Helix Blanks Santana, Aims for CIF Baseball Crown This Coming June

Helix Charter High School showed why it is arguably the county’s top prep baseball club on Monday as right-hander Mauro Olivarria handcuffed Santana, throwing five innings of an 8-0 shutout to keep the Highlanders unbeaten.

Relievers James Miles and Max Drew completed the shutout with an inning of work each.

Helix, which had 15 hits, broke up a scoreless tie with four runs in the third inning. James Doherty started for the Sultans, and coach Larry Oedewaldt also used Kyle Gasner, Jimmy Elias and Jaylen Fleer on the mound. Santana’s record fell to 2-5-1.

Highlander Daryl Bibbs had a triple, and Diego Reynoso, Romello Carbuccia and Brennan Ingram added doubles.

“We have outstanding pitchers and great defense," Helix coach Cole Holland said about the team’s prospects for the season. "We have a great group.” He’s hopeful that his team will make a repeat appearance in the CIF section finals.

The Highlander team has six seniors and a four-man rotation, and the question is being asked: Is Helix the best baseball team in the CIF San Diego Section?

Their 8-0 start—including winning the Aztec-Foothiller Tournament championship–builds a strong case for the Highlanders.

By the same token, 10th-year head coach and Helix alumn Holland doesn’t want to get caught up in that discussion.

“That’s not for me to decide,” Holland said. “We just go out and play the next team on our schedule.”

La Costa Canyon (8-0) can also make a strong claim for the section’s top spot. The North County Mavericks of coach Justin Machado–who belted previously undefeated Torrey Pines 10-4 in the Falcon-Pirate finals and turned back Rancho Bernardo 6-1 on Saturday–certainly can make an argument to rival Holland’s Highlanders.

“Obviously, we like the attention we get through the polls,” Holland said. “But it’s where you rank the first week of June that matters.”

That’s when the section Division II championship is decided. A year ago, the Highlanders finished 23-10-1, but were knocked out by Grossmont in the section title game 8-0.

The Highlanders avenged that loss to Grossmont in the Aztec-Foothiller Classic finale earlier this month. Nobody on the Helix staff enjoyed the revenge in the 5-1 victory more than Olivarria (3-0), who surrendered seven straight hits in a seven-run first inning of the lopsided defeat last spring.

This is a veteran Helix ballclub. Oregon-bound senior pitcher Jake Reed is the kingpin, having posted three wins and two saves in the Highlanders’ first seven games. As a junior, the former Helix quarterback was 6-5 with four saves and a 2.24 ERA. Of course, his record is a bit tainted since he drew the majority of the rugged pitching opponents.

Knocking off El Capitan 3-1 in the Bill Dickens East County Tournament (formerly known as the Grossmont Conference tournament) was a key conquest for the Highlanders.

“That was a huge win for us as a program,” said Reed, whose fastball has been clocked at 91 miles per hour this season. “(El Capitan) began the season as the No. 1-ranked team so it says a lot about us for our ability to beat them.”

The rising star in the Helix offense is junior right fielder Rashad Harlin, who batted a quiet .250 as a sophomore. His stock is definitely on the rise this season. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Harlin is drawing as much attention from the professional baseball scouts as Reed these days.

Eight games into this season Harlin is swinging it at a .647 clip (11-for-17) with five extra-base hits and five RBI.

Of course, middle infielder Romello Carbuccia cannot be overlooked. The junior shortstop is batting at a .550 clip (11-for-20) with 13 RBI.

Leadoff man Kacy Smith is another nugget in Holland’s hand. The junior center fielder, also an impact player in the Highlanders’ football secondary, is batting .345 (10 for 29).

Holland rates junior receiver Diego Reynoso (.370) as the “best defensive catcher in the county.”

Sounds like all the ingredients are there to make the Highlanders worthy of a No. 1 ranking.

Special to Patch.com from East County Sports.com