2023-24 Boys Week 4: Carlsbad, Montgomery 1-2 in Votes
John Maffei’s weekly Union-Tribune poll.
#
TEAM
RECORD
POINTS
PREVIOUS
MAX-PREPS
CAL-HI SPORTS
1
Carlsbad
19-2 (11)
164
1
9/7
15/13
2
Montgomery
19-2 (6)
156
2
18/15
21/21
3
St. Augustine
19-3
139
3
16/14
22/22
4
Torrey Pines
16-5
119
4
41/44
29/30
5
Santa Fe Christian
15-6
92
5
77/75
NR/NR
6
La Jolla Country Day
16-5
81
6
57/64
NR/NR
7
Cathedral
15-6
52
7
104/115
NR/NR
8
La Costa Canyon
13-5
51
8
72/77
NR/NR
9
Mission Hills
16-6
36
10
128/136
NR/NR
10
Mission Bay
14-8
20
9
93/95
NR/NR
Others receiving votes Olympian (20-0, 19 points), San Marcos (16-5, 4), Rancho Buena Vista (16-6, 2), San Diego Southwest (20-2, 1).
First-place votes in parenthesis.
Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Bold entries in columns are up-to-date rankings followed by previous. Cal-Hi Sports’ and Max Preps’ represent state rankings. NR—Not ranked.
Records as of Monday, Jan. 22.
VOTING PANEL
John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
Aaron Burgin, Fulltime Hoops
Steve Brand, Eric Williams, Freelance writers.
John Kentera, Freelance Contributor.
Rick Smith, partletonsports.com.
Adam Paul, eastcountysports.com.
Braden Suprenant 97.3 FM The Fan.
Bodie DeSilva, scoreboardlive.com.
Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM.
Joe Evangelist, San Diego Coaching Legends Committee.
Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez, CIF San Diego Section.
Rex Johnson, CIF Advisory Committee.
1973 Baseball: Huddleston’s Pointers Continue City Dominance
Dick Huddleston had background as football player and football and baseball coach.
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.
Hoover’s David Todd (left) congratulated Mike Schlapler after home run in second inning. Cardinals didn’t have much to smile about after that, losing, 14-3, to Crawford.
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.
Rick Brown of Monte Vista barged into El Capitan’s Eddie Rutledge, who tagged out runner in run down. El Capitan won, 5-4.
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.
Crawford’s Dennis Snead tried to get to ball (lower left) as Granite Hills’ Larry Downs scrambled to touch home plate, but Downs was ruled out for interfering with Colts’ shortstop as he advanced from second base.
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.
Bob Casanova of El Capitan slid into a tag out at second base against University, which advanced, 5-4.
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.”
2023-24 Boys Week 3: Status Quo Prevails 1 Through 9
The top nine positions lingered, with only Mission Hills, on a 10-game win streak, displacing San Marcos at No. 10. Olympian, the only undefeated team at 20-0, and Mission Bay with three more wins, stayed where they were.
John Maffei’s The San Diego Union-Tribune poll.
#
TEAM
RECORD
POINTS
PREVIOUS
MAX-PREPS
CAL-HI SPORTS
1
Carlsbad
17-2 (11)
164
1
7/8
13/13
2
Montgomery
18-2 (6)
154
2
15/16
21/21
3
St. Augustine
17-3
139
3
14/17
22/22
4
Torrey Pines
14-5
119
4
44/43
30/31
5
Santa Fe Christian
14-6
104
5
75/75
NR/NR
6
La Jolla Country Day
14-5
82
6
64/63
NR/NR
7
Cathedral
14-6
42
7
115/101
NR/NR
8
La Costa Canyon
12-4
39
8
77/82
NR/NR
9
Mission Bay
13-7
26
9
136/157
NR/NR
10
Mission Hills
14-6
22
NR
95/211
NR/NR
Others receiving votes
San Marcos (15-4, 20 points), Olympian (20-0, 19). San Diego Southwest (18-2, 2), Hoover (13-7, 1), Rancho Buena Vista (14-6, 1).
First-place votes in parenthesis.
Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Bold entries in columns are up-to-date rankings followed by previous. Cal-Hi Sports’ and Max Preps’ represent state rankings. NR—Not ranked.
Records as of Monday, Jan. 15.
VOTING PANEL
John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
Aaron Burgin, Fulltime Hoops
Steve Brand, Eric Williams, Freelance writers.
John Kentera, Freelance Contributor.
Rick Smith, partletonsports.com.
Adam Paul, eastcountysports.com.
Braden Suprenant 97.3 FM The Fan.
Bodie DeSilva, scoreboardlive.com.
Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM.
Joe Evangelist, San Diego Coaching Legends Committee.
Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez, CIF San Diego Section.
Rex Johnson, CIF Advisory Committee.
2023-24 Girls Week 3: Mission Hills Stays No. 1
The Lady Grizzlies of Mission Hills overpowered Westview, 71-37, and Rancho Bernardo, 70-27, and stayed on top of the San Diego Section poll. The Max Preps state No. 21 and Cal-Hi Sports No. 16 club lost to State No. 10 Folsom, 58-49, and defeated Portola Valley Priory, 66-50, in the Stockton St. Mary’s Martin Luther King event.
Next up for coach Chris Kroesch’s squad is a Wednesday, Jan. 17 game, against 13-5 Poway.
† First-place votes in parentheses. Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Max Preps and Cal-Hi Sports are state rankings. NR/Not ranked.
The San Diego Union freelance representative Don Norcross and county-wide coaches participate in the poll.
Records as of Monday, Jan. 15.
2023-24 Boys Week 2: Four Teams at Top Separating From Field
John Maffei’s The San Diego Union-Tribune poll.
#
TEAM
RECORD
POINTS
PREVIOUS
MAX-PREPS
CAL-HI SPORTS
1
Carlsbad
14-2 (11)
164
1
8/8
13/19
2
Montgomery
16-2 (6)
158
2
16/12
21/24
3
St. Augustine
15-3
137
3
17/17
22/NR
4
Torrey Pines
13-4
119
4
43/42
31
5
Santa Fe Christian
12-5
96
6
75-98
NR/NR
6
La Jolla Country Day
13-5
65
5
63/82
NR/NR
7
Cathedral
13-5
52
8
101/118
NR/NR
8
La Costa Canyon
11-3
44
9
77/82
NR/NR
9
Mission Bay
10-7
29
7
157/149
NR/NR
10
San Marcos
13-4
18
10
211/219
NR/NR
Others receiving votes
Mission Hills (12-6, 15 points), Olympian (17-0, 12). San Diego Southwest (16-2, 5), Hoover (12-6, 1).
First-place votes in parenthesis.
Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Bold entries in columns are up-to-date rankings followed by previous. Cal-Hi Sports’ and Max Preps’ represent state rankings. NR—Not ranked.
Records as of Monday, Jan. 8.
VOTING PANEL
John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
Aaron Burgin, Fulltime Hoops
Steve Brand, Eric Williams, Freelance writers.
John Kentera, Freelance Contributor.
Rick Smith, partletonsports.com.
Adam Paul, eastcountysports.com.
Braden Suprenant 97.3 FM The Fan.
Bodie DeSilva, scoreboardlive.com.
Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM.
Joe Evangelist, San Diego Coaching Legends Committee.
Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez, CIF San Diego Section.
Rex Johnson, CIF Advisory Committee.
2023-24 Girls Week 2: Grizzlies, Torreys Prosper
The status quo prevailed as Mission Hills added two, and La Jolla Country Day, one win in the new year. Bonita Vista jumped into No. 6 with a win over Francis Parker. Scripps Ranch (9-8) dropped off with a loss to Cathedral Catholic (8-6).
This week tests the Lady Grizzlies vs. No. 3 Westview and No. 4 Rancho Bernardo, while the Lady Torreys face two lesser ranked NorCal teams in Stockton.
The Week 2 poll follows weekly Top 10 polls that were newspaper-published since the season start in November.
