Several Baseball Races Remain Undecided

And down the stretch they come.

With five days remaining in a regular baseball season marked by parity, only four teams have clinched outright league titles.

Those four are Mira Mesa (20-5, 9-1) in the City Eastern League; St. Augustine (23-4, 9-1) in the City Harbor League; Grossmont (20-2-1, 9-1) in the Grossmont 3-A League; and Montgomery (22-3, 13-0) in the Metro Conference.

Of those four, top-ranked Grossmont, No. 2 Montgomery and No. 3 Mira Mesa were section finalists last year.

No. 6 St. Augustine has been the biggest surprise. The Saints lead the county in victories, but one of its losses came Saturday against Hoover (5-19).

In the other league races:

* Escondido (15-8, 11-1) has clinched at least a tie in the Avocado League with two games remaining, but San Marcos (12-10, 9-3) has been gaining ground after early season injury and discipline problems. Escondido can win the title outright with a victory Wednesday over San Pasqual. Should it lose, Escondido plays San Marcos on Friday.

* In the City Central League, Madison (19-7, 8-2) and Crawford (13-12, 7-3) square off Tuesday at Madison. If the Warhawks win, they clinch. If Crawford wins, the champion won’t be decided until Thursday.

* USDHS, once thought to have an insurmountable lead in the City Western League, is 20-6, 8-2 and still must contend with 1991 2-A runner-up Mission Bay (21-8, 8-3). Western teams play 12 league games. The Dons and Bucs play Thursday at USD.

* The Grossmont 2-A League title could be claimed with a 7-5 mark. At the moment, Santana (17-9-1, 6-4) is atop of the standings, followed by El Capitan (17-11, 5-4), West Hills (11-12-1, 5-5), El Cajon (11-13, 4-5) and Valhalla (9-15-3, 4-6). Santana can clean up this messy race with victories Monday over El Capitan and Wednesday over West Hills.

* Vista (17-5-1, 9-3) and Poway (16-6, 9-3) are knotted atop the Palomar League standings, and they play Wednesday at Vista. Rancho Buena Vista (14-10-1, 8-4) also has a chance. All three teams have two games remaining.

Correction: A tripleheader for the San Diego Section 1-A, 2-A and 3-A baseball titles will be played June 3, at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

A release from the commissioner’s office listed the wrong date, and that date was published in last week’s notebook.

Parity or pitching? Five of the nine Metro Conference baseball games last week were shutouts.

The most runs scored by any team was seven. The biggest margin of victory was six.

Wild cards: Because 16 teams qualify for both the 2-A and 3-A baseball playoffs, El Camino (11-13) has a shot at its first postseason appearance.

“Another win ought to clinch it,” Wildcat Coach Larry Stephenson said.

Another victory, however, will not come easy. Fourth-place El Camino plays second-place San Marcos Wednesday and third-place Rancho Bernardo Friday.

Extra 3: Fallbrook’s baseball team went 2-1 in three consecutive extra-inning games before losing two seven-inning games last week. The Warriors are 11-11-1.

Going for two: There generally tends to be less parity in softball than there is in baseball.

However, the county’s best softball team, Escondido, still has not wrapped up the Avocado League title.

Second-place San Pasqual saw to that by taking a dramatic 3-0 12-inning victory from El Camino on Friday.

According to Coach Mike Basalo, in his 10th year at San Pasqual, it was the longest game in Eagle history.

San Pasqual (16-5, 10-2) handed Escondido (21-1, 11-1) its first loss earlier this year, snapping the Cougars’ 31-game winning streak. The two meet again Tuesday at Kit Carson Park.

The week ahead: The San Diego Section spring playoff season begins today with the golf team championships at Eastlake County Club in Chula Vista. The individual tournament is Tuesday and Wednesday at Singing Hills Country Club in El Cajon.

In addition:

* The diving and swimming preliminaries and finals will take place between Tuesday and Saturday at Poway and Mt. Carmel.

* The badminton team championships begin Tuesday. The final is Friday at Serra.

* The gymnastics team and individual championships are Thursday at West Hills High.

* The boys’ volleyball playoffs start Tuesday, and the quarterfinals are Friday.

* The track and field preliminaries are Saturday at Balboa Stadium.

* The softball playoffs start Saturday.

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