3-A Baseball Championship : Familiar Faces in Familiar Place

SAN DIEGO —  Just when it looked as if at least one new team would make the San Diego Section 3-A baseball championship game, Mount Carmel and Santana did it again.

For the third time in four years, the Sundevils and Sultans will meet in the championship game, today at 5 p.m. at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

“Both of us have a tradition at our schools,” Mount Carmel Coach Sam Blalock said. “Every year, our kids believe that they are going to play for the CIF championship.”

And they are usually right.

Santana (21-7 and The Times’ No. 6-ranked team) has won both previous championship games against the Sundevils, taking the 1984 title with a 6-3 victory and last year’s with a 7-2 win.

In the seven years the section has held a 3-A championship, Santana and Mount Carmel have won four times. The Sundevils won in 1981 and 1982.

“If I was to point to any one thing it would be the playoff experience coming through,” Santana Coach Jim Saska said. “Definitely, there is no substitute for playoff experience.”

Santana, in spite of its playoff experience, is probably the surprise team, a mere third-place finisher in the Grossmont League. However, the Sultans easily defeated co-league champion Grossmont, 10-4, in the section semifinals.

“We got roughed up pretty good in our league this year,” said Saska, who has reached the section final in each of his two years as coach. “But my seniors are finally exerting their leadership capabilities.”

The Sultans were expected to have a tough time defending their championship with only three seniors in the starting lineup. In a preseason poll, most Grossmont League coaches gave the Sultans only an outside chance of winning as much as the league championship.

Santana will be led by Bill Reed (8-3), considered one of the top pitchers in the county. Reed has pitched well lately after a shaky start.

Mount Carmel (22-6 and The Times’ No. 4 team), which finished second in the Palomar League, will counter with Tom Cheek (12-2).

At 5-feet 8-inches and 145 pounds, Cheek does not overwhelm opposing batters, but he has struck out 89 in 96 innings.

“He’s all heart,” Blalock said. “He just hits his spots and battles.”

The Sundevils have been hurt by the loss of ace pitcher Ed Van Aelstyn, who was 8-0 last season and 7-0 this year before being sidelined by first an ankle injury and now tendinitis in his shoulder.

A key in the game will be baserunning. Mount Carmel has excellent team speed and likes to put pressure on the defense.