Dewey (Mike) Morrow ended a remarkable, 20-season run at San Diego High that included 15 Coast League championships and 10 Southern California titles from 1927, excluding the World War II, 1942-45 seasons.
Morrow’s final Hillers team was 17-10 and its .630 winning percentage, excellent by almost any measure, his lowest. Morrow’s overall record against high school teams was 281-49 (.852) and 367-97 (.788) versus all opponents, according to Don King’s Caver Conquest history of San Diego athletics.
Morrow was switching jobs with Les Cassie and figuratively passed Cassie on the way, Cassie becoming coach at the high school and Morrow succeeding Cassie at San Diego Junior College, across Russ Boulevard from the Hillers’ campus.
2/28/50
Frank Sanfillipo and Charlie Powell hit home runs in San Diego’s 7-6 win over La Jolla. SanFillipo’s three-run, 340-foot blast landed in the left-centerfield seats on the East side of Balboa Stadium. Powell’s two-run shot, estimated at 350 feet, came with one man aboard.
3/4/50
Hoover opened the season with a doubleheader sweep at La Jolla, 9-5, and 2-0. Ralph Buckingham allowed one hit in the nine-inning opener; Bert Grigsby scattered eight hits in the seven-inning nightcap.
3/5/50
John Nelson, Bob Stipp, and Dan Baker hit home runs and Kearny essentially took batting practice, bombing visiting Escondido, 21-2. Kearny’s junior varsity beat the Cougars’ JV, 20-0, at Escondido.
–No published score, but word reached that St. Augustine defeated its faculty by one run.
3/9/50
Ray Preston, Dick Priest, and Blain Thomas combined to pitch Grossmont’s 12-0 win over St. Augustine at Golden Hill Playground.
3/11/50
Ralph Buckingham hurled a no-hitter and struck out 13 Chula Vista batters in Hoover’s 5-0 victory. Dick Hartley had two hits, scored two runs, and drove in another.
–La Jolla, backed by Warner Benjamin’s and Tom Tomaiko’s home runs and seven San Diego errors, handed the Hillers their first defeat after five victories, 10-5.
–Mike De Scisciolo’s pinch hit, grand slam home run was the difference in Sweetwater’s 6-2 triumph against visiting St. Augustine.
3/14/50
Grossmont’s Blain Thomas, who transferred in from Norfolk, Virginia, gave up home runs to Bob Stipp and Tom Eggert, but stuck around for a 12-10, complete-game win over Kearny.
—Bert Grigsby struck out 15 and spaced eight hits in Hoover’s 8-5 victory over Point Loma. First baseman Art Bunge got the Cardinals off with a three-run home run in the first inning.
–Four-hit pitching by Clyde Thomas and a 14-hit attack was too much for Chula Vista as San Diego routed the Spartans, 19-2.
3/17/50
A crowd estimated at 4,500 at Lane Field saw the South defeat the North, 5-4, in the second annual Metropolitan League carnival.
The matchups (South teams first) were Chula Vista versus Sweetwater, Escondido versus Oceanside, Kearny versus San Dieguito, and Point Loma versus La Jolla.
The Southern Prep League’s San Dieguito filled in for Coronado, which again did not field a team because there was a lack of a suitable playing facility on the peninsula.
The South’s winning run came in the seventh inning, when Point Loma’s Nat Jones singled and Manny Gomes was safe on an error, Jones advancing to third.
Jones scored when the La Jolla’s third baseman threw wildly to home after fielding Izzy Luz’s grounder.
–Hoover first baseman Chuck Kennedy was 4 for 4 with three singles and a double but it was 10 St. Augustine errors that doomed the Saints to a 12-8 loss.
3/18/50
Point Loma pounded Grossmont, 8-5, and 12-1 in a nonleague doubleheader. Jim Poole scattered seven hits in the opener and Tim Feller and Manny Gomes handcuffed the Foothillers on two hits in the nightcap.
–Bonita High from the Los Angeles area was a stunned guest as Hoover won both ends of a double header at, 22-1, and 12-1.
Ralph Buckingham pitched a two-hitter in the opener. Buckingham was 5 for 9 on the day and Hoover batters had a total of 26 base hits in the two games.
3/20/50
Bob Petty socked two home runs and Hoover bombed Kearny, 13-5.
–La Jolla, backed by 12 Grossmont errors, outscored the Foothillers, 23-8. Vista whacked Fallbrook, 22-1, and San Diego got to Point Loma’s Eddie Serrano and Izzy Luz for a pair of four-run innings in a 12-7 win.
3/21/50
Bob Thorpe wild-pitched in a run in the eighth inning and the Naval Training Center squad defeated San Diego, 3-2, on the sailors’ diamond.
3/24/50
Freshmen Dick Flores and Jim Fletsch homered as St. Augustine won its first game 18-8, at San Dieguito.
–Lou Stills and the so-named Gunner Gundry hit home runs, offsetting Huddy McDowell’s 3-for-4 in Sweetwater’s 9-5 win at Kearny as the Metropolitan League season began.
–Eddie Serrano was 2 for 4, struck out 10, and allowed host Chula Vista four hits in Point Loma’s 7-2 win.
–Escondido topped Oceanside, 8-7, in 10 innings. Cougars pitcher Ben Linares had a no-hitter for seven innings.
3/25/50
Charlie Powell’s two-run home run in the ninth inning won the first game of a doubleheader at Pasadena Muir, 8-6. Powell stole home in the ninth inning of the nightcap and the Hillers completed a sweep, winning, 4-3, at Muir’s neighbor, Pasadena.
3/28/50
Grossmont put a resounding end to San Diego’s 16-game Coast League winning streak, knocking down the Hillers, 14-5, in Balboa Stadium.
The loss, San Diego’s first in Coast League play since 1948, was triggered by a three-run first inning followed by a five-run outburst in the second.
Jay Harris led the Foothillers’ 17-hit attack with a double and three singles. Bob Rand added four singles and Don Lenardi a pair of doubles.
— Warren Goodridge punched five singles in six at-bats as La Jolla ripped Hoover, 8-3.
–Tom Eggert homered and tripled and John Nelson hit for the circuit as Kearny topped St. Augustine, 13-2.
–Kenny Meyers pitched a no-hitter, allowing three base runners and getting support from Tom Oxley (three-run double) and Jack Rosenquist (two-run double) as Vista beat Oceanside, 5-0.
3/30/50
Charlie Powell homered and Frank San Fillipo doubled, driving in four runs, as San Diego took a 5-1 lead. The Cardinals came back to eventually take a 7-5 lead but the Hillers scored two runs in the seventh and one in the top of the ninth to beat Hoover, 8-7.
Ralph Buckingham homered for the Cardinals.
3/31/50
San Diego High was positioned to defend its Pomona 2030 Club championship, which it had won six times since 1935.
(The Hillers won a seventh title in 1933 but forfeited after reports that two Hillers brothers had competed under aliases at a semipro game in El Centro the previous summer.
(CIF honcho Seth Van Patten had brought down the hammer, also taking away the Hilltoppers’ Coast League championship and two playoff wins, plus the opportunity to play Santa Maria for the Southern Section title).
San Diego’s success in the tournament is such that the Hillers twice had retired perpetual trophies, the Carnation Milk bauble in 1938 and the Hollywood Stars’ trophy in 1949.
FIVE OTHER HOPEFULS
Point Loma, Grossmont, La Jolla, Hoover, and Escondido also were in the 32-team field, including Roosevelt and Washington, representing the Los Angeles City Section, which entered for the first time.
4/3/50
Pete Bechtol and Bill Whitson combined to pitch a five-hitter and La Jolla bested Ben Linares and Escondido, 3-2.
Dick Simmons’ infield single in the eighth inning scored Warren Goodridge with the Vikings’ winning run.
–The line for St. Augustine was 1 run, 0 hits, and 8 errors. Grossmont’s Ray Preston hurled the no-hitter but three errors in the seventh inning led to a run for the Saints.
Not to worry. Grossmont defeated the Saints, 20-1.
–Eddie Serrano struck out 14 and outdueled John Tracy in Point Loma’s 1-0 win at Kearny.
4/4/50
San Diego beat Corona, 13-2, in its first-round game at Pomona and then followed the path of two other San Diego squads.
The Hillers lost their second-round game, 5-3, to Covina and joined Hoover and La Jolla with early trips home.
Hoover beat Anaheim, 12-3, and lost to L.A. Roosevelt, 2-1. La Jolla defeated Santa Ana, 9-4, and lost to Metro League rival Point Loma, 12-10.
The Pointers moved into the championship bracket quarterfinals, while Grossmont and Escondido, losers of first-round games (Grossmont to Santa Barbara, 7-0, and Escondido to Newport Beach Newport Harbor, 5-4) were bounced to the consolation bracket.
4/5/50
Point Loma was ousted by Compton, 6-5, and Escondido by Colton, 10-4, but Grossmont remained alive in the Pomona 2030 Club tournament after beating Corona, 3-2, and Santa Monica, 10-1.
4/6/50
Grossmont outslugged Colton, 9-6, for the consolation bracket title of the Pomona 2030 Club event. Santa Barbara outlasted Compton, 12-11, for the championship.
4/11/50
Tee Bennis had a 5 for 5 day at the plate with a home run, double, and three singles and Charlie Powell homered and tripled. San Diego’s Clyde Thomas took advantage, stopping host Compton, 8-1. Hillers outfielder Bob Stratton completed two double plays by throwing out Compton runners at the plate.
–Home runs by Raul Garcia and Dave Brennan propelled Sweetwater to a victory in the Imperial Valley, 9-7, at El Centro Central.
4/17/50
Hoover evened its Coast League record at 1-1 with a 14-1 rout of Grossmont. Joe Duke and Bob Petty homered for the Cardinals.Ralph Buckingham held the Foothillers to three hits and got a boost when his team scored seven runs in the ninth inning.
4/18/50
Ernest Robles drove in three runs with a home run and two singles and struck out 12 in leading Brown Military to a 5-4, Southern Prep League victory over Ramona.
4/19/50
Charlie Powell’s three-run triple in the first inning wiped out a 2-0 lead, but Hoover stormed back with four runs in the fourth and took a 7-4 victory over San Diego in Balboa Stadium.
Powell arrived in time to start the game in right field after attempting two throws and winning the shot put at 54 feet, 5 inches earlier in the afternoon in the Hillers’ track meet at Hoover.
Bert Grigsby kept the Hillers at a distance and Joe Duke singled twice and Bob Petty and Dick Roberts each had two hits for the Cardinals.
4/20/50
Tony Roe allowed three hits, struck out eight, and the San Diego State Frosh scored a 12-1 victory over San Diego in Balboa Stadium.
–Jerry Mayer had three hits and La Jolla, aided by five Point Loma errors, outlasted the Pointers, 9-7, for its fourth consecutive Metropolitan League win.
–Bob Schertzer’s home runs and three singles by Ron Stewart were pivotal in Chula Vista’s 4-2 win over Escondido.
–Sweetwater, limited to five hits by Ken Meyers, profited from 10 errors to score seven unearned runs and top Oceanside, 11-6.
4/21/50
Grossmont split a doubleheader in Pasadena, defeating Pasadena with a 17-hit attack, 16-7, after losing a Friday game to Muir, 6-5.
Three hits, a walk and error led to three runs by the Mustangs in the bottom of the ninth.
The Foothillers trailed, 2-1, after five innings in the second game but scored three runs each in the sixth and ninth innings and four runs each in the seventh and eighth.
–Bob Warner gave up two hits in the seventh inning but outpitched Jim Poole in San Diego’s 3-0, seven-inning, nonleague victory over Point Loma.
–Hoover won a road doubleheader, shutting out Pasadena Muir, 2-0, and Pasadena, 14-6.
Jerry Woods blanked the Mustangs on five hits in the opener and Jerry Newark and Joe Duke each had two hits to lead a 11-hit attack in the second game.
–San Dieguito topped St. Augustine, 9-8, at Golden Hill Playground as the teams combined for 25 base hits.
4/24/50
Tony Roe was too much again for San Diego High. The San Diego State freshman drove in three runs with a pair of two-base hits and the Aztec’ Frosh scored their second victory over the Hillers, 7-4.
4/25/50
Hoover and Compton each improved to 5-1 and remained tied for first in the Coast League. The Cardinals shellacked Grossmont, 16-2, and the Tarbabes blanked Pasadena Muir, 11-0.
Jack MacKay’s three-run home run and a two-run shot by Bob Petty provided offense for Hoover.
–San Diego defeated Chula Vista, 10-6. Frank San Fillipo homered for the Hillers and Ron Stewart for the Spartans.
4/26/50
Escondido pitchers issued 14 bases on balls, including seven in a five-run second inning, delivering a 12-8 victory to Oceanside.
–George Sullivan’s third hit, a single in the bottom of the ninth, gave Sweetwater a second win over Hoover, 7-6.
4/28/50
San Diego’s 13-1 win over Grossmont elevated the Hillers into second place in the Coast League, thanks to a Hoover doubleheader sweep at Compton.
Ralph Buckingham pitched a 9-2 victory in the opener and singled twice and drove in two runs, abetting Jack MacKay’s two singles and three RBI.
Bob Berry slugged two triples and MacKay and Don Bonatus added a pair of doubles as Bert Grigsby hurled the 10-3 win in the nightcap.
Frank Sanfillipo, Marco Bennis, and Bob Jordan each hit home runs and Jordan scattered nine hits in San Diego’s win at Grossmont.
5/3/50
Vista swamped Ramona, 15-0. Grossmont beat Point Loma, 10-5, and Hoover won a wild, 16-13 victory over Kearny at Linda Vista Recreation center.
Twenty-four hits and 13 errors were part of the Hoover-Kearny contest, in which five pitchers and four catchers participated.
5/5/50
La Jolla held on to first place in the Metropolitan League with a 10-inning, 5-4 win over Sweetwater.
The Vikings’ Warner Benjamin tied the game with a two-run homer run in the bottom of the ninth.
Jerry Meyers walked in the 10th, advanced to third on Bill Simmons’ double, and scored the winning run on Frank Chalupenik’s single.
–Hoover (8-1) clinched a tie for the Coast League’s final championship, 8-0 over visiting Muir as Ralph Buckingham struck out 17 and shut down the Mustangs on one hit, a single in the ninth inning.
–Charlie Powell’s grand slam home run was the big blow as San Diego (7-2) beat Pasadena, 11-7.
–Jay Harris homered, tripled, and singled, but it wasn’t enough for Grossmont as Compton became the only Coast League visitor to win, 7-6.
5/6/50
Bert Grigsby gave up seven runs, three earned, but Hoover scored a 17-7 win over Pasadena that clinched the Coast League championship for the Cardinals.
Hoover (9-1) finished ahead of San Diego (8-2), which defeated Compton, 4-1, as Bernie Hernandez collected three hits and Clyde Thomas two extra base hits while winning a pitching matchup against future major leaguer Bennie Daniels.
5/13/50
Bill Whitson’s three-hit pitching and Bill Simmons’ three hits paved La Jolla’s 5-0 victory over Chula Vista. The Vikings concluded the Metropolitan League campaign with a 6-0 record.
–Eddie Serrano held Escondido to two hits in Point Loma’s 10-2 victory which clinched second place for the 5-1 Pointers.
5/15/50
A two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning by Santa Ana’s Tom Miller brought the Saints from behind and eliminated Hoover, 2-1, in the CIF Central Group playoffs.
Hoover was the only team from the area to participate in the playoffs. Metropolitan League squads maintained a policy of usually declining.
