Early offense powers Mar Vista past Olympian 7-3 for San Diego Section Division 3 championship

Mar Vista led 6-0 after three innings.

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Mar Vista did not waste much time in their pursuit of the first CIF baseball championship in school history.

The Mariners opened the scoring with two runs in the second inning and tacked on four more in the third inning to take a commanding 6-0 lead over Olympian on their way to a 7-3 victory in the San Diego Section Division 3 championship game.

“First ever!” Mar Vista head coach Bobby Rector said. “Last year we got close, I know my senior year (at Mar Vista) we got close, we lost in the semis as well and I think I was still bitter about that.”

Mar Vista entered the Division 3 playoffs as the eight-seed and had to defeat El Camino at home in a play-in game before making their way into the double-elimination portion of the bracket.

After coming from behind twice in their 10-7 win over El Camino, the Mariners hit the road and took down Rancho Buena Vista and Mt. Carmel.

“These kids looked at the eight-seed and said we’re gonna be road dogs,” Rector said. “They knew every game was gonna be on the road in someone else’s territory and they didn’t care one bit.”

Mar Vista entered the second week of the playoffs needing only one win over top-seed Rancho Buena Vista. They lost Tuesday’s matchup to the Longhorns, 6-1, forcing them to return on Wednesday with a chance to clinch a spot in the championship game.

Trailing 2-1 after three innings, the Mariners outscored Rancho Buena Vista 4-0 over the final four innings to advance to Thursday’s championship game.

“I don’t know what it is with these kids, they’re loose, they’re relaxed,” Rector said. “They play baseball a lot different from how I played or how I teach it. I learned a lot this year and just said ‘go get ‘em’.”

The Mariners will get a chance to continue their run in the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs that get underway on Tuesday.

“All we know is there’s a game on Tuesday and we’ll see,” Rector admitted postgame. “I don’t even know if any of these guys know about it.”