Grossmont’s Southern California Minor Division football championship for schools with less than 1,000 students was achieved following a series of competitive and administrative tug of wars.

Coach Ladimir (Jack) Mashin’s Foothillers defeated Calexico High, 9-0, on the Grossmont gridiron to complete an 8-0-3 season that included a championship in the San Diego County League.

With a 4-0-2 league record and two nonleague wins behind them, the Foothillers opened the playoffs at home with a 14-7, semifinal victory over the Oxnard Yellowjackets, Holly Partin scoring the winning touchdown on a 10-yard run, reportedly as the gun sounded to end the game.

The championship was to be decided at El Centro’s Central High, Grossmont taking on the Calexico Bulldogs. But after four hard-fought quarters the teams were tied, 0-0.

Grossmont had a chance to win in the closing seconds, but Partin’s field goal attempt from the 15-yard line, on a sharp angle, “failed to clear the crossbar by less than an inch,” according to Charles Savage, The San Diego Union reporter who had made the three-hour trek across the Laguna Mountains to the Imperial Valley locale.

PRECIPITATION AND THEN NIGHTFALL

“A heavy rain fell during the entire contest,” Savage wrote. “Officials were forced to abandon the required playoff rule at the end of sixty minutes of play because of darkness. This arrangement calls for five plays by each team, with two points going to the eleven making the most yardage.”

Grossmont’s 12-8 advantage in first downs was not a factor.

Savage pointed out that conditions had become such in the Imperial Valley that players and spectators could not follow the action in the game’s closing moments.

Instead of being declared co-champions,   CIF Southern Section rules decreed that the teams  should play again.  Mashin and Calexico coach Ed Covington both announced that the CIF Southern Section  would be requested to fix a playoff date.

“It is probable that the battle will be replayed in the San Diego stadium next Saturday,” Savage wrote.

“Not so fast,” actually words much stronger, were uttered by Calexico’s Covington. Five days after the game a site for the rematch had not been selected.

WHO PLAYS AT HOME?

Long Beach Wilson principal Harry J. Moore was the official who coordinated the CIF Minor Division playoffs.

On Monday, two days following the 0-0 deadlock, Moore notified Mashin that the contest could be played at Grossmont “or any field the Foothillers selected,” according to The San Diego Union.

But Covington protested that the previous game, having been played at El Centro Central (approximately five miles from the Calexico campus) was on a neutral field and that Calexico should be the home team in title game II.

Covington’s argument was specious, but Moore waffled.

Long-distance telephone calls flooded the lines from La Mesa and the Imperial Valley into Moore’s office.  Finally Moore declared that the rematch could be played on the “neutral” Navy Field in San Diego or at San Diego’s City Stadium.

Both venues would be favorable to Grossmont.

The Foothillers argued that they already had made arrangements for a home game, prepared their playing field, and had sold tickets.

PARTIN PAVES THE WAY

Grossmont finally prevailed on choosing of the site, then defeated the Bulldogs before a large crowd on the Foothillers’ field.

Holly Partin was the scoring star for Grossmont.  He kicked a 25-yard field goal in the first quarter and fielded a Calexico  punt and raced 60 yards  to a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Grossmont had a 10-1 edge in first downs and was 2 for 4 on passing attempts, while Calexico did not complete a pass in seven attempts.

Grossmont’s season had begun with the Foothillers scrambling for a game when Mountain Empire dropped out of the County League four days before the eight-game, round-robin league schedule was to begin.

Rumors swirled that the Redskins, who participated in the league in 1925-26, were going to bail.

The Union reported days before that “coaching gossip” indicated the Campo school did not have enough players or suitable talent to compete.

Grossmont filled the open date at the start of the season and scored a 13-0 victory over the San Diego High B team.

COACH FOR ALL SEASONS

Mashin coached two other undefeated teams during his 25 seasons as head coach at the school which overlooks the El Cajon valley from its perch near the Grossmont summit, hard by Interstate 8.

Mashin had posted a 125-66-23 record for a winning percentage of .633 when he retired from the position after the 1947 season. When he passed away in San Diego at age 92 in 1987 Mashin’s career as a football coach and game official was almost forgotten.

Known as the “Fox of the Foothills,” the kindly Mashin also was track and field coach at Grossmont and developed teams that battled mighty San Diego High and other Coast League and City Prep League powers for league and Southern California supremacy.

In the 1950s Grossmont distance runners and field event competitors were among the best in the country.

Mashin and his wife, Virginia, for many years a math teacher at Kearny, had met when both were on  staff at Grossmont. They traveled internationally, attending several Summer Olympics. At behest of the U.S. State Department, Mashin coached Pakistan’s 1956 and first Summer Olympics team.

The Fox still was coaching and developing top-flight shot putters in his seventies.

Mashin’s widow died in 2005. She and her husband left much of their estate, almost $2 million, to the Grossmont Union School District, San Diego Education Fund, the San Diego Hall of Champions, and their alma maters, Purdue University for her and Montana State for he.

SAN DIEGO HIGH ON THE OUTS?

Relations between San Diego High and its Coast League counterparts were viewed with suspicion.

Evening Tribune columnist Ted Steinmann wondered whether the league’s Northern entries were trying to “freeze out” the Hillers, not notifying them of recent league meetings, and creating an embarrassing situation surrounding the appointment of game officials for the Hilltoppers’ home contest against Glendale.

Steinmann wrote that three days before kickoff league president Harry Moore of Long Beach Wilson asked San Diego principal John Aseltine to appoint officials from those available in San Diego.   At game time four Los Angeles-area officials showed up.

The San Diego officials “gracefully bowed out after learning to their surprise that the Los Angeles group had been appointed two weeks in advance,” Steinmann wrote.

Steinmann’s report was at odds with that which was reported by The San Diego Sun, which noted two days before kickoff that game officials were coming from a Los Angeles-area association.

ASELTINE DENIES RUMORS

San Diego High principal John Aseltine issued a statement saying that Coast League officials took no action to oust the Hilltoppers during a league meeting Dec. 6 at Whittier, but Aseltine hinted of a new direction for his school.

“We are strongly considering the proposition of becoming a free-lance school next year (it did not),” said Aseltine, who spoke in concert with his director of athletics and former head football coach, John Perry.

Travel time and travel expenses were cited.

Sitting south and alone in  the “Border Town”, San Diego and its league partners were dogged by distance from 1923-49, the years the Hillers were in the league (not counting 1941 and the travel-restricted World War II period, 1942-45).

The San Diego Sun pointed out that each school year the “Hillers travel more than 100 miles each way for at least three games in all four major sports, football, basketball, baseball, and track and field”.

In addition, all swimming, tennis, and wrestling meets were held at northern schools in the 1926-27 school year, The Sun reported.

“And when northern league members come to San Diego we must split the gate receipts on a fifty-fifty basis,” said Aseltine.

In another move, the CIF said the annual state football playoffs were being canceled.

THE PLACE TO LIVE

Realtor Oscar Cotton, whose promotional vision led to the creation of the San Diego Convention and Tourist Bureau, urged San Diegans to “Go North”, touting the advantages of buying and building on 60-foot residential lots priced from $150 to $350 in Chesterton, an area in the undeveloped Kearny Mesa.

Completion of the Sixth Street Extension had created an artery to what became Ulric Street and the Chesterton and Linda Vista areas. Chesterton also was accessible from “the inland paved highway, Camp Kearny Boulevard”, later known as Linda Vista Road.

The Sixth Street Extension exists today as that snippet of Sixth Avenue, north of University Avenue, that connects with State 163 (and former U.S. 395) into Mission Valley.

SIGNS OF THE TIME

William and Ida Church made history.  They were the first husband and wife in the history of the San Diego Courts system to sit on the same jury.

The Churches were on the panel  trying Hazel Blair, charged with selling beer.

Blair failed to appear as the trial began.  Her sister advised the court that Blair was suffering from “chills and fever”, and her trial was postponed.

BOOK CRACKDOWN

The Evening Tribune reported  that students at San Diego High who lost their books or failed to pay for them would be given a “dishonorable dismissal from school”.

HERE COMES HOOVER

The need for a new high school on the “East side” was evident when  enrollment at Woodrow Wilson Junior High, 37th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, jumped from 1,300 to 1,650.

Hoover High would come along in three years, with Wilson principal Floyd Johnson moving on as principal of the new school.

2 FOR 1 

San Diego offered “bargain day” at the Stadium, a football doubleheader on the final Saturday of the season.

Lathrop Junior High of Santa Ana played Memorial Junior High of San Diego in the opening game, followed by old rivals Santa Ana and San Diego in the nightcap.

HUDDLE UP!

San Diego coach John Hobbs announced that the Hilltoppers would use the “huddle system” before plays against  Santa Ana.

Ashley West usually barked signals for the Cavers from his quarterback position but Hobbs opted for more  security as far as which play the Cavers would employ.

Santa Ana coach Tex Oliver was a former coach at Memorial Junior High.

QUICK KICKS

Grossmont footballers John Cornelius and Walter Barnett went on to long careers in administration…Barnett was Grossmont’s principal from 1959-76…Cornelius was boss when El Cajon Valley High opened in 1955…Grossmont playoff opponent Oxnard was coached by former Coronado mentor John Nichols…John Perry, who had stepped down as coach at San Diego but remained on the physical education staff, welcomed some 600 students to the first annual interclass handball doubles tournament…Oceanside coach Joe Reynolds promised to field a “much better team” in 1927… Oceanside was 0-8 and scored 6 points; it was 1-6-1 in 1926…Coronado picked up Brawley as an opponent after Mountain Empire dropped out of the County League and defeated the Wildcats, 6-0, before 3,000 at Coronado…San Diego High’s Class B team defeated Alhambra’s lightweights,  71-0…San Diego’s game with South Pasadena was switched from Saturday to Friday, allowing  Hillers coaches  to scout Santa Ana, their next opponent… Point Loma completed 15 of 16 passes against Sweetwater…the Pointers-Red Devils game was one of 10 scoreless ties involving San Diego teams… La Jolla erected bleachers for 500 spectators for the Vikings’ game with Sweetwater…Kendall (Bobo) Arnett scored all of San Diego’s points in a 13-9 loss at Pasadena on a touchdown and 35-yard field goal… Monrovia, the opponent for St. Augustine in the last game of the season, was coached by former San Diego High standout and future Cavers coach Hobbs Adams… Whittier came into the game with the Cavers with a team average of 190 pounds, making the Poets the largest high school team in the country, according to The Union… Poly defeated Pasadena 6-3 for the Coast League championship before 10,000 fans at Long Beach’s Burcham Field…Fullerton defeated Santa Maria, 20-13, for the Southern California championship… San Diego High finished the season in Arizona, helping Phoenix Union dedicate its new campus stadium and dropping a 7-0 decision to the Coyotes…almost 1,000 students marched the night before, rallying for the “interstate game”…tackle Gordon Cox was named Captain at Sweetwater…Cox would become the Red Devils’ head coach in 1943…Research by The San Diego Sun writer Nelson Fisher revealed that 40 San Diego High graduates had earned college football letters since 1914…thirteen schools, from  USC to California and Notre Dame to Centre, were represented…leading 49-0 at halftime, St. Augustine and South Pasadena Oneonta Academy agreed to eight-minute quarters for the second half…the Saints didn’t slow down with the final score 73-0….

 

Lucky Sutton became one the 10 highest single-season scorers in San Diego County history this season.

Sutton’s 40 touchdowns for 240 points tied the Cathedral senior and San Diego State-bound running back for ninth with Imperial’s Royce Freeman, who also scored 240 in 2011.

Sutton played in 13 games and was deprived of a 14th when Cathedral sat out a 1-0 forfeit victory over Lincoln.

The Dons’ school and County record is 336 by Tyler Gaffney, who played in 14 games in 2008.

For a complete list of seasonal leaders, dating to the 1920s, see the All Time Individual Leading Scorers page.

EVOLUTION OF HIGHEST SCORERS

YEAR	POINTS	NAME	TEAM	RECORD
1916	132	Byron (Pesky) Sprott	San Diego	12-0
1929	164	Frank (Toady) Green	Coronado	8-1
1953	194	C.R. Roberts	Oceanside	7-2
1985	200	Terry Rodgers	Sweetwater	11-1
1988	214	Scott Garcia	Rancho Buena Vista	13-0
1998	262	Chad Cox	Mountain Empire	8-4
2004	276	Zay Shepard	Brawley	12-1
2008	336	Tyler Gaffney	Cathedral	14-0

*Rashaan Salaam of La Jolla Country Day scored 322 points in 1990, but his team played both 11-man and eight-man games.

**Julian’s Evan Fisher scored 342 points in 12 games in 2001, playing a full schedule of eight-man games.

GARDINERA HONORED

Scripps Ranch’s Marlon Gardinera, who led the Falcons to a 13-1 record and the state Division II-A championship, has been named the overall State Coach of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports.

The Falcons’ mentor is the seventh San Diego coach honored by Cal-Hi Sports. Others:

NAME	TEAM	RECORD	YEAR
Clarence (Nibs) Price	San Diego	12-0	1916
Duane Maley	San Diego	11-0-1	1955
Dick Haines	Vista	13-0	1974
Bennie Edens	Point Loma	13-0	1987
Herb Meyer	El Camino	13-0	1991
Bob McAllister	Carlsbad	10-0-2	2006

Cal-Hi Sports also recognized Gardinera as state medium schools coach of the year, an honor won by Madison’s Rick Jackson in 2012 and Cathedral’s Sean Doyle in 2008. Matt Oliver of Christian was state small schools coach of the year in 2013.

HENRY LOSES COACH

J.T. O’Sullivan, who resurrected a flailing Patrick Henry program, has stepped down.  O’Sullivan has been rumored to already have received an offer for another coaching position in San Diego.

O’Sullivan, who played quarterback at the University of California at Davis and in the NFL, coached the Patriots to a 20-10 record in three seasons after inheriting a program that was 4-17 the previous two years.

The thinclads were so good that several made national lists.

Roscoe Cook of San Diego High held the national record in the 100-yard dash, if only for a few days.  Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny came close to the national record in the 880-yard run.

Bobby Staten, Jim Wade, Luther Hayes, Ed Buchanan, and Dick Verdon also made their marks and would remain historic names.

San  Diego and Hoover still were entrenched powers in the City Prep League, but Lincoln, in its third year, established itself. County leagues Avocado and Metropolitan had their moments, but urban forces held sway.

The Cavemen of coach Birt Slater won the Southern California team championship for the first time since 1948, outscoring heavily favored Compton Centennial.

2/15/57

Lincoln announced itself as a City Prep League contender, winning 10 of 12 events in a 74-29 win at Chula Vista.

After the dual meet Tom Rice, the coach of the Spartans, requested that Lincoln coach Walt Harvey not report the results to the downtown newspapers.

Unbeknownst to the coaches, I was there as a representative of the Lincoln High Buzz and collected $5 for reporting the results to The San Diego Union.

It was my first newspaper reporting payday.

The small story included the byline By Ricky Smith, Lincoln High correspondent.

Rice. who passed away  in Coronado at  age 100 in 2023, was surprised and unhappy.  Harvey, after seeing the result published and hearing from Rice, gave me a very mild rebuke.

Chula Vista’s Ed Fabisak had the day’s best mark, a school record of 4:36.4 in the mile.

2/21/57

A show of City Prep League power:  San Diego rocked Grossmont, 76-28.

—Kearny defeated St. Augustine, 74-30.

—Hoover beat Sweetwater, 71 ½-32 ½.

—Mission Bay edged Oceanside, 58 ½-45 ½.

Roscoe Cook doubled in the 100-yard dash (:10.3) and 220 (:23.4) and got the Cavers off to a good start on the first leg of a 1:32.4 relay victory.

Dick Verdon pushed the shot 55-6 in Hoover’s win and Sweetwater’s George McElvain turned the 440 in :51.8.

2/26/57

Luther Hayes (6-foot, 2-inch high jump) and Russ Boehmke (:23.4 220) set school records as Lincoln beat El Cajon Valley, 70-34.

Jim Cerveny ran :51.7 in the 440 in Mission Bay’s 62-42 win over St. Augustine.

3/3/57

The ninth annual City Prep League relays were canceled because of wet grounds in Balboa Stadium.  San Diego High coach Birt Slater said the event would not be rescheduled.

3/5/57

Ed Buchanan, a junior at Kearny, raced himself into the sprint picture with a :09.7 in the 100 at Lincoln, which defeated the Komets, 62-42.

Buchanan returned to traverse the Lincoln curve in a eye-opening :21.2 220.

But the time for the race was exaggerated because there was no smoke from the starter’s pistol.  Smoke is seen before the sound, so timers, on the other side of the track, went with the delayed noise.

Hoover routed La Jolla, 92 ½-11 ½.  Dick Verdon pushed the shot a school-record 56 feet, 5 inches, almost an inch better than what Verdon reached in 1956.

3/8/57

More than 1,000 athletes in large and small schools divisions, including a sizable contingent of San Diego entries, converged on Huntington Beach High for the 36^th Southern Counties’ Invitational.

Rain had everyone running for cover after two events.  Compton Centennial’s Preston Griffin won the small schools 100 in :10 and Los Angeles Mt. Carmel Mike McKeever pushed the shot 55-9 ¼.

Ed Buchanan of Kearny and Jim Stewart of Sweetwater were second and third in the 100 and Larry Himmer of Sweetwater was fifth in the shot put.

The meet would not be rescheduled, according to Huntington Beach athletic director Alvin Reboin, former 1920’s star at Roosevelt Junior High in San Diego.

3/13/57

Ed Buchanan was not available, so Larry Ray took charge, winning the 100 in :10.3 and 220 in :22.6 and helped the winning relay team (1:35.2) as Kearny beat Point Loma, 68 1/3-35 2/3.

3/15/57

Dick Verdon set a County record of 60 feet, 10 inches, and led Hoover to an impressive 55-49 victory over Lincoln.  The score would have been 60-44 had not the Cardinals been disqualified for a lane violation in the relay.

“I didn’t think I was big enough to throw sixty feet,” said the 200-pound Verdon. In bettering his best of 56-5 1/8, Verdon served notice with practice throws of 58 feet.

Mike Madrigal and Denny Berg followed Verdon, giving Hoover a sweep and adrenaline charge early in the meet.  The Cardinals finished off the Hornets when Bill Stephenson and Chuck Hansen went 1-2 in the 180 low hurdles.

Despite the loss Lincoln still set three school records.  David Grayson won the 100 in :10.1, Bill Hultz the 120-yard high hurdles in :15.2, and Russ Boehmke the 220 in :22.7.

3/16/57

The third annual National City Junior Chamber of Commerce Relays were washed out by rain, joining the Southern Counties Invitational and City Prep League relays as weather casualties.

3/19/57

A triangular meet that had been scheduled at El Cajon Valley between the host Braves, San Diego, and Compton Centennial, which had come South for a dual meet with Grossmont in 1955, was postponed because of rain.

3/21/57

El Cajon Valley was not available, but San Diego and Centennial met in Balboa Stadium.

The Apaches won eight of 12 events and the meet, 60-44.  Roscoe Cook of the Cavers was second in the 100 and 220 and third in the broad jump.

Cook was stunned when he set a school record of 23-10 in the jump but was third, behind the 24-6 1/4 by Preston Griffin and 23-11 by John Blaylock of the visitors.

San Diego’s Bobby Staten won the 180-yard low hurdles in :19.2 and added a strong anchor leg in the relay, although Centennial won in 1:28.8 to the Cavers’ 1:29.

San Diego’s other victories came in the shot put, in which Bobby Hatcher reached 48-5; mile, with Ralph Holt running 4:46.5, and high jump, with Andrew Willis tying three Centennial jumpers at 6-feet, 2 inches.

Cook and the Cavemen would get another shot at Griffin and Centennial later.

3/23/57

Kearny’s Ed Buchanan posted the fastest 220 of the season, :21.5 on the Chula Vista straightaway and Kearny won, 83-21.

Sweetwater’s Jim Stewart logged a :09.9 100 and :22.7 220, but Helix hung on to win, 54-50, after a sweep and 9-0 start in the 120-yard high hurdles, paced by Gael Barsotti’s :15.8.

Larry Himmer set a Sweetwater record of 50 feet, 1/2 inch in the shot put.

Hoover routed Point Loma, 86 ½-17 ½, as the Cardinals’ Chuck Hansen ran :14.9 in the high hurdles and Bill Stephenson :19.5 in the lows. Dick Verdon got to 57-3 in the shot put.

3/26/57

Wendell (Bill) Ernest set a school 220 record of :22 and Larry Williams bettered the shot put record with a 51-6 ½ heave in Helix’ 69-35 win over defending Metropolitan League champion El Cajon Valley.

3/27/57

Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny ignored his favored 880 and set Mission Bay records of :22.2 in the 220 and :49.6 in the 440 in the Bucs’ 58 2/3-45 1/3 win over Point Loma.

3/29/57

Sixteen-year-old Jim Wade, 6 feet, 5 inches, 210 pounds, hurled the shot 58-6 ½ after reaching 60 feet in practice and Grossmont went on to a 79-25 win over Chula Vista.

3/30/57

Lincoln stunned San Diego, 56-43, winning seven of 12 events.  The Hornets also finished first in the 880 relay but both teams were disqualified because of lane violations.

Luther Hayes doubled for Lincoln at 6-1 1/4 in the high jump and 23-3 in the broad jump. Scott Archibald set a Lincoln record of 50-5 ½ in the shot put.

3/31/57

Six meet records were bettered in the South Bay Relays at Sweetwater, where a carnival of events’ results were mostly team cumulative.

Helix’ Bill Ernest topped Sweetwater’s Jim Stewart in the featured 100-yard dash in :10.1.

Grossmont was the team leader with 36 ½ points, followed by El Cajon Valley,  29 ½.

4/5/57

Helix trailed, 46 2/3-42 1/3 with two events remaining against Grossmont, but sophomores Morris Nunez and Vic Berg led a 1-2 Highlanders finish in the mile and Bill Ernest anchored the Scots to a 1:32 flat win in the 880 relay and Helix had its first dual meet win over Grossmont, 55 1/3-47 2/3, clinching a tie for the Metropolitan League championship.

San Diego bombed Point Loma, 88-16, and, after winning the 880 relay, extended the race for another 880 yards, timing 3:01.9.

The eight runners were Fred Jackson, Art Buchanan, Richard Engler, Earl Kellough, Willie Jordan, Charles (Sugar Jet) Davis, Roscoe Cook, and Bobby Staten.

El Cajon’s Max Cheney ran a 1:59.4 880 but Hoover won the dual meet, 68 1/3-35 2/3.

4/9/57

The gap between the City and the Metropolitan League was glaring as Hoover won nine of 12 events and tied for first in another, and eased past Helix, 68 ½-36 ½.

4/12/57

City competitors were warming as was the weather.

Jim Cerveny took the national lead in the 880 with a 1:55.9 clocking.  San Diego’s Roscoe Cook ran :09.9 in the 100 and Bobby Staten :21.4 in the 220.  Lincoln’s Luther Hayes broad jumped 23 feet, 4 inches.

Cerveny and Mission Bay were on the receiving end of an 86-18 loss to Hoover, Kearny of a 79-25 loss to San Diego, and Grossmont of a 67 1/3-36 2/3 loss to Lincoln.

Curtis Tucker set a Lincoln record of :10 in the 100 and anchored a 1:30.7 record relay victory. Bill Hultz (:15) and Ronnie Grey (:19.5) also set school records in the 120-yard highs and 180-yard low hurdles.

4/26/57

Cleavon Little, destined for Hollywood and a legendary role in the movie “Blazing Saddles’, was credited with a broad jump of 23-4 in the Komets’ 61-38 win at La Jolla.

Bob Reynolds of Kearny became the sixth pole vaulter in county history to clear 13 feet.  Reynolds thrust was measured at 13-1/8.

El Cajon Valley’s Bill Logan cleared 13-6 in 1956, preceded by four San Diego High athletes:  Bill Hubbard, 13-2, 1926; Bill Miller, 13-3, 1929, Bob Henderson, 13-0, 1936, and Bobby Smith, 13-2, 1947.

—San Diego routed Hoover, 65 1/3-38 2/3 and created a three-way tie with Lincoln for the CPL dual-meet championship.

Roscoe Cook won the 100 (:09.9), broad jump (22-3), and ran a leg on the Cavers’ relay team that won in 1:29.9.

“I’ve always thought San Diego had the best team, even though it lost to Lincoln,” a perspicacious Hoover coach Raleigh Holt told Jerry Magee of The San Diego Union, before the meet.

—Don Magoffin set an El Cajon Valley shot put record of 49-4 ½ and the Braves defeated Chula Vista, 69-35.

—Grossmont’s Jim Wade hit a career shot put high of 59-11 ¾ but Sweetwater won, 64-40, as George McElvain led the way with a :51.4 440.

—Bill Ernest doubled in :09.9 and :22.2 in the 100 and 220 and Helix whipped Mission Bay 67 1/3-36 2/3.  Jim Cerveny stepped up to the mile for the Buccaneers and logged a CPL best 4:33.7.

4/30/57

CITY PREP LEAGUE TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Ed Buchanan ran the 220-yard dash on the Balboa Stadium curve in a record :21.6. San Diego’s Bobby Staten ran :21.8 in the previous heat, which also had bettered the mark of :21.9 by Grossmont’s Bert Kohnhurst in 1952.

Buchanan and San Diego’s Roscoe Cook earlier had tied the 100-yard dash record of :09.9, set by the Cavers’ Herman Thompson in 1954.

The :19.3 clocking in the 180-yard low hurdles by Staten tied Thompson’s 1954 record.

San Diego led qualifiers with 14, followed by Lincoln, 11, and Hoover, 8.

Helix qualified 17 in Metropolitan League trials at El Cajon Valley, followed by Sweetwater, Chula Vista and El Cajon Valley with 11 each.

Coronado qualified 12 and Oceanside 11 to lead Avocado League entries at Vista.

5/3/57

CPL FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

San Diego was first six times, tied for first in another event, and scored in 9 of 12 races and field events to win the team championship in the  with 59 points.

Lincoln had 44 ½ points and Hoover 43.  Kearny followed with 19 ½, Mission Bay with 10, La Jolla with 8, and Point Loma with 7.

Five meet records were set or tied:

–Lincoln’s Bill Hultz ran the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.8, topping :14.9’s by Hoover’s Bernie Nelson in 1953 and San Diego’s Leonard Kary in 1955.

–San Diego’s Roscoe Cook tied the often-equaled :09.9 100-yard dash and Bobby Staten equaled the 180-yard low hurdles record of :19.3.

Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny ran the 880 in 1:55, fastest in the nation, and bettered by two seconds the record Cerveny set in 1956

–Luther Hayes of Lincoln broad jumped 23 feet 10 ¾ inches, improving on his 23-9 ½ in 1956.

–The San Diego 880-yard relay quartet of Willie Jordan, Charles (Sugar Jet) Davis, Cook, and Staten ran 1:28.3, bettering the 1:30.1 of Hoover in 1955.

Lincoln led the Cavers until Cook passed David Grayson coming off the turn on the third leg.

Staten was a double winner, topping 100 runner-up Ed Buchanan in a  :21.8 220.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

El Cajon Valley edged Helix for the team title, 56 ¼-49 ¾.

Jim Wade of Grossmont set a shot put record of 61-2, third best in the country. The league record was 59-8 ¼ by Grossmont’s Dick Bronson in 1954 and Bronson had broken the record of 57-3 by another Foothiller, Clyde Wetter in 1951.

AVOCADO LEAGUE

Coronado won the relay in a meet-record 1:32 to claim the team title with 39 points.  Oceanside had 38, as did Vista.

Ron Sjoberg of Vista set a record of :15 in the 120-yard high hurdles.

5/11/57

Five-hundred athletes from the City Prep, Metropolitan, Avocado, Southern Prep, Sunset, and Rio Hondo leagues, and independent St. Augustine were prepared to compete in the CIF Divisional meet at San Diego State, but were rained out.

5/14/57

Three days later the venue was Balboa Stadium.   Lincoln led with nine qualifiers, followed by San Diego and Hoover with six each.  El Cajon Valley had five.

Best mark of the day was a :19.2 in the 180-yard low hurdles by Bobby Staten of San Diego.  Grossmont’s Jim Wade hurled the shot 59-5 /34 and beat Hoover’s Dick Verdon, who reached 57-9 ¾.

5/21/57

El Monte Arroyo was site of a Divisional semifinal meet that was almost as good as a championship.

—Jim Cerveny had launched a chase of the national record of 1:52.3 in the 880 and set a CIF record of 1:53.9, better than the 1:54.7 of Claremont’s Ernie Cunliffe in 1955.

—Roscoe Cook, a :09.7 sprinter a year ago, finally got below :09.9, winning his heat in a season best :09.8 and defeating Alhambra’s Rusty Weeks, who ran :09.6 in another divisional the previous week.

—Hoover’s Dick Verdon won a shot put duel with Grossmont’s Jim Wade, reaching 59-10 ½.  Wade was second at 59-1/2.

—An unheralded Lincoln relay team of Russ Boehmke, David Grayson, Ronnie Grey, and Curtis Tucker also qualified in 1:29.2.  San Diego won its heat in 1:28.3.

There was elation and disappointment for Lincoln hurdlers.

Football and basketball standout Leonard Burnett, lowered his best time from :15.1 to :14.8 and qualified for the finals in the 120 highs.  Bill Hultz ran :14.7 in another, faster heat but was third and nonqualifying.

Cook and Bobby Staten each showed their competitiveness and savvy against Jerry McCullough of Riverside Poly, Carl Skavarna of Ontario Chaffey, and Rusty Weeks, who were favored in the 100, 220, and 180 low hurdles because of their times during the season.

Up ahead was the CIF finals with the imposing Preston Griffin, who ran :09.5 in the other divisional today and who would lead favored Compton Centennial.

5/26/57

Also Search 1957: Cook’s and Cavers’ Great Day.

San Diego outscored Compton Centennial, 19 ½-16 ½, for the CIF team championship, coming up tough against the Apaches’ Preston Griffin.

Griffin was favored in four events, 100 (tied by Roscoe Cook), 220 (edged Bobby Staten), 880 relay (beaten by San Diego), and broad jump, defeated by Lincoln’s Luther Hayes, who had a season best 23-11.

6/1/57

Jim Cerveny again was dominating, setting a state record of 1:52.7 in the 880 and topping the 1:52.9 by Don Bowden of San Jose Lincoln in 1954 but falling short of Bowden’s 1:52.3.

Luther Hayes of Lincoln won the broad jump at 23-8 ½. Jim Wade was third in the shot put at 60-7 ¼ and flashed potential in a post-competition exhibition, going 50-6 with the 16-pound shot.

The state wouldn’t not become a two-day meet until 1963. The morning-afternoon format was not good for San Diego.

Roscoe Cook and Bobby Staten were required, in a space of a few hours, to run several races.

Bobby Staten had virtually no rest, with only a five-minute interval after the 220-yard dash, and pulled out of the 180 lows.

Cook was third in the 100 in :09.7 to Griffin’s :09.6 and :09.7 by Taft Union’s Doug Smith.  Ed Buchanan of Kearny was fourth in :09.7 and fifth in the 220 in :21.7.

Staten was third in the 220 in :21.4 and ran a tremendous anchor leg in the relay, almost catching Berkeley’s Fred DeWitt, who brought the Yellowjackets home in 1:27 to the runner-up Cavers’ 1:27.2.

San Diego and Centennial tied for second with 10 points each, behind Berkeley’s 22.

Scripps Ranch Coach Marlon Gardinera would have been in the spotlight on every college, NFL pregame or postgame show.

But Gardinera’s gutsy (crazy?) move did not go “national”, instead raising eyebrows and begging comment on a level just as significant to all involved.

Gardinera decided to “relax” his defense and allow Santa Clara Wilcox to score a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s state Division II-A championship game at Mission Viejo Saddleback College.

Wilcox, which had battled back from a 21-0 deficit, took a 28-24 lead with less than two minutes to play.

“We backed off,” said Gardinera, according to Bodie DeSilva of Scoreboard Live.  “I knew if we got our offense back on the field we’d be okay….”

The Falcons, behind 6-foot, 6-inch quarterback Jax Leatherwood, embarked on an 11-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with Leatherwood‘s 10-yard pass to Dean Paley for the winning touchdown and 31-28 victory with 31 seconds to play.

The touchdown pass was Leatherwood’s 52^nd of the season, against two interceptions.

SECTION IS 3-0

Scripps Ranch’s and Cathedral’s 33-21 win over Folsom and Mater Dei’s 34-25 triumph against Modesto Central Catholic represented the first San Diego Section three-game sweep since state playoffs were resumed in 2006.

Cathedral and Madison won titles in 2016. San Diego teams were 1-2 in 2015, 2-2 in 2016, 1-2 in 2017, 1-3 in 2018, and 0-2 in 2019.

DOYLE GAINS

Cathedral’s Sean Doyle continues to move up the ladder in all-time wins.

Doyle’s 1-AA win over Folsom was the 221^st of his 26-season career, moving the Dons’ mentor into seventh place in the San Diego Section, past Jim Arnaiz, Ed Burke, and Gil Warren.

Nine wins in 2022 would elevate Doyle to fifth.  John Shacklett is next at 229.

Valley Center’s Rob Gilster now is third with 239 wins, edging the late Bennie Edens, who had 238.

Go to the “Football” menu on the website and select “”Coaches”, then scroll down to “Coach 100 Club” for a complete list.

HOW OTHERS SEE US

TEAM	RECORD	CALPREPS	MAX PREPS	CAL-HI SPORTS
Mater Dei	13-0	54.1	21	23
Scripps Ranch	13-1	44.2	55	55
Cathedral	12-2	70.8	5	8
Carlsbad	11-1	50.6	17	25
Madison	9-3	33.3	84	On the bubble
Mission Hills	8-3	44.3	39	42
Helix	9-4	43.8	43	23
Lincoln	8-4	43.2	44	26

And a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all the coaches, players, administrators, and fans who love the San Diego Section brand of football.

The top four teams in won-loss percentage in the County were San Diego (25-3, .880), Helix (16-5, .762), Mission Bay (17-6, .737), and Hoover (19-9, .679).

It was the latter that battled through four rounds of the CIF Southern Section playoffs to get to the finals.

Hoover was an uninspiring 10-8 heading into the stretch run of the City Prep League race, but the Cardinals won their last five regular-season games to come from behind in the standings and pass Mission Bay, earning the CPL’s second berth in the playoffs.

Rubber-armed (overworked?) Dick Floberg of San Diego and Steve Evans of Hoover were their teams’ bellwethers.  Floberg posted a 16-2 record and struck out 139 batters in 123 innings.

San Diego coach Les Cassie started sophomore Ezell Singleton instead of Floberg in a semifinals playoff game against Ontario Chaffey  and the result was a 13-4 loss as Singleton and Floberg both were hit hard.

Evans (13-4) pitched 43 2/3 innings in five playoff games, finally losing to Chaffey in the finals.

Most teams had one pitcher who took the ball twice a week, with an occasional second starting pitcher in the mix.

City Prep League squads adhered to a seven-inning schedule during the regular season and nine in the playoffs.  Metropolitan League and Avocado loop squads played nine innings.

2/26/57

Lincoln’s Cleven Thomas opened the season with a no-hit, 14-0 win over Mar Vista.

Two other City Prep League teams, also won big, Hoover 16-1 over Chula Vista, and San Diego 21-0 over San Dieguito.

Thomas faced 24 batters in the seven-inning game, walked three, and struck out 11. Bert Swaim aided with three hits.

Jerry Whitworth and Ezell Singleton each had three hits for San Diego and Bob Steel and Bob Jennings homered for Hoover.

2/27/57

Stan Gilliland singled, tripled, and homered, and drove in seven runs as Mission Bay socked Oceanside, 12-2.

3/2/57

San Diego’s Ezell Singleton hit a home run for one of two hits by the Cavers in a 10-3 loss to visiting Alhambra Mark Keppel.

3/5/57

Walter (Sandy) Thorpe of Helix won a 1-0 duel from Hoover’s Paul Richter on the Highlanders’ diamond. Ron Palermo singled and scored on Bob Schulz’ double in the first inning.

Mission Bay was 2-0 after Tim Carroll served as battery mate for pitchers Bob Lasoya and Bill Clucas and had three hits in an 8-2 win at Grossmont.

3/7/57

San Diego’s John Harmon moved from the infield to the pitching mound and authored a two-hit, 7-1 win over visiting Grossmont. Ezell Singleton and Jerry Whitworth each had three hits for the Cavemen.

3/8/57

R.W. Earls of Mar Vista surrendered a 400-foot home run to Bob Schulz in the second inning and then stopped visiting Helix, 3-1.

3/12/57

Mission Bay was 4-0 after Bill McCormick’s three-hitter stifled Grossmont, 5-0.   Bob Steel’s three-run home run in the first inning started Hoover to a 9-0 win over El Cajon Valley.

Ron Hillsberry’s two singles and double paved Mar Vista’s 11-1 win over St. Augustine. Bob Jordan singled, doubled, and tripled in Sweetwater’s 6-4 verdict against Lincoln.

3/15/57

Hoover’s trip to Long Beach Jordan was a 4-0 success, stretching to 25 scoreless innings for the Cardinals’ pitching staff. Steve Evans struck out 12 and gave up two hits.

Hoover’s staff had not allowed a run since the third inning of an 8-4 win over Chula Vista a week before.  It also handcuffed El Central Central, 11-0, and El Cajon Valley, 9-0.

San Diego beat visiting Lynwood, 8-3, as Cleveland (Smiley) Jones hit a three-run home run. Point Loma’s John Rebelo allowed two hits and the Pointers rapped Mar Vista, 12-1.

Bud Kudrna lost a no-hitter when Don Rodriguez reached base with a single but the El Cajon Valley pitcher shut out Fallbrook, 15-0.

3/16/57

Jerry Dinsmore’s eighth-inning double knocked in the winning run and Bob Lasoya allowed only five hits as Mission Bay improved to 6-0 with a 3-2 win at Fontana.

3/18/57

La Jolla concluded a two-day run against visiting Avocado League clubs with a 14-5 win over Fallbrook that followed a 5-3 triumph over San Dieguito.

Dick Small pitched a complete game and homered versus Fallbrook as the Vikings won for the sixth time in eight games.

3/22/57

Metropolitan League play opened with Bob Jordan hurling a two-hitter and Sweetwater  surprising preseason favorite Helix, 3-0, on the Highlanders’ diamond.

Jerry Peters hit two home runs and Jim Portlock gave up three hits over nine innings and no hits through six as El Cajon Valley pounded Grossmont, 15-0.

Dick Floberg struck out 17 and San Diego won its sixth in a row at Garden Grove, 8-4.  Iva Tucker hit a home run and Floberg and Cleveland Jones added two hits each.

Point Loma stroked seven consecutive singles, followed by Joe Welch’s grand slam home run, in a seven-run first inning of the Pointers’ 15-4 win over the San Diego State frosh.

3/27/57

Andy Cribbs outdueled Cleven Thomas and Mission Bay moved to 10-0 with a 3-0 win at Lincoln in a City Prep League opener. Bob Moss doubled twice for the Hornets.

Hoover’s string of 25 scoreless innings ended when a throw to first base that would have completed a double play was wild and Point Loma scored.

Steve Evans pitched the Cardinals to an 8-3 victory and collected three of the six doubles that Redbird hitters drilled into the short, right field stands at Hoover.

Paul Runge’s two-run home run, Ezell Singleton’s three-run shot, and John Harmon’s grand slam was more than enough as San Diego bombed La Jolla, 11-2.

Harmon drove in five runs and his pitching held the Vikings to four hits.

3/29/57

San Diego won, 6-4, at Mission Bay, snapping the Buccaneers’ 10-game winning streak in the City Prep League’s first showdown.

Mission Bay coach Ernie Beck was ejected for arguing a play as San Diego scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning.

Jerry Whitworth tripled and Ezell Singleton homered in the seventh to separate the Cavers from their hosts. John Harmon homered and singled.

Ervin Green’s two-run home run and Don Mojado’s three-run clout overcame a couple hits by Bob Moss as Kearny defeated Lincoln, 6-4.

4/2/57

Helix could have sought burglary charges against Chula Vista’s Oscar Agatep, who stole second base five times in the Spartans’ 13-6 victory.

Agatep teammate Bill Cothron’s home run, triple, and two doubles were among the winners’ 15 hits.

Hoover jumped to a 3-1 lead over San Diego when Ralph Mann tripled, Walt Baranski homered, Lynn Rowland tripled, and Jim Kennedy singled in the second inning.

San Diego struck back against Cardinals starter Steve Evans for six hits and two walks in a seven-run bottom of the second, capped by pitcher Dick Floberg’s home run, and routed Hoover, 10-3.

Ralph Myatt struck out 13 and allowed two hits as Kearny beat La Jolla, 13-0.

Fallbrook ventured north of the County for an intersectional and defeated Hemet, 2-0.  The 42-mile jaunt was more convenient for the Warriors than an Avocado League trip of 66 miles to Mar Vista in Imperial Beach.

4/5/57

Back-to-back home runs by Bob Moss and Ron Slocum were not enough as La Jolla won its first CPL game, 4-3, in 10 innings at Lincoln.

Kearny’s Jerry Stryker led off the seventh inning with a clean single, ending the no-hit bid by Mission Bay’s Bob Lasoya, who stopped the Komets,10-0.

Mel Rizzo had three hits and Tim Carroll and Bill Clucas two hits each to support Lasoya.

John Harmon hit his third home run of the season and San Diego (12-2) won its 11^th in a row, over Point Loma, 3-2.

Jerry May collected Chula Vista’s only hit but it was a grand slam home run that sent the Spartans past El Cajon Valley, 6-3.

The Braves’ Dick Kudrna, plagued by walks and errors, loaded the bases for May in the ninth inning.

4/9/57

Jim Portlock’s grand slam home run in the first inning positioned El Cajon Valley for an 11-6 victory over Grossmont, with Portlock closing out the Foothillers in a relief pitching stint in the seventh.

4/12/57

Chula Vista scored eight runs in the ninth inning, after two were out, and stunned visiting Grossmont, 12-11.

Dave Peterson hit a bases loaded home run and Dick Eschbach tripled in the tying and winning runs after Eschbach started the rally with a double his first time up in the inning.

4/16/57

LIONS TOURNAMENT

Six of the seven City Prep League entries won opening round games. Only Mission Bay, which entered with a 13-1 record, did not advance, the Buccaneers losing to Sweetwater, 4-3, in 12 innings.

San Diego High, seeking its fifth title in the tournament’s seven years, defeated Yuma, Arizona, 8-4.  Point Loma topped Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, 4-0. Lincoln scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning to whip Hawthorne, 8-4, and Kearny scored 10 runs in the 10^th inning to beat Inglewood, 11-1.

The only team from outside the County to move on was Inglewood Morningside, 7-0 winner over St. Augustine. Helix completed a near sweep for the locals with an 11-2 win over Santa Monica.

A bizarre double play, pitcher to catcher to first baseman to catcher to third baseman to second baseman to catcher (scored 1-2-3-2-5-4-2) resulted in two Hawthorne runners being tagged out at home plate.

4/17/57

La Jolla coach Walt Garey called on Victor Graham to pitch three times in the Vikings’ nine-inning, Limited Division championship, 5-3 victory over El Centro Central.

Garey relieved Victor with brother George in the third inning, put Victor back on the mound in the sixth, and pulled him again in the seventh. Victor came on once more to retire the side in the ninth.

George Graham stole four bases and had three singles and a double for the Vikings.

Point Loma’s John Rebelo did not require assistance.  He pitched a no-hitter as Point Loma gained the finals with a 5-0 win against Hoover.

San Diego’s Dick Floberg, restricted to six innings because of the Lions’ rule prohibiting pitchers from more than 16 innings over three days, hurled six scoreless and San Diego went on to a 5-2 victory.

Floberg won his 11^th game of the season and the Cavemen improved to 17-2 with their fifth tournament title. John Harmon hit a 370-foot home run and tripled.

4/23/57

Jerry Booth shut out La Jolla, 6-0, and came within a “flabby”, broken-bat single by George Griffin of pitching Point Loma’s second no-hitter.

Workhorse Dick Floberg was touched for a home run by Jerry Stryker but kept Kearny in containment and claimed his 12^th victory as San Diego rolled, 10-4.

4/24/57

Mission Bay shaded Hoover, 2-1, when Tim Carroll scored from second base in the 10^th inning as Hoover botched a double play.

Kearny’s Ralph Myatt shut out El Cajon Valley on three hits, 9-0, and struck out 12.  Art Cunningham homered in a six-run fourth inning.

Jim Gabbard came on in relief in the eighth inning struck out six straight batters and drove in the winning with a double in the bottom of the ninth inning as Escondido nipped Mar Vista, 6-5.

4/26/57

John Wible contributed a triple, single, two runs batted in, and scored a run as Helix won, 6-3, over Chula Vista to assume the Metropolitan League lead.

Sophomore Ezell Singleton struck out 15 and allowed three hits in San Diego’s 6-1 win over La Jolla.

5/1/57

R.W. Earls struck out 15 and Ron Hillsberry singled in the winning run in the last of the ninth inning in Mar Vista’s 3-2 win over Vista.

Henry Meza had two doubles and drove in two runs and Ron Moretti struck out 12 Vista batters in Fallbrook’s 5-3 win.

5/3/57

Sophomore Tom Goddard, making his varsity debut, hurled a no-hitter and struck out 11 as St. Augustine defeated Mar Vista, 6-0, at University Heights playground.

First baseman Paul Runge had two hits and knocked in four runs for San Diego, which made it nine in a row in the CPL with a 6-3 triumph at Hoover.

5/7/57

Dick Eshbach hit two home runs, including the decisive blow in the top of the 10^th inning, sending Chula Vista to a 9-8 win over Grossmont.

San Diego High clinched the CPL championship with its 10^th consecutive victory, 6-5 at Point Loma.

Mission Bay whipped Kearny, 6-1, behind the one-hit pitching of Bob Lasoya and Dick Shafer.

Dick Salbato allowed one hit and San Dieguito beat Mar Vista, 7-0.

5/10/57

Having clinched the CPL title and facing one-win Lincoln, San Diego coach Les Cassie went to the well again and nominated ace Dick Floberg to face the Hornets on two-days’ rest.

San Diego won, 14-1, as Floberg delivered a steady, six-hit performance. Leading, 2-1, after four innings, the Cavemen exploded in the fifth for eight hits and 12 runs.

Bill Cothron hit two doubles and a single and Chula Vista beat Sweetwater, 7-3, to pull even in first place in the Metropolitan loop with Helix, each with an 8-2 record.

Don Rodriguez hit a grand clam home run and Fallbrook edged San Dieguito, 6-4.

5/14/57

Helix won a Metropolitan League showdown at Chula Vista, 7-4, and claimed a tie for the championship.  Mission Bay beat La Jolla, 7-1, and stayed a game ahead of Hoover in the race for the CPL’s second playoff spot.  Hoover continued the chase, whacking Lincoln, 16-6.

5/15/57

Helix pushed across two runs in the bottom of the 10th inning and squeezed past Grossmont, 4-3, to win the Metro championship.

Trailing, 3-2, Gary Calvert led off with a triple and came home on Don Taylor’s single.  Sandy Thorpe doubled Taylor home for the victory. John Wible went the distance for the Highlanders and scattered six hits.

5/17/57

Right-hander Steve Evans (10-3) pitched what long-time observers believed may have been the first no-hitter in the Hoover bandbox, which measures 193 feet in right field and 320 in centerfield, at the point where a ground-rule double becomes a home run.

Mission Bay’s Stan Gilliland drove a pitch into right field for what appeared to be a certain base hit in the sixth inning.  Hoover’s Bob Steel, playing shallow, fielded the ball on a hop and threw out Gilliland.

Evans and Hoover blanked Mission Bay, 11-0, tying the Cardinals and Buccaneers for second place in the final CPL standings. Walt Baranski’s three-run home run in the first inning gave the Cardinals all the runs they needed.

Lincoln vice principal George Parry, president of the league, conducted a postgame telephonic poll with other CPL honchos and Hoover got the vote for the playoffs.

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

5/20/57

Chula Vista attacked heralded Ontario Chaffey pitcher Larry Maxie for nine runs in six innings and had 12 runs and 14 hits in the Southern Section playoff opener at Galvin Park in Ontario, spring training home of the San Diego Padres.

Chaffey won, 27-12.

Let’s try that again.

Chaffey won, 27-12.

The Tigers pounded four Spartans pitchers for 20 hits and scored 11 runs in the fourth inning.

A seven-run sixth inning propelled Fallbrook to a 10-6 small schools playoff victory at Laguna Beach.

5/22/57

Hoover lost, 1-0, and 11-2 to Helix during the season but scored a 6-3 first-round victory at San Diego State, hitting starting pitcher Sandy Thorpe for five runs in the first inning.

Ralph Mann, Lynn Rowland, Steve Evans, and Walt Baranski hit consecutive singles after one out for three runs.  Two more runs scored after Bob Steel walked and Jerry Jangard singled.

5/24/57

Hoover and San Diego advanced to the Southern Section quarterfinals and Fallbrook was eliminated in the small schools’ semifinals.

The Cardinals, home team at San Diego State after winning a coin flip to determine site, defeated Riverside Poly, 8-3.

San Diego topped Inglewood, 8-7, in 10 innings at Beeson Field on the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot.

Visiting Azusa Citrus, capitalizing on six Fallbrook errors, overcame the five-hit pitching of Ron Moretti and defeated the Warriors, 6-3.

CARDINALS SCORE QUICKLY

As in the first playoff, Hoover got started early with three runs in the first inning and headed off a Poly threat with three more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Ralph Mann and Steve Evans each drove in three runs and Evans twice moved in from centerfield, briefly in the second inning and for the last 3 2/3 innings in relief of starting and winning pitcher Paul Richter.

CAVERS AVERT DISASTER

San Diego led the Inglewood Sentinels, 4-3, in the eighth inning before a play suggestive of an Alphonse and Gaston  act  (“I got it, no you take it”).

Three runs scored for the Sentinels when outfielders Henry Gardner and Iva Tucker couldn’t decide who should take Jerry Montgomery’s fly ball with two runners on and two out.

Montgomery circled the bases after the ball dropped safely and Cavers pitcher Dick Floberg threw all the way to the outfield fence while trying to retire Montgomery at second base after a  cutoff of the throw from the outfield.

Charity continued.

Inglewood committed three errors in the bottom of the inning, leading to three runs and a 7-6 lead for San Diego.

San Diego botched a double-play which could have ended the game in the ninth inning, allowing an Inglewood run and sending the game into extra innings.

Jerry Whitworth’s single scored George Baker in the bottom of the 10^th and San Diego escaped.

5/28/57

Hoover beat Los Angeles Loyola, 3-2, in 15 innings at Bovard Field on the USC campus as Steve Evans outlasted three Cubs pitchers and struck out 16, advancing the Cardinals to the Southern Section semifinals.

Hoover improved to 19-8 as Lynn Rowland had four hits in seven at bats and accounted for all three runs with singles in the third, fifth, and 15^th innings.

Ontario Chaffey exploded for seven runs in the second inning against sophomore starting pitcher Ezell Singleton and reliever Dick Floberg at Galvin Park, eliminating the Cavers, 13-4, and ending an outstanding San Diego season at 25-3.

6/3/57

Hoover trailed Burbank Burroughs, 4-1 after 4 ½ innings but scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth and two in the seventh to win, 5-4, at Lane Field.

Carl Oberg collected two hits including a triple to the right field wall in the seventh that scored Henry Barkhurst and Lynn Rowland.

Steve Evans struck out 10 as the Cardinals won their ninth game in a row and qualified to meet Ontario Chaffey in the finals.

6/6/57

Hoover trailed, 7-0, after seven innings and fell to Chaffey, which won its second consecutive championship, 9-3, at John Galvin Park in Ontario.

Chaffey’s Larry Maxie, a 6-foot, 4-inch, 215-pound right-hander, struck out 15 and ended his season with a 19-3 record, and added a home run which cleared a 30-foot fence at the 350-foot mark.

Hoover’s Steve Evans worked into the seventh inning, bringing his total to 43 2/3 in two weeks and five playoff games, before retiring to first base as Paul Richter came on in the eighth.

What does it mean when an unprecedented five different teams receive first-place votes in John Maffei’s latest The San Diego Union poll?

It could mean that area hoops are mediocre, at best, this year. No team stands out and the usual powers have done little to get excited about.

Or could it be Covid, which won’t go away and which already has caused postponements and cancelations of games and at least one tournament (Mt. Carmel)?

The Max Preps computer deals in cold, hard results.  Cal-Hi Sports offers more of an eye test and, in this case, reality.

Max Preps has eight San Diego Section teams in its state top 100, but the first is San Marcos at No. 53, followed by Mission Hills (68), La Costa Canyon (73), Torrey Pines (80), St. Augustine (85), Mission Bay (90), Cathedral (93), and San Diego (98).

Cal-Hi Sports has St. Augustine 20th, down from No. 7, and is almost apologetic, noting that it “threw out with the bathwater” the Saints’ disappointing results last week in the Torrey Pines tournament, citing the fact that coach Mike Haupt  was missing four starters with Covid.

I like the eye test and the newsletter’s respect was validated last night when the revived Saints defeated Madison, 97-56.

The newsletter also accorded “On the Bubble” status to San Marcos and San Ysidro.

Let’s see what this challenged season holds as play continues.

RATINGS GAME

The San Diego Union poll.  First-place points in parenthesis.  Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	LAST WEEK
1.	St. Augustine (7)	9-6	132	1
2.	San Marcos (5)	8-3	118	3
3.	Torrey Pines (1)	10-4	111	2
4.	Cathedral (2) Catholic	12-5	102	4
5.	Mission Bay	11-4	100	5
6.	Mission Hills (1)	10-5	86	NR
7.	San Ysidro	8-5	76	6
8.	La Costa Canyon	9-4	69	9
9	Mater Dei	8-3	27	7
10.	San Diego	9-2	22	8

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
La Jolla Country Day (9-2, 15 points), Carlsbad (9-7, 6) Otay Ranch (9-34. 4), Scripps Ranch (12-5, 3).

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Aaron Burgin Fulltime Hoops.com.
• Nick Pollino, Fox 5 San Diego.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3-FM The Fan.
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com.
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
• Rick Smith, Partletonsports.com.
• Terry Monahan, Eric Williams, Steve Brand, Freelance correspondents.
• Brad Enright, LA Court Report.
• Ramon Scott, Eastcountysports.com.
• Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country, 107.9-FM. Christian 
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sportts Association.
• Max Preps.   

WEEK 4

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	LAST WEEK
1.	St. Augustine (13)	8-2	155	1
2.	Torrey Pines (3)	8-1	143	3
3.	San Marcos	6-3	115	2
4.	Cathedral Catholic	8-3	113	4
5.	Mission Bay	7-2	99	5
6.	San Ysidro	6-3	79	6
7.	Mater Dei	6-2	54	8
8.	San Diego	6-1	50	9
9	La Costa Canyon	5-3	23	NR
10.	La Jolla Country Day	8-2	21	10

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES

Mission Hills (5-4, 17 points), Montgomery (7-2, 6), Otay Ranch (5-1, 3), El Camino (3-0, 2).

WEEK 3

RANK	TEAM				RECORD	POINTS	PRESEASON
1.		St. Augustine		7-1 (15)		159	1
2.		San Marcos	5-1			142	3
3.		Torrey Pines		7-1 (1)		114	2
4.		Cathedral		7-3		101	4
5.		Mission Bay		5-2		96	5
6.		San Ysidro		5-3		76	6
7.		Mission Hills		5-2		73	7
8.		Mater Dei		4-2		41	8
9.		San Diego		5-1		38	10
10.		La Jolla Country Day		7-2		24	9

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES 

Otay Ranch (4-1, 4 points), Francis Parker (4-2, 2), La Costa Canyon (2-3, 2), The Bishop’s (8-2, 2), Madison (5-1, 6), Montgomery (6-1, 2). El Camino (0-0, 5) The Bishop’s (5-2), Montgomery (4-1), University City (4-4), 1 point each.