went all the way to get the win for Grossmont, which snapped a five-game losing streak. Meanwhile, the loss hurt Helix’s playoff chances, dropping the fourth-place Highlanders two games behind third-place Santana.

Santana 5, Monte Vista 4--The Sultans’ defense allowed Monte Vista four unearned runs but Jeff Barry (6-2) pitched a three-hitter to help the sixth-ranked defending San Diego Section 3-A champions (7-2, 14-5) defeat the Monarchs (2-7, 5-12) at Monte Vista and move within a half-game of Valhalla for the league’s final playoff spot.

El Cajon 5, Mount Miguel 4--Tim Bryant’s third home run of the year, a three-run shot, climaxed a four-run rally in the top of the sixth inning and helped the Braves (2-7, 3-11) defeat the Matadors (2-7, 5-13) at Mount Miguel and snap a seven-game losing streak. Both of El Cajon’s league wins are against Mount Miguel.