Coach Les Cassie’s Hoover Cardinals were within nine outs of a berth in the Southern California finals. San Diego High was San Diego High, reliably formidable. But Don Clarkson’s Point Loma Pointers may have been the best of all.
The Pointers won the prestigious Pomona 20-30 Rotary Club tournament, split two games with Hoover, and defeated San Diego in Pomona. The Pointers ran the table in the Metropolitan League and would have been a prime candidate for the Southern California playoffs.
But the Metro loop had a curious history regarding the playoffs. It usually declined, including this year.
The Pointers had an explainable reason this year. Its regular season ended on the same day Hoover was bowing in the semifinals to Long Beach Wilson.
In the future the Southern Section would open the door to more teams by creating major and minor divisions and schedules would be more accommodating to the start of the playoffs. Point Loma would win a small schools football championship in 1949.
2/28/47
Hoover Alumni, aided by seven errors by the Cardinals varsity, won the season’s opening game, 6-2.
3/2/47
Leonard Ross and Pete Corona teamed on a three-hitter and San Diego, scoring three runs in the eighth inning, defeated its alumni, 5-2.
–Hoover’s six runs in the first inning, highlighted by Gene Launders’ single and LeRoy Darnell’s double, was enough to win the seven-inning contest against visiting Point Loma, 11-7.
3/7/47
Max Minga’s two-run triple in a three-run seventh inning paved Grossmont’s 4-1 win over the Alumni.
–Hoover opened an odd intersectional trip with a 12-7 win at Long Beach Jordan. Chuck Chagnard’s three-run double on his second at-bat in the first inning was the final shot in a seven-run first inning, in which Bulldogs pitchers issued seven walks.
–Cyril Guthridge’s grand slam home run was the difference in La Jolla’s 6-5 win over visiting Kearny.
3/8/47
Harvey Jones gave up five hits, struck out eight and hit a two-run home run and Hoover outlasted the host Colton Yellowjackets, 9-6.
3/10/47
Bob Miller singled three times in three at-bats to lead Hoover to an 11-6 win over guest Grossmont.
–Andy Stagnaro’s five-hit pitching was enough to lead the San Diego Junior Varsity to a win at Escondido over the Cougars’ varsity.
3/12/47
San Diego’s junior varsity withstood a seven-run inning and edged the Kearny varsity, 9-8. Grossmont was outhit, 10-9, but outscored Sweetwater, 8-7, in a nonleague game between Metropolitan League teams.
3/15/47
Coach Mike Morrow’s club won a day-night doubleheader in Balboa Stadium from the Tucson Bears, 9-5, and 10-9, collecting 25 hits in the two games.
–Long Beach Poly collected only four hits off Ken Clary but scored a 6-5 victory over Hoover on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot diamond.
–Joe Medina and Paul Kaneyuki combined to pitch Point Loma to a 10-1 victory over St. Augustine on the Pointers field. John Brown helped with two doubles.
–Bob Press was 2 for 2 and Kearny beat San Diego Vocational, 6-2, at Kearny.
3/16/47
San Diego struck for 19 hits and defeated the Tucson, 17-5, to sweep the three-game series in Balboa Stadium against the defending Arizona champions.
Every member of the Hilltoppers’ lineup collected at least one hit. John Brown and Pete Corona had four hits each, Ray Mendoza three hits, and Bill Dugan, John Verdusco, Jerry Dahms, and Hank Duffie two each.
3/18/47
Hoover’s Larry Nenna homered with a man aboard in the first inning for the Cardinals’ only hit, but they won, 10-4 over St. Augustine, which committed only two errors but virtually walked the Horace Mann playground ball park.
–Art Preston’s two-run home run in the first inning was the difference as Grossmont defeated Kearny, 3-2, on the Komets’ diamond.
3/20/47
Hoover and San Diego opened the Coast League season with wins at home.
Ken Clary and Harvey Jones hit home runs and Clary, with additional hitting support from Bill McColl, Bill Casey, and Gene Launders, scattered seven hits as the Cardinals won, 15-0, over Pasadena.
San Diego shut out Pasadena Muir, 11-0, as Joe Catlin contributed three hits, including a double and triple, and John Brown and Bill Dugan added two hits apiece in support of Pete Corona’s three-hit pitching.
–San Diego’s Junior Varsity beat La Jolla’s varsity and ace Bud Relyea, 10-6, at La Jolla. Relyea hit a home run.
3/21/47
Ed Gray and Hank Fitch each had two hits and Pat Kennedy hurled St. Augustine to a two-hit, 9-1 win over Escondido at Golden Hill Playground.
–Point Loma began a two-game swing through Riverside County with a rain-shortened, five-inning, 4-2 victory at San Bernardino. Joe Medina pitched the victory and added a two-run triple in the second inning. Medina’s sixth-inning home run was washed out by a downpour.
3/22/47
–Len Ross’s five-hit pitching and Joe Catlin’s two-run triple in a three-run fifth inning was enough for San Diego, 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the Coast League, to beat Pasadena, 6-2, in Balboa Stadium.
–Merle Smith’s three-run triple in the fifth inning broken open a game with visiting Pasadena Muir and Hoover romped, 13-2.
Paul Kaneyuki allowed nine hits and went the distance as Point Loma completed a successful weekend foray into the Inland Empire with a 6-4 win at Colton.
3/25/47
San Diego won a nonleague game at Grossmont, 8-4, tagging the Foothillers’ Art Preston for 10 hits. Pate Corona and Bill Dugan combined with seven-hit pitching for the Hilltoppers.
–Joe Medina pitched six hitless innings and third baseman Joe Correia doubled and tripled and the Pointers topped pitcher Don Larsen and an alumni squad, 6-2, at Golden Hill playground.
–Who’s on first? No, who scheduled the game? Hoover’s nonleague contest against Escondido was canceled because of a reported misunderstanding as to the game site.
–Bud Relyea struck out 16 St. Augustine batters and contributed two hits to the La Jolla attack and allowed three hits in the Vikings’ 5-1 win at home.
3/28/47
Hoover (8-2) scored seven runs in the first four innings and went on to a 10-6 win over San Diego (8-1) to take the lead in the Coast League with a 3-0 record. Ken Clary had four hits in five times at bat, including two home runs, and pitched the complete-game victory.
Bob Miller also homered and Harvey Jones singled, doubled, and tripled for the Cardinals.
–Grossmont scored at least one run in every inning from the fourth through the eighth inning and Art Preston kept El Centro Central at a distance as Grossmont won, 12-6, in an intersectional game on the Foothillers’ diamond.
–Paul Kaneyuki, Gene Roberts, and John Silveira combined to pitch a one-hitter and Point Loma submerged the Amphibious Base team, 12-0, at Navy Field.
–Eight errors contributed to Kearny’s 10-3 loss at Sweetwater. La Jolla knocked off St. Augustine for the second time in the week, 10-3, in a seven-inning contest at Golden Hill.
3/29/47
San Diego bounced back from its loss to Hoover with an 8-1 victory over visiting Long Beach Wilson. John Brown stopped the Bruins on six hits. Jerry Dahms singled, tripled, and homered and Hank Duffie doubled and hit three singles.
4/1/47
The 14th Pomona 2030 Rotary Club tournament drew six San Diego-area teams and they played a combined total of 12 first-round, second-round, and consolation games, starting as early as 8 a.m. and concluding in late afternoon.
San Diego and Point Loma still were alive in the championship bracket, but Hoover and La Jolla fell into the consolation bracket after first-round losses. Grossmont and Escondido won first-round games but lost and headed home after second-round defeats.
San Diego defeated Fullerton, 3-0, and Santa Monica, 8-2. Point Loma whipped Covina, 11-3 and Santa Barbara, 5-1.
Escondido beat Covina, 9-8, and fell to Whittier, 7-1. Grossmont measured Huntington Beach, 6-2, and then bowed to Long Beach Poly, 6-4.
La Jolla lost to Whittier, 6-3, in the first round but was in business in the consolation bracket after a 14-5 victory over Chino. Hoover, one of the tournament favorites, was ousted in the first round, 9-1, by Ontario Chaffey but rallied for an 11-1 win over Santa Ana in the afternoon, second-chance game.
What it all meant was that San Diego was to play Point Loma in the championship quarterfinals and Hoover and La Jolla would meet in the consolation quarterfinals.
4/2/47
Not San Diego and not Hoover. Point Loma was playing for the championship of the Pomona Rotary 20-30 Club tournament,
The Pointers of coach Don Clarkson emerged as potential champions, defeating San Diego, which was seeking its seventh tournament title, 3-1, in the morning quarterfinals and San Bernardino, 13-0, in the afternoon semifinals.
Defending champion Hoover, knocked out of the championship bracket on the first day, stayed in the hunt for the consolation trophy, beating La Jolla, 12-0, and Bonita, 8-0.
Paul Kaneyuki pitched a three-hitter against San Diego and had two hits. Yoto Takeshita added a couple hits for the Pointers. Don Blackman was leading the Peninsula team with a .600 average, nine for 15. Joe Medina stuffed San Bernardino on four hits.
Hoover’s Bob Woods stopped La Jolla on two hits. Harvey Jones allowed Bonita one hit.
4/3/47
Point Loma won a see-saw battle with Whittier, 8-7, for the Pomona 2030 Rotary Club championship. Hoover took the consolation title, 10-5, over Fullerton.
Ralph Silva’s double with the bases loaded off Whittier pitcher Ed Hookstratten was the difference in the game. Hookstratten gave up nine hits compared to the 14 allowed by Paul Kaneyuki, who continually worked out of jams.
Larry Nenna paced Hoover’s 11-hit attack with four hits in five times at bat.
4/8/47
Andy Stagnaro, up from the junior varsity, stopped Grossmont in three hits and Joe Catlin hit a three-run home run in an eight-run third inning as San Diego whipped Grossmont, 10-1, in Balboa Stadium.
–Harvey Jones and Larry Nenna each had three hits, with Nenna also adding a two-run homer, in Hoover’s 6-2 win over visiting St. Augustine.
–Joe Medina scattered 12 hits at Sweetwater and Point Loma continued to win, 6-4.
4/11/47
Hoover lost at Compton, 4-1, and San Diego won at Pasadena Muir, 8-2, in Coast League games.
–Grossmont pounded three Escondido hurlers for 16 hits and whipped the Cougars, 16-6, as Metropolitan League play began.
–Guest Oceanside had 13 hits, but Sweetwater made better use of its 15 hits in an 18-8 victory.
–La Jolla won at Kearny, 8-5, and Point Loma used its bye date to win, 8-5, at Naval Training Center.
4/13/47
Compton completed a sweep of visiting San Diego and Hoover and took command in the Coast League when the Tarbabes defeated the Hilltoppers, 6-1, after stopping Hoover, 4-1, the previous day.
Hoover recovered to win, 8-3, at Pasadena Muir. Harvey Jones struck out 12 and Bill McColl drove in four runs with a double and two singles.
4/15/47
Rudy Ortiz, Frank Morey, John Verdusco, Pete Corona, and Bill Dugan hit home runs at Golden Hill Playground and San Diego used the circuit clouts and 10 other hits for a 23-0 rout of St. Augustine.
John Brown, Pete Corona, and Leonard Ross combined to hold the Saints to two hits.
–Merle Smith had three hits and Hoover beat Grossmont, 15-7, and the Hoover JV, behind Bill White’s no-hitter, beat the Grossmont JV, 6-1.
–The San Diego junior varsity (11-0) rapped 14 base hits and clobbered Escondido’s varsity, 17-9.
4/18/47
Bud Relyea struck out 17 batters, hit a home run, and pitched a no-hitter as La Jolla routed Escondido, 18-0.
–Paul Kaneyuki gave up one hit and Point Loma defeated host Oceanside, 7-1. Sweetwater lost at Grossmont, 8-6, and Kearny won a nonleague encounter from visiting St. Augustine, 8-4.
–Gene Launder’s two-run single in the top of the seventh inning tied the score, 6-6, and Launder’s sharp grounder, mishandled by Tommy Martinez, scored Bill McColl in the ninth inning and Hoover edged San Diego, 7-6, at Balboa Stadium.
4/22/47
Point Loma continued to meet and beat all area opposition, taking down Hoover, 6-0, behind Joe Medina’s two-hit pitching on the Convair field.
Medina led off the second inning with a home run and Don Blackman aided the cause with two singles and a double. Hoover coach Les Cassie used 13 players and three pitchers.
–San Diego State’s junior varsity stook advantage of Kearny hospitality, 11-5, and Grossmont rudely welcomed traveler Calexico, 13-3.
–San Diego junior varsity’s streak of 13 consecutive wins was ended at Sweetwater, 10-2.
Nine St. Augustine errors contributed to San Diego’s 11-2 win in Balboa Stadium.
4/23/47
Jack Konte homered and Bud Relyea homered and pitched La Jolla to a 2-1 win at Kearny.
4/25/47
Hoover moved into a first place tie in the Coast League by winning a rematch with Compton at Hoover, 6-4. Ken Clary was touched for 10 hits but went the distance for the Cardinals.
–San Diego shut out Pasadena, 10-0, in a night game in Balboa Stadium.
–Paul Kaneyuki and Point Loma got the best of Grossmont and Art Preston, 6-5, on the Naval Training Center diamond.
— La Jolla and Bud Relyea gave up unbeaten Metropolitan League status in a 5-3 loss at Sweetwater and Kearny was a road winner at Escondido, 7-0.
4/26/47
San Diego clinched the Coast League championship for Hoover when it crushed Compton with an 18-hit attack, 17-4, ending a disastrous, 0-2 road trip for the Tarbabes.
–Fred Weitzen hit two home runs and Ken Clary homered as Hoover beat Pasadena, 13-0, behind Harvey Jones’ six-hitter on the Horace Mann field in Hillcrest.
The Cardinals soon got word of Compton’s loss four miles away in Balboa Stadium and then awaited word on the Southern Section playoffs.
4/29/47
Grossmont beat La Jolla, 8-3, in the lone Metropolitan League game. Escondido took out some frustration with a 20-5 nonleague win over Vista. The Hoover JV blanked the Kearny varsity, 5-0, and Fallbrook topped Julian, 7-0, in a Southern Prep League game.
5/1/47
La Jolla’s Cyril Guthridge gave up three hits and defeated the Camp Elliott Marines, 4-2.
–Don Larsen, who graduated mid-term, doubled home the winning run as the Point Loma alumni beat the varsity, 4-3.
5/3/47
Art Preston hit for the cycle–single, double, triple, and home runstruck out 15 and gave up one hit in Grossmont’s immolation of Oceanside, 21-0.
–Paul Kaneyuki of Point Loma and Bud Relyea of Las Jolla struck out 15 batters each but didn’t do as well with those who made contact.
La Jolla collected 10 hits but committed 10 errors and Point Loma, on the strength of nine safeties, won, 13-6.
–Kearny made six errors and Sweetwater five, but the Red Devils also had more hits, 10 to five, and whacked the Komets, 16-5. St. Augustine won a nonleague contest with Escondido, 10-8, on Ivan Radovich’s two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning.
5/7/47
John Brown socked two home runs and Bill Dugan and Jerry Dahms one each and San Diego won, 18-8, at Long Beach Wilson.
–Point Loma drove Art Preston to cover in the first inning but relief pitcher Fred Weinbrandt kept Point Loma off the scoreboard and Grossmont took an 11-5 victory.
5/8/47
Shortstop Doug Harvey would be the leadoff man for visiting El Centro Central when the Spartans played Hoover in a first-round CIF Southern Section playoff.
Harvey became a major-league umpire and is in the baseball Hall of Fame. Harvey’s presence and command was such that Reggie Jackson once declared that Harvey “was the voice of God.”
5/9/47
Merle Smith hit a two-run home run in the first inning that propelled Hoover to a 13-3 victory over visiting El Centro Central in an opening-round Southern Section playoff game.
Bob Miller, Ken Clary, Harvey Jones, and Ralph Carpenter also drove in two runs apiece for the Cardinals. Clary and Jones held the Spartans to one hit, a single by shortstop Doug Harvey.
–Art Preston struck out 18 batters as Grossmont defeated St. Augustine 3-1. La Jolla’s Bud Relyea struck out 19 Oceanside Pirates in La Jolla’s 5-0 win.
–Phil Adams was 3 for 3 as Point Loma punished Kearny, 15-1, and Sweetwater bombed Escondido, 12-3, as Ordean Olson had three hits and Al Hooper hit a two-run home run. Fallbrook won a Southern Prep League game at Vista, 8-2.
5/9/47
San Diego dropped a 3-0 decision at Tucson in the first of its three, season-ending games against the Arizona squad. The Hillers were restricted to singles by Jerry Dahms and John Verdusco.
5/10/47
Ray Mendoza’s two hit pitching evened San Diego’s season-ending, three-game series at Tucson, 4-1, but the Bears prevailed, 2-1, in the nightcap of the doubleheader.
San Diego won the intersectional series, four games to two, and completed the season with a 19-6 record.
5/16/47
Hoover scored two runs in the first inning and two more in the third and single runs in the fourth and fifth to win at Inglewood, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section playoffs.
Harvey Jones scattered eight hits and Gene Launders and Merle Smith contributed two hits each.
–Point Loma clinched a tie for the Metropolitan League title, 11-2, at Escondido. Paul Kaneyuki spaced 10 hits and the Pointers manufactured 14. Grossmont beat La Jolla, 10-4, and Oceanside took its first league win, 6-3 over Kearny.
5/20/47
Brown Military (4-1) stayed alive in its Southern Prep League pursuit of idle Fallbrook (4-0) as the Cadets smashed Julian, 16-2, in the Cadets’ Garnet Avenue ball bistro in Pacific Beach. Ramona beat Army-Navy, 11-5, and Vista topped San Dieguito, 7-6.
–Grossmont finished 5-1 in Metro League play with a 9-7 win over Kearny and then began a waiting game, hoping for a Sweetwater win over Point Loma which would give the Foothillers a share of the championship.
5/23/47
Point Loma (6-0) claimed the Metropolitan League title, 5-2, over Sweetwater on the Convair Field diamond. Paul Kaneyuki limited the Red Devils to five hits. Fallbrook (5-0) clinched a share of the Southern Prep League title, 10-1, over Army-Navy as Ted Chamness limited the Warriors to one hit.
Host Long Beach Wilson trailed, 1-0, after six innings and then scored two runs each in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings for a 7-2 CIF playoffs, semifinals victory over Hoover.
Wilson, an 18-8 loser to San Diego, won the Southern Section championship the following week, 9-4, over visiting Glendale.
