Campfire’s octopus, chorizo, and celery-root entrée.
Gage Forster
LA MESA — Mater Dei Catholic’s softball team can do the Monster Mash. The Crusaders are averaging six runs a game this season, clubbing 85 extra-base hits, including 18 home runs.
But with an Open Division title on the line Saturday night, Mater Dei resorted to small ball. The Crusaders laid down two run-scoring squeeze bunts to break open a scoreless game before tacking on insurance to beat Bonita Vista High School 6-1 to win the Open Division title.
Going into the bottom of the fifth inning, Mater Dei had been outhit 5-1 and hadn’t advanced a runner past first base. But in the fifth, the Crusaders (25-7) took advantage of two errors, plus Bella Hiner and Liana Quinones laid down perfect squeeze bunts for Mater Dei’s first two runs.
“We have a saying that if you keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result, you know what that’s called,” said MDC coach Mike Centrullo, citing the definition for insanity. “We made an adjustment. The short game has saved us a bunch of times this season. You can’t always count on (slugging). Small ball helped break it open.”
Sophomore Arri Romero pitched a complete game for MDC, giving up seven hits, striking out three and walking none. Romero is now 22-4 on the season with a 1.47 ERA.
“She’s a workhorse,” said Centrullo. “Being a sophomore, she’s so committed and so driven and has such a bright future.”
Mater Dei jumped up 2-0 on the two squeeze bunts. An error brought in a third run, then Gigi Flores crushed a two-run double to break the game open. Of her clutch hit, Flores said, “We know to never let off the gas.”
For Bonita Vista (24-7), Natalie Gonzalez was the hard-luck loser. While she gave up five runs in five innings, none of them were earned. Gonzalez is 11-3 on the season with a 1.28 ERA.
Romero helped herself with a single and scored a run. She’s hitting .436 on the season with 31 RBIs. But she’s best known for her work in the circle.
“I don’t think it was my best pitching, but it was enough to keep them down,” said Romero.
Romero’s catcher, Charlize Masingale, thought her ace was a bit too critical. Said Masingale, “I’d say it was one of her best games.”
The game, scheduled for UC San Diego, was played at Helix High because of a power outage at UCSD. Both Mater Dei and Bonita Vista advance to the Southern California Regionals.
Dating back to when the school was Marian Catholic, it was the program’s ninth section title. Mater Dei’s last championship came in 2022. For a school that won eight titles from 2010 to 2022, going three years between championships seemed like a drought.
“For this school, this program, it seemed like forever,” said Masingale. “But there was no doubt in my mind we were going to come out today and win it.”
SANDY, Utah — SANDY, Utah (AP) — Sergi Solans had two goals and an assist, Diego Luna added a goal and two assists, and Real Salt Lake beat San Diego FC 4-2 on Saturday night to extend its unbeaten streak to six games.
Morgan Guilavogui scored his first goal in MLS and had an assist for Real Salt Lake (5-1-1). The 28-year-old designated player has five goal contributions in his first six career games.
RSL hasn’t lost since a 1-0 defeat at Vancouver in the season opener.
San Diego (3-3-2) has lost three in a row and is winless in five straight.
Luna opened the scoring in the fifth minute when he re-directed a misplayed pass by Duran Ferree, San Diego’s 19-year-old goalkeeper, into the net.
Moments later, Solans headed home a perfectly-placed cross played by Luna from outside the right corner of the 18-yard box to the back post to make it 2-0. Solans, a 23-year-old forward, flicked a header from the center of the area inside the right post and past the outstretched arm of Ferree to make it 3-1 in the 37th minute.
Guilavogui slammed home a first-touch shot to give RSL a three-goal lead in the 45th.
Marcus Ingvartsen scored a goal in the 14th minute and Anders Dreyer converted from the penalty spot in the 66th for San Diego.
Ingvartsen has five goals and an assist this season and has 10 goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) in 16 career MLS appearances.
Rafael Cabral had three saves for RSL.
Ferree finished with five saves.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
When John Resnick opened Campfire on a quaint little street in Carlsbad, Calif., in 2016, some locals weren’t sure what to think. The coastal enclave wasn’t exactly awash in innovative, chef-driven establishments, so it was a shock to see the dining room consistently full. Early on, one woman wondered aloud to Resnick, “Where did all these people come from?”
It’s a moment he remembers vividly. “I was struck by her statement, because I think she was surprised that so many other people in Carlsbad were there,” Resnick says.
The rest of the culinary world would take some time to catch up to what was happening. In 2019, when Michelin expanded to rate restaurants throughout all of California—not just the San Francisco area—Addison was the only one in San Diego to earn a star. But since emerging from the pandemic, the region’s food scene has grown dramatically. Driven by outstanding farms, ingredients, a bumper crop of talented chefs, and a G.D.P. approximately the size of New Zealand or Greece, San Diego County has become one of America’s most underrated dining destinations.
Campfire’s octopus, chorizo, and celery-root entrée.
Gage Forster
Perhaps no single restaurant is a better emblem for this shift than chef William Bradley’s Addison, which opened in 2006. After landing his first star, Bradley knew he wanted more. To get them, he transformed his French-leaning fare to serve what he calls California Gastronomy, which combines the cultures of SoCal with impeccable ingredients and wildly impressive techniques, prizing flavor over flair. Michelin responded, awarding Addison a second star in 2022, and making it the first Southern California three-star restaurant just a year later. The accolade has created a halo effect, attracting culinary tourists from around the world.
Berry beet tartlets at San Diego’s three-star stalwart Addison.
Eric Wolfinger
“Earning three stars forces the global dining community to pay attention to a place that may not have been on their radar before,” says chef Eric Bost, a partner in Resnick’s four Carlsbad establishments.
Resnick recruited Bost, who spent time at award-winning outposts of Restaurant Guy Savoy, to run Jeune et Jolie, which he led to a star in 2021. They’ve since taken over an old boogie-board factory down the street and converted it to an all-day restaurant and bakery, Wildland. The space also hosts an exquisite tasting-counter experience called Lilo, which was given a Michelin star mere months after opening in April 2025. And as Resnick and Bost grew their successful Carlsbad operation, chef Roberto Alcocer earned a Michelin star for his Mexican fine-dining spot Valle in nearby Oceanside.
The stylish tasting counter at Michelin one-star Lilo in Carlsbad.
Kimberly Motos
About 25 miles to the south, another affluent coastal community is going through its own culinary glow up. In La Jolla, chef Tara Monsod and the hospitality group Puffer Malarkey Collective opened the stylish French steakhouse Le Coq. Chef Erik Anderson, formerly of Michelin two-star Coi, is preparing to launch Roseacre. And last year, Per Se alums Elijah Arizmendi and Brian Hung left New York to open the elegant tasting-menu restaurant Lucien, lured by the ingredients they’d get to serve. “A major reason we chose San Diego is the quality and diversity of the produce,” Arizmendi explains. “San Diego County has more small farms than anywhere else in the U.S., and its many microclimates allow farmers to grow an incredible range of ingredients year-round.”
Wildland’s spicy Italian sandwich.
Gage Forster
Chef Travis Swikard has also been a tireless advocate for the region’s ingredients since he returned to San Diego, his hometown, and opened Mediterranean-influenced Callie in 2021. There’s no sophomore slump with his latest effort, the French Riviera–inspired Fleurette in La Jolla, where he’s serving his take on classics like leeks vinaigrette and his San Diego “Bouillabaisse” with local red sheepshead fish and spiny lobster. Its food is bright, produce-driven, and attentive in execution, while the dining room maintains a relaxed and unpretentious style of service. And Swikard sees that approach cohering into a regional style with a strong network of professionals behind it.
“It’s really nice that we are developing our own identity, not trying to be like L.A. or any other market, just highlighting what’s great about the San Diego lifestyle and ingredients,” he says. “Similar to New York, a chef community is starting to develop where chefs are supporting each other. There is a true sense of pride to be cooking here.”
Top: In La Jolla, Lucien serves ocean whitefish with tomatoes turned into concasse, sabayon, and other expressions.
Little Debbie is officially expanding its doughnut range.
On April 14, the brand announced a new sweet snack: Chocolate Old Fashioned Donuts. The company says there was “massive consumer demand” for the original Big Pack Old Fashioned Donuts, which quickly became a top seller. Now, they’re just giving the people what they want.
The new snack is a chocolate old-fashioned cake doughnut finished with a sweet glaze and is launching in two formats:
The original, which includes six individually wrapped cake-style doughnuts with a vanilla glaze, first hit stores in June 2025 and, according to the brand, has been “consistently selling out.”
“We saw an incredible response to the Old Fashioned Donut we introduced last year,” said Scott Brownlow, Little Debbie’s brand manager, in a press release. We’re doubling down on what works and giving both loyalists and new fans an irresistible reason to head back to the store.”
Little Debbie’s Chocolate Old Fashioned Donuts are rolling out now to major retailers, grocery stores and convenience stores nationwide. As with the original Old Fashioned Donut, they become a permanent addition to the brand’s snack lineup.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
Video: Why Your Paycheck Feels Smaller
Famous Authors’ Less Famous Books
Sunday Puzzle: For Mimi
The future of local TV news has taken a Trumpian turn
Pope Leo says remarks about world being ‘ravaged by a handful of tyrants’ were not aimed at Trump: report
Trump renews bridge, power plant threat against Iran in push for deal, mocks ‘tough guy’ IRGC
Loneliness may be silently eroding your memory, new research reveals
ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd