Baseball team having a turnaround season
By Hector Trujillo
After only winning six games in 2025, the Scripps Ranch High School varsity baseball team is showing marked improvement this season.
The Falcons surpassed the win total from last year before completing the first half of the 2026 season despite starting off losing three of the first four games.
“It’s a different league with different competition, but we have a good amount of returners,” said head coach Cameron Bocanegra. “We are hoping to push for a title in the City Conference.”
The season
Scripps Ranch High started turning things around after the 5-3 defeat to Westview High on March 9 by going on a three-game winning streak which started with a 13-2 blowout of Poway High on March 13. That was followed by a 2-1 victory over West Hills High on March 16 and a 13-7 win versus Mater Dei on March 18. After losing 9-4 to Santana High on March 20, the Falcons bounced back with victories over Steele Canyon High and Otay Ranch High in tournament play.
Despite losing four of its next five games – with the lone win during that span coming in an 11-0 shutout on April 1 against Calexico High – Scripps Ranch High managed a dramatic 6-5 victory in extra innings versus Maranatha Christian School on April 9 before falling to Lincoln High 2-1 on April 13. The Falcons played Lincoln High two more times, winning 3-1 on April 15 and tying 5-5 on April 17.
Standout players
Among the standout players so far this season are sophomores Tyler Gloff and Camdyn Yossem, seniors Cooper Sitton, EJ Newman, Kamden Cha, Christian Herrera and Jesse Dawson, along with junior Jackson Klein.
“Everybody has been chipping in one way or another,” Bocanegra said. “We moved some pieces around and they have been doing well.”
The team’s next game is versus La Jolla on April 29 with seven more games after that including the season finale at home against Morse High on May 15.
Hosting a Challenger team
On March 21, the Falcons also hosted the Scripps Ranch Little League Challenger team at the high school field, offering a memorable experience full of activities on the field with families and community members in attendance.
“The varsity, junior varsity and freshman programs all take turns helping the kids,” Bocanegra said. “We had the scoreboard up and opened the snack bar to make it a bigger event. This Challenger program has been going on as long as I have been here and was the first year that we had the Challenger players play a game at our field.”
Coach Bocanegra served as an assistant under coach Chris Lamb for nine years before taking the helm this season.