1973 Baseball: Huddleston’s Pointers Continue City Dominance
Baseball in the San Diego Section was an urban game.
Point Loma became the sixth different and overall 11th city squad in the Section’s 13 seasons to win the Class AA championship when it defeated Hoover, 12-2, in the playoff finals.
The Pointers, who fell to University in the 1972 championship, were coached by Dick Huddleston, who became a champion in two sports.
Huddleston was a starting tight end and linebacker at Escondido when the Cougars won the first San Diego Section football championship in 1960. He also would win a title as a coach in football, leading La Jolla to a 13-0 season and defeating St. Augustine, 14-6 in the 1993 title game.
4/30/73
Wayne Steele started for Hoover in a rivalry game with Crawford, got into trouble and was relieved, going to centerfield.
Steele returned to the mound in the second inning and was relieved again, going to centerfield, where Steele remained until taking the mound again in the fourth inning.
Steele and three other Cardinals pitchers allowed only seven hits but virtually “walked the ball yard” at Hoover.
Reese Mitchell improved to 9-2 and Crawford (10-4) took the Eastern League lead with a 14-3 victory. Hoover fell to 9-5.
5/2/73
Hilltop (12-1) clinched the Metropolitan League championship, 7-0 over Marian.
Coupled with Castle Park’s 3-1 victory against Chula Vista (8-5), the Lancers took a four-game lead over the Spartans with three to play.
Hilltop, 17-3, overall got four-hit pitching from Dan Flanagan. Castle Park’s Scotty Burney gave up five hits.
5/4/73
Helix and pitcher Bob Watkins threw shadow on the presumed Grossmont League title game of May 8 between Monte Vista and El Capitan.
Watkins beat El Capitan, 4-1, ending the Vaqueros’ 13-game winning streak and clinched the victory with a three-run home run in the sixth inning.
Monte Vista, 3-2 winner over Grossmont, took possession of first place with a 10-2 record.
El Capitan fell to 9-3 and Helix, the defending champion, was 7-4, tied for third with Granite Hills.
With two games to play, the win was significant for the Scots. The first three finishers make the playoffs.
—Idle Point Loma backed into a tie for the Western League championship, when Clairemont lost to University, 2-1.
Point Loma (11-6), which was 2-4 after six league games but had won nine of its last 10, led Clairemont by two games with two to play. The Chieftains, once 7-0, had faded to 9-7.
5/8/73
El Capitan (10-3) beat Monte Vista (10-3), 5-4, to throw the Grossmont League race into a tie with one game remaining.
With two runners on and none out in the fourth inning, junior Gary Armstrong, a .330-hitting shortstop, came on in relief and pitched four scoreless innings for the Vaqueros, who won on Gary Philips’ run-scoring single in the fourth.
—Point Loma won its third Western League championship in the last four years, 9-3 over Kearny. Steve Grimes (7-1) pitched a seven-hitter and homered for the Pointers (12-6).
5/9/73
Crawford, 8-1 down the stretch and 11-5 overall, earned a tie for the Eastern League title, 7-1, over St. Augustine as Gary Williams pitched a four-hitter and outfielder-turned catcher Dennis Snead was 2 for 3, scored two runs and drove in another.
5/11/73
Crawford, Hilltop, and Mission Bay clinched league titles and Monte Vista and El Capitan shared one, leaving it to the bosses to declare a champion and recipient of a better seed in the playoffs.
Crawford won its sixth Eastern League gonfalon since 1963, shutting out Lincoln, 5-0, for the Colts’ ninth win in the last 10 games, compliments of Reese Miller’s two-hit pitching.
—Hilltop closed a 19-4 regular season, best since 16-4 in 1964, with an 8-0 win over Metropolitan loop rival Sweetwater.
—Oceanside scored five times in the first inning and beat San Marcos, 7-4, for the Avocado League crown. First-year San Pasqual finished fifth in the 10-team circuit.
—El Capitan beat Grossmont, 6-3, and Monte Vista topped El Cajon Valley, 6-4, the teams sharing the Grossmont title. There was no question who would receive the top playoff seed. El Cap was 3-0 versus the Monarchs.
—Point Loma and Clairemont began playing at 3 p.m., and called it a day at 7:16 p.m., after the teams, scoreless after the fourth inning, struggled to a 3-3 tie in 12 innings.
The game would not be entered into league standings because no decision was reached, slipping Clairemont into third place behind University, which whipped Mission Bay, 6-1.
FINAL STANDINGS
WESTERN LEAGUE
| LEAGUE | OVERALL | |||||||
| TEAM | WON | LOST | Pct. | GBL | WON | LOST | TIE | Pct. |
| Point Loma | 12 | 5 | .706 | — | 14 | 7 | 1 | .659 |
| University | 11 | 7 | .611 | 1 1/2 | 15 | 10 | 0 | .600 |
| Clairemont | 10 | 7 | .588 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 1 | .568 |
| Kearny | 9 | 9 | .500 | 3 1/2 | 11 | 13 | 0 | .458 |
| La Jolla | 7 | 11 | .389 | 5 ½ | 8 | 14 | 0 | .364 |
| Mission Bay | 7 | 11 | .389 | 5 ½ | 7 | 15 | 0 | .318 |
| Madison | 6 | 12 | .333 | 6 ½ | 8 | 14 | 0 | .364 |
EASTERN LEAGUE
| LEAGUE | OVERALL | ||||||
| TEAM | WON | LOST | Pct. | GBL | WON | LOST | Pct. |
| Crawford | 13 | 5 | .722 | — | 15 | 7 | .682 |
| St. Augustine | 11 | 7 | .611 | 2 | 13 | 9 | .591 |
| Hoover | 10 | 8 | .556 | 3 | 13 | 10 | .565 |
| Patrick Henry | 9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | 13 | 11 | .542 |
| Morse | 9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | 10 | 12 | .455 |
| San Diego | 6 | 12 | .333 | 7 | 9 | 13 | .409 |
| Lincoln | 5 | 13 | .278 | 8 | 7 | 16 | .304 |
METROPOLITAN LEAGUE
| LEAGUE | OVERALL | ||||||
| TEAM | WON | LOST | Pct. | GBL | WON | LOST | Pct. |
| Hilltop | 14 | 2 | .875 | — | 19 | 4 | .826 |
| Castle Park | 11 | 5 | .688 | 3 | 15 | 8 | .652 |
| Chula Vista | 10 | 6 | .625 | 4 | 15 | 9 | .625 |
| Mar Vista | 9 | 7 | .563 | 5 | 11 | 11 | .500 |
| Bonita Vista | 8 | 8 | .500 | 6 | 12 | 10 | .522 |
| Sweetwater | 7 | 9 | .438 | 7 | 11 | 11 | .500 |
| Coronado | 7 | 9 | .438 | 7 | 11 | 12 | .478 |
| Marian | 3 | 13 | .188 | 11 | 5 | 13 | 278 |
| Montgomery | 3 | 13 | .188 | 11 | 4 | 18 | .182 |
AVOCADO LEAGUE
| LEAGUE | OVERALL | ||||||
| TEAM | WON | LOST | Pct. | GBL | WON | LOST | Pct. |
| Oceanside | 14 | 3 | .824 | — | 17 | 5 | .778 |
| Escondido | 13 | 5 | .722 | 1 ½ | 15 | 9 | .625 |
| Orange Glen | 11 | 6 | .647 | 3 | 11 | 8 | .579 |
| Carlsbad | 11 | 7 | .611 | 3 ½ | 13 | 9 | .591 |
| Poway | 8 | 10 | .444 | 6 ½ | 11 | 12 | .478 |
| San Dieguito | 8 | 10 | .444 | 6 ½ | 10 | 13 | .435 |
| San Pasqual | 8 | 10 | .444 | 6 ½ | 8 | 14 | .364 |
| Vista | 7 | 10 | .412 | 7 | 12 | 10 | .545 |
| Fallbrook | 5 | 13 | .278 | 9 ½ | 7 | 13 | .333 |
| San Marcos | 3 | 14 | .176 | 11 | 5 | 17 | .222 |
GROSSMONT LEAGUE
| LEAGUE | OVERALL | ||||||
| TEAM | WON | LOST | Pct. | GBL | WON | LOST | Pct. |
| El Capitan | 11 | 3 | .768 | — | 19 | 6 | .760 |
| Monte Vista | 11 | 3 | .786 | — | 17 | 6 | .739 |
| Granite Hills | 9 | 5 | .643 | 2 | 13 | 10 | .565 |
| Helix | 8 | 6 | .571 | 3 | 12 | 11 | .522 |
| Mount Miguel | 7 | 7 | .500 | 4 | 14 | 11 | .560 |
| El Cajon Valley | 6 | 8 | .429 | 5 | 15 | 10 | .600 |
| Santana | 2 | 12 | .143 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 400 |
| Grossmont | 2 | 12 | .143 | 9 | 6 | 16 | .273 |
SOUTHERN LEAGUE
COASTAL DIVISION/MOUNTAIN DIVISION
| LEAGUE | OVERALL | ||||||
| TEAM | WON | LOST | Pct. | GBL | WON | LOST | Pct. |
| Army-Navy | 8 | 0 | — | Ramona | 8 | 1 | — |
| Christian | 4 | 4 | 4 | Borrego Springs | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| San Diego Military | 4 | 4 | 4 | Julian | 2 | 7 | 6 |
| Francis Parker | 3 | 5 | 5 | Mountain Empire | 1 | 8 | 7 |
| La Jolla Country Day | 1 | 7 | 7 | ||||
5/15/73
SAN DIEGO SECTION PLAYOFFS
CLASS AA
FIRST ROUND
UPPER BRACKET
Carlsbad (13-10) 3, @ El Capitan 4.
The Vaqueros powered up with two-run home runs by John Woodward and Joe Unden.
Castle Park (15-9) 1, vs. University 9, @Kearny Mesa Youth Field.
St. Augustine 3, @Escondido (15-10) 2, nine innings.
The Saints’ Mike Gastelum singled, stole second and third base, and scored the winning run on a passed ball.
St. Augustine’s Mark Briskey homered and drove in another run; the Saints had just two hits off the Cougars’ Paul Ring
Chula Vista (15-10) 2, @Point Loma 5.
LOWER BRACKET
Hoover 2, @Oceanside (17-6) 1.
The Cardinals’ Wayne Steele stopped the Pirates with 13 strikeouts.
Granite Hills (12-11) 2, @Crawford 3.
The Colts’ Andy Marino homered on a 1-2 count leading off the bottom of the 11th inning. Reese Mitchell of Crawford and Mike Ortega of Granite each pitched 10 innings, the maximum for one day, according to CIF rules.
Clairemont (12-10) 1, @Monte Vista 8.
Orange Glen (11-9) 4, @Hilltop 5.
CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP
Ramona 5, @Army-Navy 5 (13 innings).
Ramona and host Army-Navy fought to a 5-5 tie in the Class A championship that was called after 13 innings because of darkness.
Dan Gordon went the distance for the Warriors, who scored four runs in the sixth inning to tie the score. Dan Stockhalper hit a two-run home run for the Bulldogs.
The game would continue three days later.
5/16/73
QUARTERFINALS
UPPER BRACKET
El Capitan (20-7), 4, University 5, @Grossmont College.
The defending champion Dons pieced together five hits and three runs in the sixth inning.
Charlie Tuttle singled in Mike Dunning, who gave up one hit after coming on relief in the first inning, with the winning run.
St. Augustine (14-10) 1, Point Loma 6, @Mesa College.
The Saints committed six errors and Pointers hurler Terry Greaves’ “sweeping curve ball” kept the North Park team off-balance all afternoon.
LOWER BRACKET
Hoover 8, Crawford (16-8) 3, @San Diego State.
Reggie Waller hit an inside-the-park home run and Matt Powell pitched a steady six-hitter for the Cardinals.
Monte Vista (18-7) 1, Hilltop 5, @Southwestern College.
Hilltop profited from five Monarchs errors to score four unearned runs.
5/18/73
SEMIFINALS
University (17-11) 5, Point Loma 7, @San Diego State.
Pitcher Steve Grimes opened the last of the seventh inning with a single, advanced on Steve Vargas’ intentional base on balls, and went to third when Paul Contreras walked. Tom Pike’s two-run double ended University’s quest for a second straight championship.
Grimes and Pike each had two hits. The rest of the team, zero.
Hoover 3, Hilltop (21-5) 1, @Mesa College.
Lefthander Wayne Steele allowed four hits in a powerful pitching performance and the Cardinals were in the championship game for the sixth time in 13 San Diego section seasons.
“I went to my fast ball a lot today,” said Steele, “because (lately) I’ve been throwing my curve ball into the dirt….”
Steele also walloped a 402-foot triple that hit the centerfield fence on one bounce, scoring Reggie Waller and Wayne’s brother, Dwayne Steele. Wayne then scored on David Todd’s single.
CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP
Ramona (9-1) 6, @Army Navy (8-1) 5, 17 innings.
The Bulldogs’ Mark Miller walked to open the top of the 17th inning, which followed the game that was suspended after the earlier, 13-inning tie.
Miller was sacrificed to second by John Skahan and scored the winning run on Brian Blomberg’s single.
Nick Crouch struck out two batters in the bottom of the 17th to secure the victory.
5/19/73
CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP, @SAN DIEGO STATE
Point Loma (18-7-1) 12, Hoover (16-11) 2.
Eight different Pointers combined for 13 hits, including home runs by winning pitcher Steve Grimes (7-1) and Tom Pyke.
Pyke’s three-run clout capped a playoff season of 10 runs batted in after Pyke had hit .206 in the regular season.
“That’s the Tom Pyke we’ve been looking for all season,” said Pointers coach Dick Huddleston. “He hit .600 and stole 25 bases last year on the JV team, so we knew the ability was there.”