San Diego High, for decades the No. 1 team in Southern California baseball, was undefeated and favored to win an 11th CIF championship.
Until….
The Hillers, as they were most often called (besides Cavemen, Cavers, and Hilltoppers) during the era, lost a quarterfinals playoff to a team it had beaten, handily, twice before.
This San Diego team had several players who signed professional contracts and two, Floyd Robinson and Deron Johnson, would have long careers in the major leagues.
The loss (below) ranked as perhaps the most unexpected and disappointing in school history.
NO STOPPING CHULA VISTA
Coach Bob Geyer’s Chula Vista Spartans, closing with 15 consecutive victories won a CIF Southern Group (small schools) trifecta. The Spartans also had claimed titles in football and basketball.
So strong was Chula Vista that it would be placed in the large school (Central Group) playoffs at the beginning of the 1955-56 school calendar.
3/1/54
San Diego High announced a 22-game schedule that included a visit by Orange County power Fullerton and visits to Los Angeles Loyola and Lynwood.
3/3/54
Tony Asaro’s two-run home run and Paul Gaughan’s five-hit pitching was enough for San Diego to win its opener, 2-1, at Chula Vista.
Lennie Arevalo drove in three runs and Percy Campbell homered as new City Prep League member Lincoln, with no senior class, improved to 2-0 with a 7-3 victory over Mar Vista.
Dave Jordan hit two home runs and drove in six and pitched La Jolla to a 9-5 win against San Dieguito.
3/5/54
Edward (Duke) Hottell of Kearny blanked Chula Vista on two hits, 2-0, and home runs by Louie Serrano and Frank Rogers paced Point Loma to a 7-3 win over Mar Vista.
3/6/54
Sophomore Jim Gilchrist hit an inside-the-park home run on San Diego’s diamond and Lee Babbitt scattered eight hits as the Hillers defeated Fullerton, 7-2.
Freddy Tooze and Johnny Bates combined for a no-hit pitching performance and Helix bats and six Brown Military errors led to a 17-0 victory.
3/9/54
Kearny and Escondido and Hoover and St. Augustine couldn’t come to a decision.
The teams headed home after each game was called because of darkness.
Hoover and St. Augustine went 11 innings to an 0-0 standoff, with the Cardinals’ Ron Wilkins and Joel Mogy holding the Saints to one hit.
Kearny and Escondido were at a 2-2 deadlock after eight innings.
3/10/54
Floyd Robinson had two hits and three runs batted in and Horace Tucker and Deron Johnson each had two hits, backing Lee Babbitt in San Diego’s 9-3 win against Chula Vista.
3/12/54
City Prep League teams were 4-0 against outside opponents until independent St. Augustine defeated La Jolla, 5-3.
The Vikings’ Jack Cravens had struck out 12 and allowed the Saints no hits for the first six innings.
San Diego sophomore Deron Johnson struck out 10 and gave up five hits as the Hillers stopped Metropolitan League toughie Sweetwater, 4-1.
3/16/54
Evening Tribune writer Jerry Brucker called it one of the best played games of the (very young) year “in spite of the wind, dust, and cold” on the “bitter-cold Sweetwater diamond.”
The Red Devils beat City Prep League power Hoover, 2-1, on home runs by Jim Redman and Alonzo Boles, and defensive plays that three times cut down Hoover runners at the plate.
Hoover’s Billy Capps was the hitting star with a double and two triples, but was thrown out at home in the first and eighth innings.
Hoover scored in the ninth when Bob Youngs singled with two outs and scored on Gene Leek’s long hit to left, but Leek also was out trying for an inside-the-park home run.
3/17/54
La Jolla and Sweetwater went nine damp innings to a 4-4 tie in National City, but 5 miles North at Lincoln the Hornets and visiting Chula Vista canceled because of wet grounds.
Rain washed out a San Diego trip to Los Angeles Loyola. Escondido’s trip to Point Loma also was off.
3/27/54
Hoover’s trip to El Camino Junior College in Inglewood was rewarded with a 12-6 win over Manhattan Beach Mira Costa as Bob Youngs (four for five) and Jerry Smith (three for four) set the pace.
3/30/54
March came in like a lion but was not going out like a lamb.
The fields at Point Loma and Grossmont, where Kearny and Hoover would open the CPL season, were still wet from a drenching two nights earlier.
Two games, La Jolla’s defending champion at San Diego, and Helix at Lincoln, were worth braving the weather.
Floyd Robinson’s seventh-inning home run was the difference in a pitching duel between the Hillers’ Lee Babbitt and the Vikings’ Dave Jordan.
Babbitt allowed four hits and struck out 10 in the 4-3 victory.
Lincoln’s Vince Kilpela and Helix’ Freddie Tooze each struck out 15, but Lincoln won, 3-2, as Joe Merino scored on David Washington’s eighth-inning triple.
Kenny Lee restricted Sweetwater to three hits and Chula Vista (2-0) beat their Metropolitan League arch rival, (1-1), 6-1.
4/2/54
Trailing, 4-1, after six innings, San Diego scored 13 runs in the final three innings at Grossmont to win, 14-5.
Joe Barrington of La Jolla limited Helix to one hit and the Vikings clinched an 8-3 victory with a six-run fifth.
Kearny’s Edward (Duke) Hottell shut down first-year Lincoln, 5-0.
4/8/54
“Sophomore Bob Imlay, a pink-cheeked right hander who specializes in several varieties of curves, a changeup, and expert control…” was part of the opening sentence in the Point Loma-Kearny writeup by Jerry Brucker of the Evening Tribune.
Brucker was describing Imlay’s two-hit pitching and the Pointers’ 4-1 victory. The Komets’ Bud Clark allowed only one hit but was victimized by walks and outfield errors.
Gene Leek homered and Tommy Rinks hit a pair of doubles as Hoover bombed Grossmont, 15-2. Helix routed Lincoln, 17-3.
Bob Franklin hit two home runs as Chula Vista (7-0) beat San Dieguito, 14-6. Sweetwater (5-2) beat Oceanside, 13-6, and Mar Vista topped Vista, 13-6.
4/12/54
The fourth annual Lions Club tournament opened for approximately 425 players and 32 games in three days at San Diego High, Navy Field diamonds, and an Unlimited Division championship game at Lane Field, home of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres.
Yuma, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, Fullerton, Inglewood, Banning, Brawley, and Thermal Coachella provided out-of-area flavor.
San Diego (Unlimited Division) and Mar Vista (Limited) were defending champions.
All games were scheduled for seven innings, short of the usual regular-season game.
4/12/54
Deron Johnson, who held Sweetwater to three hits, drove in Floyd Robinson with the winning run in the sixth inning of the 2-1 decision after Robinson had tripled.
Thermal Coachella and Oceanside set a record in the Limited Division as the Desert squad outpointed the Pirates, 23-14, in a game of 24 base hits and 12 errors.
Helix’ Ron Svalstad, Oceanside’s Dick James, and Fullerton’s Jerry Fishel hit first-day home runs.
4/13/54
Mar Vista claimed its second straight Limited Division crown, defeating Coachella, 11-8, after eliminating Fallbrook, 2-1.
San Diego gained the Unlimited final by blanking Yuma, 8-0, and Lincoln, 10-0, but the Hillers went to bed not knowing if their championship opponent would be Fullerton or Chula Vista, which were deadlocked at 4 when the game was called because of darkness.
Kearny’s Duke Hottell pitched the first no-hitter in tournament history, 7-0.
4/13/54
Fullerton outlasted Chula Vista, 5-4, in 11 innings to qualify for the championship against San Diego.
The first game of the Lane Field doubleheader (the Padres and Portland Beavers also were on the card) was called after six innings with the Hillers ahead, 13-2.
Floyd Robinson was named tournament most-valuable player after hitting two triples to the farthest reaches of the park and knocked in three runs.
Lee Babbitt allowed four hits and was the championship-game winner for the second year in a row.
4/23/54
Coach Bob Geyer’s Chula Vista Spartans stayed unbeaten in the Metropolitan League by scoring single runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings and winning, 5-4, at Escondido.
Kearny (4-1) defeated defending CPL champion La Jolla, 4-3, behind two-base hits by Tommy Gonzalez and Bud Clark in the ninth inning after the Vikings (4-2) tied the game with three runs in the eighth.
4/27/54
Deron Johnson pitched San Diego to an 18-3 win over Helix, moving the Hillers to 7-0 in the CPL and 17-0 overall.
4/28/54
Kearny (6-1) kept pace with San Diego as undefeated Duke Hottell struggled but held on for a 7-5 victory in a rain-makeup game against Point Loma.
5/1/54
San Diego’s Deron Johnson relieved Lee Babbitt in the first inning and checked La Jolla on two hits as the Hillers ram their record to 18-0 with an 18-3 victory.
Jim Gilchrist and Joe Dini each had four runs batted in for the Cavers.
5/8/54
San Diego’s 20th consecutive win was an 18-5 laugher over Point Loma.
Sophomore pitcher Deron Johnson went the distance. Jim Gilchrist and Scott Armitage each had three hits, and Richie Johnson tripled and homered.
Vince Kilpela out pitched La Jolla’s Dave Jordan and Lincoln earned a third win against eight league losses, 2-1.
5/12/54
San Diego (11-0) clinched a CPL title tie and won its 21st in a row after scoring six runs in the first inning and hanging on for a 6-4 triumph over Kearny (8-3).
The Hillers scored on two hits, five walks and three Kearny errors.
San Diego pitcher Lee Babbitt ran into control problems and walked in two runs in the third, giving way to Paul Gaughan, who kept the Komets at bay until Hugh McMillan doubled, Bud Clark singled, and Bud Romero doubled for two runs in the seventh.
Sophomore Deron Johnson came on in relief after Gaughan walked the leadoff batter in the eighth inning and checked the Komets.
Point Loma was outhit, 12-4, by Helix but won, 7-6.
5/14/54
San Diego (12-0) clinched the CPL championship and won its 22nd game in a row, 13-7, after Hoover (6-6) took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Richie Johnson’s two-run homer in the first inning ignited the Hillers, who scored the next 10 runs.
A bunt safety by Helix’ Ron Hamilton was all Bud Clark allowed as Kearny (9-3) won, 3-0.
5/18/54
Fifteen-year-old Deron Johnson gave up three hits, one a Lenny Arevalo fourth-inning home run over the short right field fence at Lincoln, and San Diego moved to 13-0 in the CPL and 23-0 overall, 7-1.
Defending CPL champion La Jolla (6-7) lost its fourth in a row as Kearny’s Duke Hottell, with a 7-0 league record, pitched the 7-2 win.
Chula Vista (10-0) clinched a tie for the Metropolitan League championship with two games remaining by stunning Vista with a nine-run first inning in an 11-0 win on the Panthers’ diamond.
Escondido (8-2) stayed alive with a 3-2 win over Sweetwater.
There were no field goals or touchdowns but football came to mind when Mar Vista beat San Dieguito, 20-15.
The Mariners, who struck 20 base hits that helped ease the burden of nine errors, led, 19-3, after six innings.
5/20/54
San Diego was roaring into the playoffs with a 24th consecutive win, secured in a 22-2 rout of visiting Helix.
Floyd Robinson hit two home runs, tripled, and drove in seven, completing the 14-game league season with a .508 batting average, six home runs and 27 runs batted in.
Jim Gilchrist backed up Robinson with four hits and Lee Babbitt pitched a three-hit, nine-inning complete game.
5/21/54
Hoover played one game but picked up two victories. An earlier loss to Point Loma was reversed as Pointers officials were found guilty of the Dreaded Administrative Glitch. A Point Loma player was found ineligible and a Pointers victory was forfeited to the Cardinals.
Hoover defeated La Jolla, 7-3, on the City Prep League’s final regular-season day to finish 9-5 behind San Diego’s 14-0 and Kearny’s 11-3. Billy Capps hit a three-run home run and drove in four for Hoover.
Kearny’s Duke Hottell, who relieved Bud Clark in the fifth inning, received credit for an 11-4 win over Grossmont and a league-leading 8-0 record.
5/25/54
Chula Vista, 12-0 and Metropolitan League champion, defeated visiting San Bernardino Pacific, 8-3, in its opening round game of the Southern Section small schools (Southern Group) playoffs.
The Spartans, outhit 7-5, committed one error to the Pirates’ six and all of Chula Vista’s runs were unearned.
5/28/54
San Diego, rested after having received a first-round bye, faced Fullerton, a team the Hillers had beaten, 7-2, and 13-2 during the season.
Fullerton was more formidable than the two losses would have indicated. It reached the quarterfinals with a 14-inning, 3-2 win over 23-2 Ontario Chaffey.
San Diego had a powerful lineup led by Floyd Robinson’s 24-game, .456 average and eight home runs. Others included Horace Tucker (.404), Scott Armitage (.393), Deron Johnson (.373), Jim Gilchrist (.367), and Tony Asaro (.302).
The game had a 2 p.m. first pitch at Lane Field, where the Cavers had defeated Fullerton for the Lions Tournament title, and the Hillers started fast, taking a 3-0 lead after two innings.
But Fullerton hung around and trailed only 3-2 after the top of the seventh.
San Diego scored what appeared to be an insurance run on Robinson’s single and Deron Johnson’s triple to right centerfield in the seventh.
Fullerton scored two runs to forge a 4-4 tie in the eighth inning, driving San Diego starter Lee Babbitt to cover. Deron Johnson came in from right field and maintained through the 10th inning.
Johnson was the losing pitcher after the Indians scored on a single that brought one run home from second base and another on squeeze bunt in the 11th in a devastating, 6-4 loss for the Cavers.
SPARTANS EXACT REVENGE
Chula Vista exacted a measure of revenge in its semifinal, 20-2 victory over Laguna Beach. The Artists had eliminated the Spartans, 19-0, in the 1952 football playoffs.
Coach Bob Geyer’s team was disappointed only in that they wanted to beat the visitors by 19 runs.
Leadoff man and centerfielder Bob Neeley collected four hits in five at-bats, hit two home runs and a triple, and drove in six.
Catcher Vern Sanna was 4 for 6, doubled, tripled, and hit his second home run of the postseason. Bob Lusky also homered.
Laguna Beach was the “home” team because it could not find a suitable site to play the game in its area.
6/4/64
Edson Fielder was 2 for 3 and hit a home run, but the El Centro Central pitcher could not duplicate his feat of 1953, when he pitched his team to the championship over Chula Vista.
The Spartans, backed by busloads and carloads of supporters, won the rematch in the Imperial Valley city, 16-6.
Bob Neeley, who finished the season and Chula Vista’s 15th straight win, with 10 hits in his last 11 at bats (6 for 6 with a double and triple), and Dave Erwin were the only players who also were on the winning football and basketball clubs.
Chula Vista’s Kenny Lee struck out 17 Central Spartans and scattered six hits over nine innings.
San Diego Post 492 won the American Legion championship in the summer of 1954. I can’t be sure, but I think this was made up of San Diego High baseball players. San Diego Post 6 which I think consisted of Hoover HS players won in 1938 and 1941. 1938 team had Ted Williams on it and he is also in the Legion Hall of Fame.
Keep the baseball histories coming!!
Post 492 was Hoover, with Billy Capps as its star. Post 6 was San Diego High. Ted Williams graduated from Hoover in 1936. He was tearing up the American Association at Minnespolis, the Red Sox farm team, in 1938. Working on 1955 baseball and track right now. Tnanks for writing again, Alan.
Brings back fond memories of the old neighborhood. Thanks Rick