1958 Baseball: Cavers Can’t Get Past Long Beach Poly
Another great San Diego High team? Or a very good San Diego team that had punished mostly mediocre opponents?
The Cavemen, 23-1 and one of the favorites for a Southern Section championship, were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the playoffs at Long Beach Poly, a team with a 20-3 record but had not participated in the playoffs since 1934.
The Cavers’ exit, after 17 straight wins, signaled the end to a season, in which four other San Diego squads were ushered out of the playoffs in the first round.
There were many outstanding baseball players in San Diego County, but apparently not enough competition for the legendary local power.
The loss to Poly, which was eliminated in the next round, was hugely disappointing but coach Les Cassie could look forward to the 1959 campaign, as at least five members of his starting lineup, including Iva Tucker, Sam Edwards, Ezell Singleton, Paul Runge, and Willie McCloud, would return to try again the following year.
3/31/58
Eight of nine City Prep League entries advanced on the first day of the eighth Lions Tournament at Navy Field and other venues.
–Mission Bay defeated Inglewood, 3-1, breaking a tie in the eighth inning when Jerry Dinsmore doubled home Andy Cribbs, who had singled. Cribbs held the Sentinels to three hits.
–Lincoln beat Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, 1-0, on five-hit pitching by Nelson Kahn. Louie Hughley scored on a squeeze play in the fifth inning for the only run.
–Mount Miguel’s P.D. (Pete) Jernigan struck out nine and had two hits. Jernigan also walked 19 batters and hurled three wild pitches, but San Diego needed three runs in the seventh inning to put away the Matadors, 12-9.
Hoover dropped a 1-0 decision to Hawthorne for the only loss by a CPL team.
4/1/58
Rain wiped out the entire Lions Club program and forced canceled of the rest of the tournament.
4/8/58
Ezell Singleton walked 13 and hit a batter but allowed only four hits and San Diego moved into second place in the CPL with a 7-1 win over Mission Bay.
—Sweetwater led Kearny, 13-0, after three innings and went on to a 19-1 victory.
4/9/58
Sammy Owens’ single in the fifth inning was the only hit allowed by Gene Fleming in Point Loma’s 4-0 victory, which was the Pointers’ fourth against no losses in league play.
4/10/58
St. Augustine’s George Luna hit two home runs, but Crawford’s Buddy Hunter doubled in two runs in the extra, eighth inning and Crawford won the nonleague contest, 9-8.
—Grossmont, 4-4 in practice games and starting one senior, three juniors, four sophomores, and one freshman, opened Metropolitan League play at home with a 5-3 win over Chula Vista.
Foothillers starter Larry Shuck and reliever John Andreas stranded 11 Spartans base runners.
Andreas came on in the ninth inning when the Spartans loaded the bases with two outs and struck out Bill Foley.
—Tom Dennison was 4 for 4 and Helix stopped El Cajon Valley (8-3) in another opener. Ron Palermo homered for the Highlanders and scored the winning run on a fielder’s choice in the ninth inning.
4/11/58
Point Loma’s 7-2 win at Mission Bay kept the Pointers in first place with a 5-0 record in the CPL and dealt the early, front-running Buccaneers a third straight loss.
John Rebelo kept the Bucs in check on six hits and Larry Willette helped break a 1-1 deadlock in the sixth inning when Willette’s lead-off double was followed by a series of seemingly “I’ve-Got-It-No-You-Take-It” responses by the hosts.
A bunt by Point Loma’s Ray Hermans rolled fair for a hit. Billy Fontana walked to load the bases. Jim Bradford walked and Roger Soares dribbled another base hit down the third base line. Don Smallwood executed a squeeze bunt for a run and pitcher Bill McCormick balked. Terry Love’s sacrifice fly scored Soares with a fifth run and 6-1 lead.
—Iva Tucker gave up a second-inning single to Bill Helming and San Diego scored in every inning but the seventh, including 10 in the fourth, and buried La Jolla, 22-0.
4/14/58
Point Loma went to 6-0 in the CPL and won its 10th game in a row, overpowering youthful Crawford, 8-1, on the Pointers’ diamond as John Rebelo, Gene Fleming, and Billy Fontana allowed two hits.
Fontana had three hits and Ray Hermans and Larry Willette two each.
4/15/58
Point Loma beat La Jolla, 7-2, and San Diego kept pace, overcoming a 4-0 Hoover lead to win, 7-4, propelled by Willie McCloud’s grand slam home run and clinched on run-scoring singles by Ezell Singleton and Paul Runge.
–John Wible’s two-hitter bested Fred Olmsted in a 2-0 duel between pitchers who also were basketball stars, Wible for Helix and Olmsted for Chula Vista.
–Sammy Owens tripled and Tom Goddard pitched St. Augustine to a 4-0 win over Kearny.
–Home runs by Bobby Jordan and Roger Miller led Sweetwater to an 8-5 win over El Cajon Valley, which got home runs from Bill Christianson and Larry Hancock.
4/16/58
Dick Carey led off the game with a home run and Bill Lewin also homered, but Lincoln had to go 10 innings to beat Kearny, 4-3, when Komets pitcher Bob Jesse walked in the winning run.
4/18/58
Ron Palermo’s two-run home run in the sixth inning was the decisive blow in Helix’ 4-2 win over guest Sweetwater, giving coach Dick Gorrie’s Metropolitan League defending champions a 3-0 loop record.
—El Cajon Valley knocked Grossmont out of a share of first place tie with Helix, 6-4, at Grossmont.
John Solomon came on in the second inning for the Braves and kept the Foothillers at a distance for the last seven-plus innings, a stint that included working out of bases-loaded jams in the second and fourth.
4/22/58
San Diego coach Les Cassie surprised when he bypassed right hander Ezell Singleton for lefthander Iva Tucker for the starting pitcher assignment against Point Loma.
Tucker gave up a three-run home run to Billy Fontana that scored Larry Willette and Ray Hermans in the third inning.
At that point the Cavers led, 4-3, and they went on to a 9-3 win to tie their hosts for first place in the CPL.
Paul Runge’s triple with the bases loaded wrapped the victory and Tucker went the distance, giving up four hits and hitting safely twice in two times at bat.
–Jerry Dinsmore hit two home runs and drove in four to back the no-hit pitching of Andy Cribbs as Mission Bay defeated Crawford, 12-0.
–Nelson Kahn struck out seven of the first nine batters he faced and Lincoln shut out Hoover, 8-0.
–St. Augustine’s Fred Najera had a no-hitter into the sixth inning and then gave up three hits but still pitched a 4-0 victory Sweetwater.
4/25/58
San Diego took over first place in the CPL, as Point Loma was idle and falling a half-game behind.
The Cavers, behind Iva Tucker’s grand slam home run, a three-run shot by John Frabotta, and two-hit pitching by Ezell Singleton, shut out Lincoln, 10-0.
–Bill Lucas and Pete Jernigan hit home runs and Mount Miguel rose up from the Metropolitan League cellar to whip Helix, 13-5. The losing Highlanders fell into a first-place tie in the Metro with Sweetwater.
4/28/58
Sweetwater improved to 4-1 and took a half-game lead in the Metropolitan loop behind Bob Jordan’s four-hitter which blanked Chula Vista, 4-0.
5/1/58
The sixteen-game City Prep League schedule was down to five and San Diego and Point Loma were tied with 10-1 records.
—Point Loma drew even with the idle Cavemen with a 3-2 victory over Kearny.
—Grossmont moved into a tie for first place with Sweetwater, each at 4-2, when Phil Groce went all the way for a 13-inning, 1-0 win over Chula Vista.
Sophomore Fred Olmsted hurled 12 2/3 innings for the Spartans, relieved by Dave Petersen.
5/2/58
San Diego was alone in first place again after an 11-2 win at Crawford.
—Mar Vista scored a run in the 13th inning to win at Vista, 2-1.
5/6/58
The day would come when first-year Crawford was a power, but those days seemed far off after the Colts took a 22-0 shellacking from visiting Point Loma.
There was no 11-run mercy rule in effect and Pointers bats made maximum use of 11 hits. Larry Willette, Billy Fontana, and Ted Faris hit home runs and John Rebello cuffed the Colts on two hits.
–Iva Tucker pitched a two-hitter and San Diego profited from 16 bases on balls in an 8-0 win over St. Augustine.
Three walks loaded the bases in the fifth inning and Sam Edwards followed with a triple. Another walk later in the inning preceded a two-run double by John Hutchinson.
–Helix’ Bill Whalen shutout Chula Vista on six hits, 4-0.
–Grossmont and Sweetwater stayed tied for first in the Metropolitan League, the Foothillers defeating Mount Miguel, 12-9, and the Red Devils topping El Cajon Valley, 8-4.
5/8/58
Harold Bell’s one-hit pitching and pair of singles was enough or Fallbrook to defeat San Dieguito, 6-3, in the Avocado League.
5/9/58
Billy Fontana had three singles and a double and his Point Loma teammates bunted safely six times in an 8-2 win over St. Augustine.
San Diego moved closer to the City Prep League championship, 6-4 over Mission Bay despite Buccaneers coach Ernie Beck’s pitching Andy Cribbs and Dave McCormick in alternate innings.
The Cavers’ Sam Edwards had four hits, including a double and triple.
5/13/58
San Diego clinched the City Prep League championship with a 14-0 win over La Jolla, a winless-in-league squad the Cavemen had roughed up, 26-0, in the first round.
—Point Loma dropped an eight-inning, 2-1 decision to Mission Bay and was mathematically eliminated.
The Pointers scored in the last of the
seventh inning to tie but the Bucs punched over a run in the top of the eighth.
—Oceanside bombed Carlsbad, 22-2, and remained a game ahead of Escondido in the Avocado League. A makeup game with San Dieguito was forfeited, improving Oceanside’s record to 11-3.
–Grossmont earned a tie for the Metropolitan loop crown with a 6-4 win over Sweetwater.
STANDINGS
CITY PREP LEAGUE
| TEAM | WON | LOST | P’CT. | GAMES BEHIND LEADER |
| San Diego | 15 | 1 | .938 | — |
| Point Loma | 13 | 3 | .813 | 2 |
| Mission Bay | 10 | 6 | .625 | 5 |
| Hoover | 9 | 7 | .563 | 6 |
| St. Augustine | 8 | 8 | .500 | 7 |
| Crawford | 7 | 9 | .438 | 8 |
| Lincoln | 6 | 10 | .375 | 9 |
| Kearny | 4 | 12 | .250 | 11 |
| La Jolla | 0 | 16 | .000 | 15 |
METROPOLITAN LEAGUE
| TEAM | WON | LOST | PCT. | GBL |
| Grossmont | 8 | 2 | .800 | — |
| Helix | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2 |
| Sweetwater | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2 |
| Mount Miguel | 5 | 5 | .500 | 3 |
| Chula Vista | 3 | 7 | .300 | 5 |
| El Cajon Valley | 2 | 8 | .200 | 6 |
AVOCADO LEAGUE
| TEAM | WON | LOST | PCT. | GBL |
| Oceanside | 12 | 2 | .857 | — |
| Escondido | 11 | 3 | .786 | 1 |
| Mar Vista | 10 | 4 | .714 | 2 |
| Vista | 7 | 7 | .500 | 5 |
| Coronado | 6 | 8 | .429 | 6 |
| Fallbrook | 4 | 10 | .286 | 8 |
| San Dieguito | 3 | 11 | .214 | 9 |
| Carlsbad | 2 | 12 | .157 | 10 |
5/19/58
SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS
A scheduled Central Group playoff between Helix and Sweetwater at Chula Vista to determine the Metropolitan League’s No. 2 team was canceled when the CIF placed both teams in the Southern Section playoffs.
MAJOR DIVISION
FIRST ROUND
5/20/58
San Diego 9, @Newport Beach Newport Harbor 3.
The Tartars were a perplexing opponent. They lost their first 10 games, including two in the Sunset League, and then won 10 in a row.
Lefthander Iva Tucker won his 10th game of the season against no defeats as the Cavemen, trailing, 2-0, slammed six runs across the plate in the third inning and three in the fourth.
John Frabotta walked with two out in the third, followed by Sam Edwards’ single, Ezell Singleton’s double, walks to Henry Gardner and Paul Runge, and another single by Willie McCloud.
Tucker gave up eight hits and walked four and struck out seven.
Point Loma 0, Anaheim 5, @Anaheim La Palma Park.
Two Colonists pitchers combined to stop the Pointers with a no-hitter.
Helix 1, @Ontario Chaffey 9.
Larry Maxie, the Southern Section player of the year in 1957 who would earn the honor again, struck out 17 and held the Highlanders to three hits.
Grossmont 1, Colton 4, @Riverside.
The Foothillers clung to a 1-0 lead until the Yellowjackets’ John Doty hit a grand slam home run in the eighth inning.
Sweetwater 2, @Long Beach St. Anthony 16.
The host Saints raked 20 hits and improved their record to 20-0.
SOUTHERN GROUP
Oceanside 8, @Garden Grove Rancho Alamitos 0.
The Pirates outhit the first-year Pocos, 10-3.
SECOND ROUND
San Diego 11, Long Beach St. Anthony 9, @Beeson Field.
The Saints (21-1) scored three runs on one hit in the first inning and two more in the second before the Cavemen unloaded with seven runs in the second on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot diamond.
Willie McCloud started the San Diego rally with a home run over the left-centerfield wall with two outs in the second inning.
John Frabotta followed McCloud by reaching first base on an error, then Archie Walker singled, Augie Bregante singled, Iva Tucker walked, Sam Edwards singled, and Ezell Singleton homered.
Tucker took to the mound in the fifth inning and starter Singleton moved to centerfield and made what writer Jim Mulligan described as “three heart-stopping catches”.
Singleton’s last was a diving stab of a line drive by future St. Augustine athlete Al Roman. Singleton then fired to second to double up Rom Casaga and end the game.
The Saints out hit the Cavers, 12-6.
5/27/58
San Diego 1, Long Beach Poly 5, @Long Beach Blair Field.
Jeff King allowed a run on a wild pitch in the first inning and then shut the door on the Cavemen, giving up four hits as the Jackrabbits (21-3) shot down the Cavers’ 19-game winning streak and brought an end to a 23-2 season.
Poly, in the postseason for the first time since 1934, handed Iva Tucker his first loss after 11 victories.