Dons beat Granite Hills in tournament showdown between two of San Diego’s best teams

High school baseball tournaments have changed over the last few years.

New rules that limit teams to 28 games have pretty much eliminated tournament championship games.

There are exceptions, however, with Granite Hills and Cathedral Catholic playing Friday for the championship of the Hilltop-Lolita’s Tournament in a game that was on the original tournament schedule.

Always the top early-season tournament in the county, the Eagles and Dons — ranked No. 2 and No. 1 in the county — both entered the final day of play in the Hilltop-Lolita’s undefeated in the tournament.

Cathedral Catholic scored early and often, banging out 16 hits in beating Granite Hills 12-3.

“Obviously, I like the way we’ve started the season,” said Cathedral Catholic coach Gary Remiker, whose team has wins over Grossmont, Del Norte, San Marcos and La Costa Canyon.

“We’re swinging it real well, and we’ve been able to line up our pitching exactly how we want it.“We wanted our starters to go four innings, then fill in behind them.”

Kaden Kuhn went the first five innings for the Dons on Friday, allowing three runs on three hits — all in the third inning — with a throwing error keeping the inning alive.

Kuhn and Cody Reynolds, who pitched the final two innings, retired the final 14 Granite Hills hitters on eight ground balls and a pair of strikeouts.

The Dons pounded out 16 hits, with Alex Harrington and Joshua Priest getting three each.Jonas Nalu and Max Stewart slugged home runs.

“This team is really coming together,” said Nalu, who has committed to play next season at Colorado School of Mines, one of the top engineering schools in the country.

“The guys have really bought in to the philosophy that it’s not about yourself, but about the team.“Guys aren’t afraid to hit a ground ball to the right side to move a runner to third because it helps the team. And our bench guys are really talented. It’s fun to watch them get a chance to play … and do well … in a game like this.”

Cathedral Catholic’s Kaden Kuhn delivers a pitch to Granite Hills in the first inning at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Cathedral Catholic has 10 players with four-year college commitments, including schools like UC San Diego, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, NYU, Stanford, University of Chicago and Arizona State.

Priest, who had a pair of singles, a triple, scored twice and drove in a run, is headed to Arizona State.

“On this team, it’s faith, family, school and baseball,” Priest said. “Obviously, we have good baseball players, but we have a good team.

“We do things together. We’re at a Catholic school for a reason. We’re trying to be men of good faith. Because of that, we can lean on each other. That makes the team stronger.”

Trey Kotsay chipped in to Cathedral Catholic’s attack with two hits, including a two-RBI double, a walk, driving in three and scoring twice.

Stewart drove in two with his third-inning homer.

Cathedral Catholic’s Max Stewart, right, and Trey Kotsay celebrate Stewart’s two -run home run against Granite Hills in the third inning at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Colton Windham drove in a run for Granite Hills, which has wins over Del Norte, San Marcos in a 16-14 shootout, La Costa Canyon and Santana on a brutally hot day Thursday in the East County. Westin Pace had a double.

“I don’t like what has happened to tournaments,” said Granite Hills Coach James Davis. “There used to be some flexibility in the schedule for championship games. This worked out that both teams were unbeaten and it was essentially a championship game.

“But it doesn’t always work that way.”