Walk-off homer lifts Mount Miguel to Division 5 baseball title over Kearny

Mount Miguel High School had only five home runs this spring.

On Thursday, Jeremiah Castillo clubbed the biggest dinger in the history of the Spring Valley school.

Castillo smashed a towering walk-off, eighth-inning blast that over the right-field fence to give the Matadors their first-ever CIF San Diego Section baseball championship with a 5-3 win over Kearny in the Division 5 final at UCSD’s Triton Field.

“I’ve never hit a walk-off anything,” Castillo said. “It was a great time to get one.”

A 5-foot-11 senior, the left-handed center fielder leads the fifth-seeded Matadors (15-16) with four homers entering the SoCal playoffs next week. Second-seeded Kearny (19-10) was trying to win its first CIF title in 53 years.

“As a first-year head coach, I don’t know how I’m going to top this one,” Mount Miguel’s Joey Gonsalves said. “This is incredible.”

Pitcher Matt Barton knows how to top it. He was the Matadors’ quarterback when they won the Division 4 championship over Chula Vista in the fall. On Thursday, he allowed five hits in the first 2 1/3 innings and then retired the final 14 batters he faced. He finished with seven strikeouts with one walk before Tyler Kelly (1-0) picked up the win with a scoreless eighth inning.

“It’s been a dream senior year with championships in football and baseball,” Barton said.

Castillo, who sported a tiny black star on his right jaw next to his goatee, was 2-for-4 with a HR and triple, two RBI and two runs.

“That home run felt great,” he said. “I was early on the curveball the whole game, but I finally got that last one.”

Said Gonsalves: “Regardless of who gets the win, Matt’s been a huge part of us winning all year. He and Jeremiah. They’re both exceptional men. I couldn’t be happier for both of them and the whole team.”

It was a tough way for Kearny and senior star Eligah Duffy to finish the season. Duffy led the Komets in batting (.444), HRs (1), RBI (20), runs (44) and stolen bases (25).

Duffy walked to lead off the game and came around to score on a double by Nicolas Hembera. The Matadors answered with a run as leadoff Castillo tripled to right and scored on a groundout by Xavier Reyes.

The Komets assumed a 3-1 lead in the third inning. Duffy reached on an error, and Hembera singled to left. After a double steal, Duffy scored on a passed ball and Hembera was driven in on a single to left by Abraham Vazquez.

Kearny entered with 93 stolen bases and swiped three in the first 2 1/3 innings. Barton figured out how to combat Kearny’s speed by retiring his last 14 batters.

Meanwhile, the Matadors knotted the game again in the fourth. Alfredo Rodriguez opened with his second single, followed by a Junior Ettleman single. A passed ball moved them up 90 feet, and Rodriguez scored on a groundout by Kelly. Ettleman tallied on a sacrifice fly to right by Barton.

“Probably one of the best games you can have in a championship game,” said Kearny coach Tony Ceniceros said. “The playoffs are bonus baseball, and this was bonus innings. My hat’s off to Mount Miguel.”

Lindgren is a freelance writer.

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune .