Another outstanding San Diego High team (27-4) was unexpectedly bounced from the playoffs but Grossmont won a Southern Section championship, joining the similarly successful 1951 squad.
Only one team from each league was invited to the playoffs, so Hoover was a non-participant despite a record that was a reported 24-4.
San Diego junior Deron Johnson was Southern California player of the year. Johnson batted .466 in 118 at-bats and compiled a 14-2 pitching record.
Johnson was the fourth Cavers player to win the honor, preceded by Floyd Robinson (1953), Andy Stagnaro (1948), and Gene Richardson (1946).
San Diego second baseman Jim Gilchrist also made the all-CIF team and pitcher Kent Haws was 4-0 in City Prep League play with an 0.21 earned-run average.
3/2/55
Chula Vista pushed over a run in the top of the ninth to edge Point Loma, 4-3. Bob Franklin relieved Raymond (Teeny) Gurule after the Pointers tied the score with three runs in the eighth.
3/4/55
Staffed with several members of the 1954 Post 492 national champion American Legion squad, Hoover still had to scrap to a 2-1 victory at Chula Vista.
Joel Mogy, with relief from Joe Cottrell in the eighth inning, out-pitched the Spartans’ Bob Franklin. Mogy and Cottrell allowed two hits.
Ron Miller, Vince Kilpela, and Brad Griffith teamed to pitch Lincoln to a no-hit, 8-0 win at Mar Vista.
3/5/55
Dick Daugherty and Tim Carroll were the Mission Bay battery in the first game of a double header at San Dieguito and Bob Lasoya and Mel Rizzo in the second game.
The Buccaneers won both ends, 4-3, and 10-6.
3/8/55
Home team Point Loma probably could live with a 12-11 loss to Escondido, but Mission Bay, a double winner three days before, couldn’t sustain, taking a 21-1 licking from Grossmont.
3/11/55
Deron Johnson and Joe Banks each drove in four runs and hit three-run homers and Johnson and Phil Rico held visiting Alhambra Mark Keppel to three hits in a 12-4 San Diego win.
3/12/55
Hoover scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to win a Saturday morning game with El Centro Central, 3-2, and blanked Alhambra Mark Keppel, 3-0, in a nine-inning afternoon contest.
Meanwhile, Ontario Chaffey topped San Diego in the morning in eight innings, 4-3, but lost to La Jolla in the p.m. nightcap, 8-2.
3/15/55
Hoover improved to 6-0 in a rematch, 14-2 victory over Chula Vista. The Cardinals’ Ron Wilkins homered and pitched through the eighth inning, when all involved agreed to call it a day, citing cold weather.
John Bates hit a home run and scattered six hits and Helix socked Lincoln’s ace, Vince Kilpela, 8-3, with a six-run fourth inning.
3/17/55
Hoover stood at 9-0 before a weekend trip to Long Beach after a 10-0 win over Sweetwater, propelled by Jim Galasso’s three hits and the two-hit pitching of Larry Elliot and Dick Meza.
San Diego’s Kent Haws shut out guest Helix, 10-0, on two hits, and Lincoln lost at Grossmont, 8-5.
3/18/55
Intersectionals had become popular. Hoover dropped the first of a three-game swing in the North to Long Beach Wilson, 7-5, on the Long Beach City College diamond.
Lefthander Joel Mogy was hit with a pair of three-run homers in the seven-inning loss.
Jim Gilchrist homered and was 4 for 4, sophomore John Harmon was 3 for 4, and centerfielder Pete Gumina doubled and was singled out for nifty defensive play as San Diego topped visiting Lynwood, 4-0.
LIONS ROAR
A press luncheon at the San Diego Club was hosted by the San Diego Lions Club, which announced a 24-team field for the fifth annual event April 4-6.
Sixteen teams, with San Diego as defending champion, will take part in the Unlimited Division, minus defending CIF champion Fullerton, whose Spring Vacation is one week later than San Diego area schools’.
Mar Vista will defend the Limited Division championship in an eight-team bracket, after Ramona and Fallbrook compete in a “play-in” contest.
Hawthorne, Santa Monica, Trona, Inglewood, Inglewood Morningside, and Banning, teams traveling more than 75 miles, will be housed at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
3/19/55
Hoover defeated Long Beach Poly, 10-5, in the morning and Long Beach Jordan, 7-6, in the afternoon in seven-inning games to run its record to 11-1.
—Kearny won at San Bernardino, 3-0, in the morning and lost in the afternoon, 8-1, at Colton in a pair of nine-inning jousts.
3/21/55
Joe Banks’ three-run home run started a San Diego onslaught in a 13-0 win over Sweetwater, as part of a South Bay invasion by the Cavers. San Diego had beaten Sweetwater in February, 30-2. That’s not a misprint.
3/22/55
Joe Banks doubled home Jim Gilchrist and Deron Johnson in a three-run 10th inning as San Diego edged Chula Vista, 5-2 and upped its record to 9-1.
3/23/55
Lincoln’s Brad Griffith hurled a two-hit shutout and the Hornets blanked host Sweetwater, 3-0.
3/29/55
Hoover, with many of the 1954 Post 492 squad, which won the national American Legion championship, fired the first shot in the City Prep League opener.
The Cardinals’ Billy Capps homered and Joel Mogy out- pitched Deron Johnson as Hoover capitalized on four San Diego errors and won, 7-1.
—Grossmont erupted for 12 runs in the first inning and beat its historically most important rival, Sweetwater, 15-5.
—Helix rolled Mar Vista, 21-0; the Highlanders’ Jim Bates stopped the Mariners on one hit.
—Lincoln’s Vince Kilpela won a 2-1 duel from Point Loma’s Bob Imlay.
4/2/55
Point Loma evened its CPL record at 1-1, edging La Jolla in a tension-filled 11 innings, 5-4.
After three hours and 35 minutes, Point Loma catcher Jim Lunsford, taking advantage of what an Evening Tribune reporter said was “relief hurler Dave Jordan’s (slow) windup and the encroaching darkness to swipe home like the proverbial thief in the night.”
Lunsford’s theft came after starter Jack Cravens walked Lunsford, who was replaced by Jordan. Lunsford advanced on a wild pitch and to third on Joe Welch’s sacrifice.
Cravens battled his way out of a jam in the eighth inning when the Pointers loaded the bases with no outs. Vikings coach Jim Bass brought in an outfielder as an extra infielder to successfully thwart a potential squeeze play.
—Joe Banks had three hits and Jim Gilchrist and Joe Dini homered in San Diego’s 11-1 win over Kearny.
Bob Mendoza tripled in two runs and scored the deciding run on a botched relay in Lincoln’s 11-10, seven-inning win over visiting Grossmont.
4/4/55
San Diego was the three-time defending champion, but Hoover was the Unlimited Division favorite in the fifth annual Lions Tournament.
The Cavers blanked Escondido in their opening game and Hoover slugged Sweetwater, 9-1. Second-year Lincoln, lying in the weeds, surprised Inglewood Morningside, 2-1.
San Diego’s Kent Haws gagged Escondido on one hit and Hoover’s Dick Meza struck out 13.
The most compelling game was Lincoln-Morningside, which went eight innings and almost into darkness at Navy Field.
Lincoln lefthander Vince Kilpela allowed four singles and struck out 18.
Morningside led, 1-0, when the Hornets’ Bob Mendoza singled and came all the way home when the ball got past the rightfielder.
Lincoln broke the deadlock when pinch hitter George Hook opened the eighth with a walk, gave way to pinch runner Ron Miller, who was sacrificed to second base by Doyle Seely. Miller scored when Mendoza drove a pitch to deep right centerfield.
Kearny won a marathon, three-hour, 25-minute, 9-8 decision over Inglewood after leading, 8-2.
El Centro Central’s Matt Haughan allowed one hit and beat Ramona, 4-2, in a Limited Division contrast.
4/5/5
San Diego nipped Kearny, 4-3, but lost to Lincoln, 4-3, and Hoover slammed Santa Monica, 14-1 and Hawthorne, 7-2.
Kent Haws gave up a two-run single to Jerry Stryker, but the San Diego pitcher, who relieved Phil Rico in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded, got Tommy Gonzalez on a short fly-out and Butch Flaming and Bud Romero to end the game.
San Diego coach Les Cassie saved his ace, Deron Johnson for the afternoon semifinal at Navy Field against Lincoln, 8-5 quarterfinals winner over Point Loma.
Lincoln’s victory over the Cavers, by far its most significant in the school’s two-year history, came with a knotty problem for coach George Pearson.
San Diego rallied for three runs in the sixth inning, chasing starter Brad Griffith and forcing Pearson to call on his ace lefthander, Vince Kilpela.
Kilpela put out the fire and got through a difficult seventh that landed the Hornets in the Unlimited final against Hoover.
Lions pitchers, by rule, could work a maximum of 16 innings in the tournament.
That meant Kilpela was eligible for only three more innings in the finale at Lane Field.
Pearson had a decision to make: Start Kilpela and hope the cavalry can hold the fort beginning in the fourth inning, or start Griffith or Ron Miller, and bring on Kilpela to protect a possible lead.
4/6/55
Lincoln coach Pearson started right hander Miller, who gave up five runs in two innings. Griffith allowed four more, although two were unearned.
Hoover won, 9-3, and Kilpela pitched only one inning.
The game was shortened from seven to five innings so the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Seals could start their Pacific Coast League contest with minimal delay of the scheduled 8:15 p.m. first pitch.
Hoover coach Bill Matthie had a rested starter, Larry Elliot, a lefthander who struck out nine and walked six. The Cardinals’ Gene Leek hit a three-run home run over the 360-foot sign in right field in the top of the second.
Kilpela was named the tournament’s most-valuable player.
4/15/55
Grossmont pounded Helix, 11-1, behind Earl Carlton’s home run and six-hit pitching and battery mate Al Hall’s five hits—three singles, double, and home run.
—Lincoln was surprisingly leading the CPL with a 3-0 record (Hoover and Sn Diego were 3-1) after Brad Griffith’s four-hitter set down Kearny, 6-2.
Leroy Dotson’s single scored Percy Campbell for a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning and George Hook’s two-run homer in the sixth was enough for the win.
—Deron Johnson was 3 for 4 with four runs batted in and Jim Gilchrist was 3 for 6 as San Diego beat Mission Bay. 21-2.
4/19/55
Gene Leek hit two home runs and Tommy Rinks and Parker Olsen hit back-to-back home runs as Hoover slugged Lincoln and lefthander Vince Kilpela, 9-0, on the Hoover field.
—Grossmont took a two-game lead in the Metropolitan League with an 18-0 win over Mar Vista, while Helix beat Chula Vista, 6-4, to tie the Spartans for second place.
4/22/55
Art Thomson gave up one hit and struck out 15, and the Ramona offense did the rest in a 27-0 win over San Miguel School.
—Grossmont moved to 6-0 and clinched a tie for the Metropolitan League title with two games remaining.
—The Foothillers beat Sweetwater, 7-1, behind Skip Fenn’s three-hit pitching.
—Rudy Rudzinski tripled to drive in three runs in Helix’ four-run eighth inning that was the difference in a 5-4 win over Mar Vista.
4/29/55
Chula Vista pitcher Bill Collins outlasted Chester Carlton and Skip Fenn and the Spartans stayed alive in the Metropolitan circuit with a 7-6 victory over Grossmont.
The Foothillers were 6-1 and Chula Vista was 5-2, tied with Helix after the day’s action.
—John Poplis scattered five hits and Mar Vista won its first league game, 8-5, over Sweetwater.
—Deron Johnson hit an opposite field home run beyond the press box that looks down on the Hoover grandstand and baseball field as the Cavers topped the Cardinals and moved into first place in the CPL, each with a 5-0 record.
Kent Haws, the Cavers’ No. 3 pitcher at the start of the season, blanked the Redbirds on four hits.
5/2/55
Hoover recovered from its loss to San Diego by punishing neophyte Mission Bay, 26-6, after opening with a 13-run salvo in the first inning and firing another of eight runs in the eighth.
Gene Leek hit a grand slam home run in the first inning, big blow of the Cardinals’ 21 hits. Larry Elliot allowed three hits and struck out 18 and held the Buccaneers scoreless until they scored three each in the eighth and ninth innings.
5/5/55
Mel Bratley homered and Dick Williams allowed two hits in Grossmont’s 14-0 win over Mar Vista.
—George Van Es hit a three-run homer and pitched San Dieguito to an 11-3, Avocado League win over Oceanside.
—Deron Johnson gave up two hits, struck out 15, did not walk a batter, and won a 1-0 duel against La Jolla’s Jack Cravens as San Diego pushed across a run in the ninth inning.
The Cavers’ Dave Conger reached base on an error and Steve Allen pinch ran. John Harmon’s double scored Allen from first.
San Diego (8-1) maintained a one-game, City Prep League lead over Hoover, which beat Point Loma, 3-0.
5/15/55
Point Loma took a first-inning, 4-0 lead over visiting San Diego and kept the Cavers at a distance until San Diego scored a run in the eighth inning and three in the ninth to tie.
The Cavers manufactured three runs in the 11th inning to win, 7-4.
The rally include a bunt hit, fielder’s choice, sacrifice bunt, catcher’s error for one run, a sacrifice fly for another run, a base on balls, and Joe Dini’s double, which scored John Harmon.
—Dave Jordan’s one-hitter was enough for La Jolla to handcuff Lincoln, 3-0.
—Grossmont (10-1) locked the Metropolitan League title with an 8-2 win over Chula Vista (8-3) at Grossmont.
Dick Williams, Allen Hall, and Jerry Barrows each hit home runs for the Foothillers.
—Brown Military had 14 hits, but took more advantage of 13 Julian errors in a 29-6 victory in the mountain community.
5/19/55
San Diego won its second straight CPL title and third in the six-year history of the league with a 2-1, 10-inning victory over visiting Lincoln.
Deron Johnson’s double with one out in the 10th scored Don Leslie from second base and gave the Cavers a league record of 11-1, all 11 wins coming after an opening-game, 7-1 loss to Hoover.
Hoover finished second at 10-2. Lincoln, which lost three of its last four, was third at 6-6, followed by La Jolla and Point Loma, each 5-7; Kearny, 4-8, and Mission Bay, 1-11.
Lincoln’s Vince Kilpela and the Cavers’ Kent Haws battled into the 10th, when Haws walked Kilpela to start the inning and was relieved by Johnson, who retired the side.
Johnson (6-1) was credited with the victory, but the league’s winningest pitcher was Hoover’s Larry Elliot (7-0).
—Elliot relieved Joel Mogy in a 5-5 game in the top of the sixth inning. The Cardinals scored 13 runs in the bottom of the sixth for an 18-5 victory over Kearny.
5/20/55
Grossmont, which toiled in the City Prep League from 1951-54 and won the CIF Southern Section championship in ’51, was back home in the Metropolitan loop and a 11-1 success.
Coach John Hancock’s Foothillers drubbed Helix, 11-2, in the final league game to finish two games ahead of Chula Vista (9-3). Helix was 6-6 and Mar Vista and Sweetwater, each 2-10, brought up the rear.
5/25/55
Hoover’s baseball season was over, but many of the Cardinals already were preparing for the opening of the American Legion Post 492 season.
Meanwhile, Post 6, winner of national championships with largely San Diego High players in 1938 and ’41, was resuming competition after several years’ absence.
Legion qualification was for players age 13-19.
5/27/55
Deron Johnson struck out 16, allowed 4 singles, and tripled and singled in three runs as San Diego stunned Baldwin Park, 13-0, in a second-round playoff (the Cavers received a first-round bye) at Beeson Field on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot base.
Jim Gilchrist doubled twice and had four hits. John Harmon and Dave Conger each had a single and double and combined for five runs batted in.
The Braves did not advance a runner past second base.
Grossmont hurdler Skip Fenn struck out 16 and his teammates lashed Oceanside pitching for 18 hits in a 21-2 Foothillers’ small schools, semifinals playoff romp. Grossmont was scheduled to play Army-Navy in the first round, but the cadets declined to participate, forfeiting.
Allen Hall homered twice and Gary Freymiller doubled and homered, positioning the La Mesans for a championship game against Puente, which topped Thermal Coachella Valley, 6-3, in the other semifinal.
6/2/55
The usually reliable San Diego defense betrayed the Cavers with seven errors that led to four unearned runs and a stunning, 7-3 loss to the 22-6 Fullerton Indians, who shocked the Cavers in the 1954 playoffs.
The game was played at La Palma Park in Anaheim, two miles South of the Fullerton campus.
The Cavers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Jim Gilchrist’s home run. They broke a tie in the fifth to lead, 3-2, when Deron Johnson’s third consecutive double scored Gilchrist.
Johnson replaced Kent Haws on the mound in the sixth inning and was the victim of two unearned runs that gave the Indians a 6-3 lead.
Fullerton, which lost to Los Angeles Loyola in the 1954 finals, would bow again in the finals, losing in 14 innings, 6-5, to Montebello.
6/3/55
Gary Freymiller doubled and tripled and drove in four runs, and Skip Fenn pitched Grossmont to an 8-2 championship game victory over Puente.
Fenn struck out 11, giving him 105 in his last 81 innings and an overall record of 14-2.
Coach John Hancock was at the helm when the Foothillers won the Southern Section title in 1951.
