Dave Gallegos was adamant.
"We're an Open Division team," the Eastlake High School baseball coach said after his No. 7-ranked Titans beat Bonita Vista 9-0 on Tuesday for their ninth straight win and 11th in 12 tries, all while nailing down no worse than a co-championship in the Metro Mesa League.
"The Open Division is where the big boys play. We graduated 16 seniors off last year's team and it took us a little time to get it together. But we're on a roll now, and want to play the best teams in the county."
The CIF San Diego Section uses power rankings to seed the playoffs. The system awards points for wins and losses, with your opponent's record coming into play.
Before Tuesday's game, Eastlake ranked ninth of 20 Division 1 teams. The top eight teams in Division 1 make the Open Division.
The Titans (18-5, 6-0) checked in with a power ranking of 44.82. San Marcos is just ahead of them at 44.96.
Rancho Bernardo is No. 1 at 45.14, but teams No. 3-9 are separated by less than a point.
"This team is coming together," said Eastlake senior outfielder Jacob May, who had four RBIs in Tuesday's game. "It started a little slow because the younger guys felt a little apart from the older guys. So it was up to the seniors to get those guys involved, for us to come together as a team.
"We think we're one of the best teams in the county. And we want a chance to play with the big boys in the Open Division."
After beating Bonita Vista (16-8-1, 3-3) 10-1 on Monday, the Titans used back-to-back four-run innings Tuesday to break open a close game.
In addition to May, Angel Laya and Brody Wells drove in two runs each.
"The hitting is starting to come together," May said. Ed Romero, our hitting coach, has been huge for me.
"I'm loading earlier, seeing the ball better, and getting great results."
Senior right-hander Jake Davis, a nine-game winner last season, improved to 5-0 this season with a complete-game, two-hitter.
Davis struck out a season high 12 batters, including the side in the third and seventh.
He fanned five in a row from the second through the fourth, and got the last four Bonita Vista hitters on strikes to finish the game.
He had at least one strikeout in every inning.
"A lot of my success comes from preparation," said Davis, whose fastball sits at 86-88 mph and tops at 89. "I'm not really superstitious, but I like my energy drink, like to get in a little run and a good stretch.
"I'm throwing the ball well, but the guys play great defense behind me. And I love pitching with a lead."
Like Gallegos and May, Davis would like a shot at the Open Division playoffs.
"We just need to keep doing what we're doing," Davis said. "We can't take anyone lightly. We have three regular-season games left. We just need to keep playing our game."
This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune .
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