San Diego Prep Baseball : Tatum, Franco Combine for 7 HRs; Santana Wins, 23-3

Santana High School put on a record-breaking home run show Friday in beating El Cajon, 23-3, and tying Granite Hills for the Grossmont League baseball title.

The eighth-ranked Sultans (13-3, 20-6) hit a San Diego Section record nine home runs against the Braves (2-14, 3-19). Jim Tatum led the way with four homers, and Jim Franco added three. Both players broke the former mark of two home runs in a game.

Santana’s victory, combined with second-ranked Granite Hills’ 2-1 loss to Grossmont, meant the Sultans and Eagles finished as co-champions.

Franco said a friendly home run rivalry developed between him and Tatum this spring.

“When Tatum hit his first home run, it tied us at seven for the season,” Franco said. “He said, ‘Now we’re tied,’ but I told him I hadn’t hit one yet. Then I hit one and it put me one up. Then he hit one and I hit one. When he hit two more to go up four to two, I was out of it.”

Tatum and Franco wound up the season with 10 home runs apiece. Rob Wilkerson and Dale Henson also had homers for Santana.

Also in the Grossmont League:

Grossmont 2, Granite Hills 1--The Eagles (13-3, 21-5), who had a two-game lead on second-place Santana entering the final three games of the regular season, lost to the visiting Foothillers (7-8, 11-13).

Helix 17, Mt. Miguel 2--The Highlanders (10-6, 17-9) hit four home runs and Willie Davis (8-5) pitched a three-hitter in a rout of the Matadors (6-10, 9-16) at Mt. Miguel. Neil Hall led the way for Helix with two home runs, and Tony Nobiensky and Jackie Schniepp also had homers.

El Capitan 7, Valhalla 3--The Vaqueros (7-9, 9-16), led by two home runs from Scott Freeman and the combined pitching effort of Mike Reed and Rob Arnold, upset the 10th-ranked Norsemen (11-5, 19-6) at El Capitan). Reed started the game and got the win, while Arnold came on in the fourth inning to earn a save. Mark Warren was 3 for 3 for Valhalla, with a homer in the fourth.

In the Western League:

Mission Bay 2, Clairemont 1--The No. 5 Buccaneers (8-2, 22-4) managed just one hit but scored the winning run when Pete Rodriguez walked with the bases loaded and two out in the seventh inning to beat the fourth-ranked Chieftains (8-2, 17-9) at Mission Bay.

Rodriguez also had the Bucs’ only hit, a line-drive single in the third, and earned the win by pitching the last four innings. The victory meant Mission Bay will be the Western’s top representative in the San Diego Section 2-A playoffs; the Bucs and Chiefs are co-champions of the league.

In the Metro Mesa League:

Chula Vista 2, Coronado 1--An error in the 10th inning allowed Chula Vista’s George Mora to score from second base with the winning run against visiting Coronado (3-9-1, 7-12-1).

With the win, Chula Vista (9-3-1, 12-11-1) clinched the league title over Hilltop (9-4, 17-7). Chula Vista’s George Mora walked with one out in the 10th inning, went to second on a passed ball and scored on a throwing error by the catcher after Darren Pudgil laid down a bunt.

Southwest 17, Marian 11--The Raiders (5-8, 7-14) finished the season in third place in the South Bay League after the win at Marian High. Marian (3-10, 5-14) finished the season in fourth place.

In the Metro Mesa League:

Bonita Vista 5, Montgomery 2--The Barons (10-3, 5-7) rallied from a 2-1 deficit with three runs in the third inning to beat the Aztecs (7-4-2, 14-7-2) at Montgomery and win the Metro-Mesa League. Randy Abshire pitched the first five innings to get the win, then reliever Billy Miller closed out the game to earn a save.

Sweetwater 7, Castle Park 0--Rudy Mercado threw a no-hitter to lead Sweetwater (6-8, 8-17) to the win at Sweetwater High. Mercado allowed only two base runners. He walked a batter in the fourth inning and a Castle Park batter reached first on an error in the fourth. Neither baserunner reached second base.