Helix Beats Steele Canyon to Win First CIF Baseball Title Since 1988

A defensive gem seemed to ignite the Helix Charter High School offense and the Highlanders pulled away to a 7-3 win over Steele Canyon in Saturday’s CIF San Diego Section Division II championship game at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium.

The title is Helix’s first since 1988, when current head coach Cole Holland was serving as batboy for the Highlanders.

With Helix clinging to a 2-1 lead in the fifth, left fielder Brennan Ingram raced toward the foul line to grab a sinking liner and somehow righted himself and made a two-hop throw home in time to get the Cougar runner trying to tag and score from third.

"It was tailing away from me, but after I made the catch and released it, I thought the runner was already pretty much there," said Ingram. "You've got to give a lot of credit to (catcher) Diego (Reynoso), too, for making the tag."

Instead of the game being tied, Helix retained the one-run lead, but promptly posted five runs in the bottom of the fifth to secure the victory. Romello Carbuccia had a two-run single, Ray Peterson stroked a two-run double, and winning pitcher Jake Reed capped the rally with an RBI double.

“That (Ingram's catch) was the play of the game,” said Holland, who was carrying a newspaper clipping with a photo of the 1988 team as a sort of good luck charm. “He not only made the catch, but he made an off-balance throw to get the guy at the plate.”

With Helix winning three straight to get to the final, the second-seeded Highlanders had the luxury of pitching Reed on nine days rest. The No. 4-seed Cougars had to beat top-seeded La Costa Canyon twice on the road earlier in the week.

“This is what we play for,” Holland said of the championship. “It's been our goal the whole year.”