We owe an apology to the starting five, Charlie Buchanan, John Walters, Bill Canning, John Schroeder, and Rick Eveleth, and coach Bill Reaves.

They were the major players for another team that posted an undefeated regular season, the 1963-64 La Jolla Vikings, who were 26-0.

We omitted the Vikings in our post last week.

Rick Eveleth, 6 foot, 3 inches, was  La Jolla’s tallest player and  would later return as its coach and win 398 games in an honored career.  Buchanan was San Diego Section player of the year and  part of a quick, swarming bunch of defenders.

They were 28-0 when the Vikings  lost to Helix, 76-56, in the San Diego Section finals after a tough semifinal, 78-70 decision over Lincoln.

Torrey Pines, 26-0, and San Marcos, 24-0, joined the Vikings and four other teams, 1959-60 Hoover, 1967-68 Mount Miguel, 1969-70 Helix, and 1973-74 Kearny who did not lose.

Mount Miguel, Helix, and Kearny  did what Torrey Pines and San Marcos hoped to do, finish the season undefeated.

The Falcons and Knights begin their quests Friday in first-round games of the San Diego Section Open Division playoffs.  No matter what happens in the local eliminations all eight teams in the bracket will advance to the Southern California playoffs.

Final regular-season The San Diego Union-Tribune poll (some records have been updated or corrected):

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	LAST WEEK
1.	Torrey Pines	26-0 (13)	130	1
2.	San Marcos	24-0	113	2
3.	Cathedral	15-2	107	3
4.	St. Augustine	13-5	82	4
5.	El Camino	24-4	79	5
6.	Santa Fe Christian	17-3	73	6
7.	Carlsbad	13-8	33	8
8.	Mission Hills	16-7	20	7
9.	Mater Dei	11-4	19	NR
10.	Coronadio	17-5	18	nr

Others receiving votes: Orange Glen (20-5, 17 points), San Ysidro (19-5, 8), San Diego (15-13, 7),  Mission Bay (15-9, 4), Valhalla (16-4, 3), Bonita Vista (11-6, 2), Madison (18-7, 1).

First-place votes in parenthesis. Points awarded on scale of 10 down to 1.

Poll voters:13 sportswriters, sportscasters from around San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune
• Aaron Burgin, fulltimehoops.com
• Terry Monahan, Steve Brand, Union-Tribune correspondents
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com
• Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com
• Steve Dolan Mountain Country 107.9 FM
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association
• Rick Smith, partletonsports.com
• Brad Enright, L.A. Court Report

How others see San Diego Section’s top 10 in their California ratings*.

TEAM	RANK	CAL-HI SPORTS	MAX PREPS
Torrey Pines	1	2	3
San Marcos	2	20	11
Cathedral	3	16	12
St. Augustine	4	NR	27
El Camino	5	NR	42
Santa Fe Christian	6	NR	17
Carlsbad	7	NR	71
Mission Hills	8	NR	55
Mater Dei	9	NR	69
Coronado	10	NR	81

*Cal-Hi Sports‘ ranks only Top 25.

Torrey Pines and San Marcos are on the cusp of becoming the fifth and sixth teams in San Diego County history to complete undefeated regular seasons. (Editor’s note:  Challenges and additions to this stat welcomed.)

Hoover was 24-0 in the 1959-60 regular season and got to the Southern California semifinals before bowing to Anaheim, 39-34.  Mount Miguel was 28-0 and went on to the San Diego Section championship and 32-0 in 1967-68.  Helix was 29-0 and finished 33-0 in 1969-70, and Kearny was 28-0 and went to 32-0 in 1973-74.

The Falcons (24-0) finish this week with a Avocado (actually, Coastal) League, home-and-home series with La Costa Canyon (8-7). San Marcos (22-0) has a couple tough Palomar League jousts with 16-5 Mission Hills, its neighborhood rival.

Next week’s San Diego Section Open Division playoffs will have a bracket of eight teams.  No matter how those eliminations play out, all eight squads will advance to the eight-team Southern California playoffs.

This week’s The San Diego Union-Tribune poll:

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	LAST WEEK
1.	Torrey Pines	24-0 (13)	130	1
2.	San Marcos	22-0	114	2
3.	Cathedral	12-3	107	3
4.	St. Augustine	12-4	90	4
5.	El Camino	20-5	72	5
6.	Santa Fe Christian	15-3	58	6
7.	Mission Hills	16-5	52	7
8.	Carlsbad	13-7	35	8
9.	Mission Bay	14-7	19	NR
10.	Bonita Vista	10-5	13	nr

Others receiving votes: Coronado (15-5, 5 points), Mater Dei (9-4, 3), Orange Glen (19-5, 3), San Ysidro (16-5, 2), Madison (16-7, 1), Valhalla (14-4, 1).

First-place votes in parenthesis..  Points awarded on scale of 10 down to 1.

Poll voters:13 sportswriters, sportscasters from around San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Aaron Burgin, fulltimehoops.com.
• Terry Monahan, Steve Brand, Union-Tribune correspondents.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan.
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
• Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com.
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com
• Steve Dolan Mountain Country 107.9 FM.
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
• Rick Smith, partletonsports.com
• Brad Enright, L.A. Court Report.

How others see San Diego Section’s top 10 in their California ratings*.

TEAM	RANK	CAL-HI SPORTS	MAX PREPS
Torrey Pines	1	2	2
San Marcos	2	20	11
Cathedral	3	16	9
St. Augustine	4	NR	20
El Camino	5	NR	44
Santa Fe Christian	6	NR	19
Mission Hills	7	NR	35
Carlsbad	8	NR	55
Mission Bay	9	NR	63
Bonita Vista	10	NR	86

*Cal-Hi Sports‘ ranks a Top 25.

Torrey Pines this week ranks second in one California poll, third in another, and a unanimous  No. 1 in San Diego.

John Olive , who became head coach at Torrey Pines before the 1997-98 season and whose teams have averaged 23 victories a season, commands a Falcons squad that has reached this juncture of the season with a 22-0 record.

Olive has an overall won-loss standing of 551-182 (.752), but his teams and no other in San Diego have been ranked as high as they are (3, behind Chatsworth Sierra Canyon and Santa Ana Mater Dei) by the respected Cal-Hi Sports. The Falcons are second in the computer-generated Max Preps standings.

A basketball lifer, the jovial Olive, played at Bishop Eustace High in South New Jersey and at Villanova before joining the San Diego Clippers of the NBA for two seasons as a 6-foot, 7-inch small forward..

Olive played one season with the Alberta Dusters of the Continental Basketball Association and then went into coaching.  He was an assistant at Villanova and for five seasons was head coach at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.

Olive also coordinates the  Torrey Pines Holiday tournament  which annually attracts some of the top teams in the nation, is involved with USA basketball as a coach and executive, and runs a basketball camp in Encinitas.

The Falcons now are five wins away from a perfect regular season, a feat matched only  by the 1959-60 Hoover Cardinals, 1967-68 Mount Miguel Matadors, 1969-70 Helix Highlanders, and 1973-74 Kearny Komets.

Torrey Pines won  three last week, 82-53 over Temecula Rancho Christian, and 83-64 and 62-55 over Carlsbad.

The Falcons have Friday-Saturday games against Avocado League rival Vista this week and close with two the following week versus La Costa Canyon.  A nonleague game against Anaheim Fairmont apparently has been pulled from the schedule.

This week’s The San Diego Union-Tribune poll:

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	LAST WEEK
1.	Torrey Pines	22-0 (13)	130	1
2.	San Marcos	19-0	114	2
3.	Cathedral	11-1	107	3
4.	St. Augustine	10-4	82	4
5.	El Camino	19-4	75	6
6.	Santa Fe Christian	13-3	58	5
7.	Mission Hills	14-4	48	8
8.	Carlsbad	12-6	43	7
9.	Orange Glen	19-3	41	9
10.	Corionado	13-4	10	NR

Others receiving votes: Mission Bay (12-6, 4 points), Bonita Vista (8-4, 4), San Ysidro (14-5, 2), West Hills (14-4, 1).

First-place votes in parenthesis..  Points awarded on scale of 10 down to 1.

Poll voters:13 sportswriters, sportscasters from around San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Aaron Burgin, fulltimehoopos.com.
• Terry Monahan, Steve Brand, Union-Tribune correspondents.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan.
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
• Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com.
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com
• Steve Dolan Mountain Country 107.9 FM.
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
• Rick Smith, partletonsports.com
• Brad Enright, L.A. Court Report.

How others see San Diego Section’s top 10 in their California ratings*.

TEAM	RANK	CAL-HI SPORTS	MAX PREPS
Torrey Pines	1	3	2
San Marcos	2	23	11
Cathedral	3	15	8
St. Augustine	4	NR	24
El Camino	5	NR	47
Santa Fe Christian	6	NR	12
Mission Hills	7	NR	35
Carlsbad	8	NR	46
Orabnge Glen	9	NR	51
Coronado	10	NR	NR

*Cal-Hi Sports‘ ranks a Top 25.

Coach John Olive may have passed the word around the Torrey Pines campus on Del Mar Heights Road:  Do not even think about an undefeated season.

The coach would plead, “It’s too early.” Or, “We’re just thinking about our next game.”

But three impressive victories last week have put the Falcons at 19-0, with a No. 2 state ranking by Max Preps and No. 9 by Cal-Hi-Sports.  Deep and well-rounded, the Falcons beat Coronado, 86-68, Mater Dei, 80-52, and Bonita Vista, 85-63

To run the table in the regular season (we’ll address playoffs later) the Falcons would have to win their last eight games, a schedule which includes home-and-home, Avocado League jousts against traditional rivals Carlsbad, Vista, and La Costa Canyon.

The Falcons also have  home games against Temecula Rancho Christian and potentially troublesome Anaheim Fairmont Prep.

Olive has scheduled as tough as possible (one win over strong Corona Centennial, 65-62) but may have been helped by, of all things, the pandemic.

The scourge forced a drastic restriction in travel. No tournaments or mid-season road games against powerful, outside-the-section opponents.

Torrey Pines takes on the Temecula club tomorrow night (Wednesday, May 12) and tips Friday and Saturday against Carlsbad, the No. 7 team in the San Diego Section.

The last San Diego County team to end the season undefeated was the 1973-74, 32-0 Kearny Komets, led by Mark Hoaglin, Rick Taylor, Alan Rhodes, and Donald Page. That squad, as good as it was, played a  local schedule, no intersectionals.

Undefeated regular seasons also have been achieved by Hoover (24-0, 1959-60), La Jolla (26-0, 1963-64), Mount Miguel (28-0, 1967-68), and Helix (29-0, 1969-70).   Only Mount Miguel and Helix completed unbeaten runs through the playoffs..

UPDATE:  Torrey Pines made it 20 victories in a row, 82-53 over Temecula Rancho Christian.

This week’s The San Diego Union-Tribune poll:

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	LAST WEEK
1.	Torrey Pines	19-0 (13)	130	1
2.	San Marcos	17-0	116	3
3.	Cathedral	8-1	97	2
4.	St. Augustine	12-2	81	7
5.	Santa Fe Christian	12-2	81	4
6.	El Camino	15-3	60	6
7.	Carlsbad	11-4	49	5
8.	Mission Hills	11-2	28	9
9.	Orange Glen	16-3	27	8
10.	Mater Dei	6-2	19	10

Others receiving votes: Coronado (12-4, 13 points), Mission Bay (10-5, 7) Bonita Vista (6-4, 4), Helix (9-7, 1).

First-place votes in parenthesis..  Points awarded on scale of 10 down to 1.

Poll voters:13 sportswriters, sportscasters from around San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Aaron Burgin, fulltimehoopos.com.
• Terry Monahan, Steve Brand, Union-Tribune correspondents.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan.
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
• Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com.
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com
• Steve Dolan Mountain Country 107.9 FM.
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
• Rick Smith, partletonsports.com
• Brad Enright, L.A. Court Report.

How others see San Diego Section’s top 10 in their California ratings*.

TEAM	RANK	CAL-HI SPORTS	MAX PREPS
Torrey Pines	1	9	2
Cathedral	2	13	14
San Marcos	3	24	8
Santa Fe Christian	4	NR	11
Carlsbad	5	NR	32
El Camino	6	NR	47
St. Augustine	7	NR	18
Orange Glen	8	NR	49
Mission Hills	9	NR	34
Mater Dei	10	NR	70

*Cal-Hi Sports‘ ranks a Top 25.

Track and field, long a Southern California stronghold in San Diego, celebrated some powerful performances.

Lincoln lost only a late-season, nonleague dual meet at Helix, 57-47, won its third straight Eastern League dual meet championship and the San Diego Section title for the second year in a row, and contended for the state team championship.

The Hornets’ Vernus Ragsdale and James Kennedy, and Hoover’s John Garrison put up numbers that ranked high in California and in the nation.

3/9/62

Lincoln’s Vernus Ragsdale won the 100-yard dash in :09.8 and 220 in :22.2, and anchored a come-from-behind 880-yard relay victory in 1:32.2 in cold, blustery weather, but host Grossmont (47) outpointed the Hornets (42) and Compton Centennial (40) in the season-opening triangular meet.

3/14/62

Ray Alexander doubled in the 100 and 220 in :09.9 and :21.9 and Gavin Riley logged a 1:58.8 880 in Point Loma’s 68 2/3-35 1/3 dual meet win over Mount Miguel.

3/15/62

Lincoln beat Hoover, 58 ½-36 ½ in an Eastern League dual at Hoover that had moments of comic drama.

Hoover’s John Koethe “won” the 220-yard dash, shocking unbeaten Vernus Ragsdale,  and Rags’ teammates and followers, his “posse” in 21^st century nomenclature.

Koethe covered the distance over the tight curve and traditionally slow Cardinals track in a stunning :21.1.  Ragsdale, 10 yards behind, was in disbelief at the finish line, as were all in the stands.

DREADED ADMINISTRATIVE GLITCH

What happened?

The maintenance and grounds personnel at Hoover had erred when lining the track and putting down the runners’ lime lane markings. The crew created a lane that required Koethe to cover only approximately 205 yards.

Even Koethe was nonplussed as he was congratulated by a swarm of red-clad teammates. A good quarter miler (:50.4), the Princeton-bound junior had not run better than :23.6 in the 220.

The lane error was discovered and, after a few minutes of raised voices and arm waving by Lincoln coach Bobby Smith and  Cardinals boss Raleigh Holt, the race was declared no contest and the event’s nine points were erased.

3/24/62

Vernus Ragsdale bolted to a :09.5 100-yard dash in the National City Junior Chamber of Commerce Relays at Sweetwater.

Ragsdale’s  was the second fastest, to Roscoe Cook’s wind-aided :09.4 in 1957, ever run by a San Diego-area prep.

There was no wind gauge on site, so Ragsdale’s feat, whether it was above or under the allowable 4.447 miles per hour, took on questionable status.

I was the writer covering the event for the Evening Tribune, which carried a headline over my weekly, follow-up With the Preps column, “Let the Wind Blow, National City JC’s Will Never Know.”

Reaction to the story and the headline, which I did not write, resulted in my receiving an unfriendly telephone call from Sweetwater athletic director Tom Parker.

“Mr. Smith, you no longer are welcome at Sweetwater,” was the gist of Parker’s comments.

Almost 50 years later, at a luncheon of retired track coaches, the late Rich Gehring, a hard-working and principled coach for three decades, unsmilingly repeated to me the no-wind-gauge headline.

Wind gauges were used mostly at more major events, such as the CIF championships.

The relays were staffed by Gehring and volunteer junior chamber of commerce personnel.

I should have taken a more temperate approach and at least given Gehring or the Jaycees an opportunity to respond.

3/30/62

Lincoln beat San Diego, 58 ½-45 ½, in the pivotal Eastern League dual before a roaring crowd at Lincoln (including many watching from behind a fence hundreds of yards away on Imperial Avenue) as Vernus Ragsdale won the 100 in :09.8 and 220 in :22.1 and then made a rare appearance in the broad jump, finishing third at 22 feet, behind teammate Walter Scott’s 23 ¾.

Twins Elmer and Eddie Logans kept San Diego close, Eddie winning the 440 in :50.3 and Elmer the 120-yard high hurdles in :15.4 and 180-yard lows in :19.8.

FAST SAINTSMAN

The Crawford track, perched on a high plateau and offering favorable breezes from the West, was the site of many good 100-yard dash times, the latest a :09.7 by St. Augustine’s Henry (Bunny) Daniels.

4/10/62

Bruce Long pole vaulted 13 feet, 5 inches, and raised his Point Loma school record in a 77-26 win over Mission Bay.

Bryce Santry had set a Pointers record of 12-9 in the 1935 Metropolitan League finals.  Santry competed with a bamboo pole and became a vocal critic of the modern, more flexible fiberglass implement (“It’s like a pogo stick,” complained Santry) used by Long and others.

Santry went so far as to bring a pressure gauge to one Long’s meets, comparing the minimal flex of a bamboo pole with Long’s implement.

Long and Point Loma coach Ed Thomas, who approved  Santry’s appearance after Santry had contacted me at the newspaper, regarded the demonstration with subdued amusement.

4/12/62

Monte Vista’s Lynn Chenowth took the section lead with a 13-foot, 6 ½-inch pole vault and was second in the 180-yard low hurdles and high jump but La Jolla shook off a wind-biting cold at Scripps Field and won the dual meet, 68-36.

4/13/62

Helix won its fifth consecutive Grossmont League dual, 77-25, over El Capitan and miler Ted Hack lowered his section-leading mile mark to 4:24.7.

John Garrison of Hoover ran the season’s fastest 880, 1:56, and Tom Agsten was a double winner at :10.1 and :22.1 in the 100 and 220, offsetting a double by Crawford’s Bill Rainey, who won the 440 in :52.6 and pole vault at 12-6.

Hoover won the last-event, 880-yard relay in 1:30.3 and the meet, 56-48.

5/6/62

A consensus of coaches and some observers declared there was no over-the-limit wind in Vernus Ragsdale’s :09.6 100 in the Eastern League trials at Crawford, although a surprising 09.8 by San Diego’s Raymond Dixon in Class B was declared wind-aided.

5/11/62

Top mark of the Eastern’s evening finals was the league-record 1:54.4 880 by Hoover’s John Garrison. Only  Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny (1:52.7) in 1957 had run faster.

Other league records were the :49.9 440 by St. Augustine’s James Moore and :21.7 220 by Lincoln’s Vernus Ragsdale, who also won the 100 in :09.7 and teamed with Ron Peavy, Robert Miller, and Larry Greenwood to set an 880-yard relay record of 1:28.2.

Escondido’s Jim Pritchard continued the ascension of pole vaulters, clearing 13-3 to set a Metropolitan League record in finals at Mar Vista.

Helix, undefeated in dual meet competition, came up short as Grossmont won the Grossmont League finals with 64 points to the Highlanders’ 43.

Steve Adams was a double winner in the Grossmont finals at El Cajon Valley, winning the 100 in :09.9 and 220 in :21.5.

5/18/62

Trees had been planted behind the south end of the track but had not matured to help shield the wind when the CIF finals were awarded to Kearny in 1961 and the result of races run away from the trees was predictable.

Only one flat race, Dave Blunt’s :21.0 220, was not wind aided.

Kearny was host again for the CIF finals and trials.

The wind was blowing 7-10 miles an hour and gusting higher on the first of the two-day trials.

Steve Adams took advantage with a :09.4 100 followed by the :09.5 of Point Loma’s Ray Alexander.

5/19/62

Eastern, Western, and Metropolitan League athletes gathered the following day and Lincoln’s Vernus Ragsdale, with wind, raced to a :09.6 100 and :20.7 220.

Perhaps most impressive achievement of the day was a 6-foot, 3 1/8-inch high jump by 5-foot, 8-inch Class C sophomore Eddy Hanks of Hoover, who would go on to set varsity records.

5/26/62

Vernus Ragsdale turned in more exciting but unrealistic times of :09.4 and :20.3 as the wind continued in the finals.

Cold and overcast weather prevailed as Lincoln won the team race with 39 points to Grossmont’s 32 (Foothillers also won Classes B and C) and San Diego’s 19.

Lincoln also served notice that it could be a contender for the team title in the following week’s state meet when it tied the County record with a 1:27.2 recording in the 880  relay and James Kennedy went 23-7 ¼ in the broad jump.

Grossmont’s Ed Speed beat his teammate and season-leading shot putter Brad Baer with a 58-11 ½ effort.  Baer had a gone 59-2 ¼.

Speed reached 61-6 ¼ the previous year but had been inconsistent through this spring.

6/1/62

Lincoln unofficially tied Los Angeles Jefferson for the team championship, each with 14 points at Modesto Junior College.

The Hornets roared into contention when James Kennedy beat a loaded field with a stunning, 24-foot, 5 ¾-inch broad jump early in the competition.

Lincoln had caught a break when films from the afternoon trials showed that Vernus Ragsdale had tied for a qualifying fourth in :09.7 in his heat of the 100.

It did not hurt that Ragsdale’s coach, Bobby Smith, had been an international pole vaulter from San Diego High and San Diego State in the late ‘forties and early ‘fifties and was a friend of Cornelius (Dutch) Warmerdam, the former world recordholder in the event and the state meet director.

Ragsdale was given the ninth lane, which was next to a barrier and screen separating spectators from the track. He unofficially finished third in :09.6 in the final, and was second to L.A. Fremont’s Richard Stebbins’ :20.9 in the 220 in :21.1. Ragsdale had blazed the straightaway in the trials in a 7.4 m.p.h. wind-aided :20.4.

EXCHANGE PROBLEM

Lincoln ran 1:27.1 in the 880 relay trials but slipped to fourth in 1:27.8 in the evening because of a poor exchange between Ragsdale and Larry Greenwood.

Hoover’s John Garrison and Monte Vista’s Lynn Chenowth were the only other San Diego Section point winners

Garrison tied Jim Cerveny’s County record with  a 1:52.7 and was second in the 880, won by Chico’s Doug Parker in 1:52.2. Chenowth tied for fourth in the pole vault at 13-6.

Helix’ Ted Hack was fifth in one of two mile races but eighth overall in 4:24.4 as junior Dennis Carr of La Habra Lowell set a national record of 4:08.7.  Carr’s best had been 4:18.8.

San Diego’s Elmer Logans ran a wind-aided :19.0 in the 180-yard low hurdles trials and was a non-scoring sixth with a no-wind :19.1 in the finals.

6/4/62

A review of film from the finals showed that Vernus Ragsdale was fifth, not third, in the 100, dropping the Hornets to 12 points and giving L.A. Jefferson the title.

“That’s news to me,” said Lincoln coach Bobby Smith when notified by The San Diego Union‘s Chuck Sawyer, who had read a wire-service announcement.

“I just took our trophy downtown to get it engraved,” said the disappointed Smith.

 

 

 

 

Crawford was emerging as a legendary power and would appear in the San Diego Section championship game six times, winning four, by the end of the decade.

The Colts’ coach was Bill Sandback, a hockey-playing Minnesota transplant who, after seeking more agreeable weather, moved west, and taught one year at Memorial Junior High before becoming the Colts’ mentor this season.

Two players on this team, catcher Dave Duncan and outfielder Eddie Herrmann, would go on to the major leagues as catchers, Duncan later as perhaps the major leagues’ premier pitching coach with the St. Louis Cardinals…

3/2/62

Crawford’s Ron Dargo pitched a no-hitter in a 1-0 victory over visiting Helix, striking out 5, walking 2, and hitting one batsman.

Dargo also allowed only one hit in an earlier, season-opening victory over El Cajon Valley on Feb. 28.

3/9/62

His team trailing, 3-2, with one out in the seventh inning, Henry Peavy struck a three-run, reported 360-foot home run that cleared a 20-foot fence in right field at Golden Hill playground, earning San Diego a 5-3 victory over host St. Augustine in an Eastern League opener

3/13/62

Jim Rupe slugged a first-inning home run and followed with three singles and John Allison allowed one run and two hits in 6 2/3 innings of relief as Crawford muscled Hoover, 11-2.

3/14/62

Jim Rupe hit solo home runs in the first and third innings and Crawford defeated visiting Sweetwater, 3-2, behind Ron Dargo’s two-hit pitching and improved to 7-0.

Three-run home runs at Clairemont by Mike Christino and George Mahaffey Barnes led San Diego to a 9-5 win and 6-0 record.

3/16/62

Froebel Brigham, eighth in the batting order, led San Diego to a 4-2 victory over Lincoln in an Eastern League game at Robb Field, Ocean Beach.

Brigham homered and tripled, and drove in all four runs as the Cavers improved to 7-0 and pitcher Larry Murillo to 3-0.

3/23/62

Ron Scagliotti struck out 18 Granite Hills batters and allowed two hits in a 5-1 Monte Vista victory.

Helix’ George Sherrod stopped Mount Miguel on three hits, 3-1.

Hoover staked a 7-0 lead in the first two innings and gave it all up in the third.  San Diego sent 18 men to the plate and scored 12 runs and went on to a 17-8 victory.

Home team Lincoln beat Crawford, 1-0, as Lou Marone outpitched Ron Dargo in a battle of lefthanders.

3/26/62

Gary Rucker’s one-hit pitching was essential as La Jolla’s John Fink gave up only two hits in the Pointers’ 1-0 triumph.

3/30/62

Joe Jacobo’s one-hit pitching for San Diego stopped St. Augustine, 2-1, in the Eastern League. Helix retained first in the Grossmont League, edging El Capitan, 4-3, behind Dick Gowin’s single with two outs in the seventh inning.

4/4/62

Gary Rucker stuck out 16 batters and Bobby Falar’s squeeze bunt brought home the winning run in Point Loma’s eight-inning, 4-3 nod over Kearny.

Homers by Mike Christino and Carl Limbrick offset Phil Boland’s homer in San Diego’s 5-4 win over Lincoln.

Coronado sophomore Dan Jordan, up from the junior varsity squad, punched out San Marcos, 3-0, allowing only a base on balls.

4/6/62

Fireballer  Ron (Flame) Tompkins hurled Chula Vista to a 1-0, eight-inning victory over Sweetwater’s Joe Camacho that landed the Spartans (4-1) in first place in the Metropolitan League, ahead of Sweetwater (4-2)

Tompkins made the major leagues and had a baseball card that became very popular.  Tomkins shared his “rookie” card with future Hall of Famer Johnny Bench.

4/10/62

John Allison allowed Lincoln one hit in a 4-0 Crawford win that kept the Colts within a game of Eastern League-leading San Diego.

Bob Crowley’s three-run home run was the difference in Sweetwater’s 5-4, Metropolitan League win over Mar Vista.

Poway beat Ramona, 15-3 for its fourth consecutive Palomar League triumph.  Nick Dillon, Daro Quiring, and Bill Jack homered for the Titans.

Visiting Crawford was one out from an Eastern League tie for first place, but San Diego scratched out two runs for a 4-3 victory and improved to 7-1 in league play to the Colts’ 5-3.

4/16/62

LIONS TOURNAMENT

Thirty-two teams in Unlimited and Limited divisions, all from the San Diego Section, began play in the 12^th annual Lions Tournament, games at Navy Field, foot of Fifth Avenue and Harbor Drive.

Gary Rucker’s three-run home run in the fourth inning propelled Point Loma to a 7-5 victory over Escondido in the first round of the Lions Tournament and Russell (Hush) Puppe pitched the Pointers into the semifinal round, 4-3 over Grossmont after Rucker doubled and scored on Lynn Kemp’s bases-loaded walk.

4/17/62

George Mahaffey Barnes and Fred Shuey each had four hits as San Diego knocked out Crawford, 13-3, in the quarterfinals after the Colts set down Chula Vista, 6-3, behind John Allison’s six-hit pitching and double and single, which produced two runs batted in.

A Point Loma-San Diego championship game was assured after the Cavers followed their morning win over Crawford with a 4-3 victory over El Capitan in the afternoon.  San Diego came from behind in the last of the seventh inning on Henry Peavy’s single, which scored Sylvester Crowell and George Mahaffey Barnes.

Point Loma advanced with a pair of 4-3 victories over Grossmont and St. Augustine, respectively.

4/18/62

Husky Gary Rucker, backed by an errorless defense, allowed three hits and struck out 11, and pitched Point Loma to a 2-1, Unlimited Division championship game victory over San Diego.

So described by  writer Roger Conlee, the 6-foot, 1-inch,  205-pound Rucker boasted a 5-1 record and was one of the reasons Pointers coach Kermeen (Punky) Fristrom predicted a Western League championship for his team.

“It’s going to be tough, but I don’t think anyone is going to beat us out of it now,” Fristrom told Conlee after his club won its 11th in a row. San Diego (15-3) saw an eight-game winning streak end.

Ron (Flame) Tompkins hurled a no-hitter and Chula Vista claimed Unlimited consolation honors, 3-0, over Escondido.

El Centro Central was the Limited  champion after topping El Cajon Valley, 7-1, and University claimed the consolation prize, 9-8, over La Jolla.

5/1/62

Herb Palmtag singled in the winning run in the 12^th inning of a game that was resumed after being  suspended earlier in the 10^th inning against Clairemont.

The Pointers’ 5-3 victory enabled them to claim a share of the Western League championship.

Clairemont’s Arnie Powers no-hit the Pointers in the regularly-scheduled game, outdueling Gary Rucker, 2-0, who was the winning pitcher in the 5-3 game.

5/4/62

Point Loma, Chula Vista (Metropolitan), Oceanside (Avocado), and Poway (Palomar) clinched league championships and Helix gained a tie for the Grossmont League title.

A Clairemont pitcher, Jim Tarlton, hurled the Chieftains’ second consecutive no-hitter, blanking Mission Bay, 2-0.

Bob Serrano’s two-run home run in the sixth inning and Russell (Hush) Puppe’s two-hit pitching clinched Point Loma’s championship, 2-1 over La Jolla.

Jim Quiring’s homer in the ninth inning beat San Marcos, 7-6, and separated Poway from the rest of its circuit rivals.

Phil Edwards’ two home runs paced Helix to a 10-9 win over El Cajon Valley.

5/8/62

George Sherrod stopped host El Capitan, 9-3, aided by 6 Vaqueros errors that led to six unearned runs, and Helix won its 11^th Grossmont League game in a row and the league title.

Kearny, 3-16 overall, stunned 18-3 San Diego, 6-4, behind John Green’s two-run home run.

Dave Duncan’s grand slam home run in the first inning propelled Crawford to a nonleague victory at Point Loma.

5/10/62
PLAYOFFS

2-A

Eight teams, two each from the Eastern, Western, Metropolitan, and Grossmont leagues would square off in the San Diego section 2-A playoffs.

A one-game playoff with between Oceanside (Avocado) and Poway (Palomar) would determine the 1-A champion.

REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS

EASTERN LEAGUE

                                      LEAGUE                                                                        OVERALL                                            

TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	Lost	Pct.
San Diego	11	1	.917	—	19	4	.826
Crawford	7	5	.583	4	16	6	.727
St. Augustine	6	6	.500	5	12	11	.522
Lincoln	3	9	.250	8	9	12	.429
Hoover	3	9	.250	8	9	13	.409

WESTERN LEAGUE

                                      LEAGUE                                                                         OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Point Loma	11	1	.917	—	16	8	.667
Clairemont	9	3	.750	2	15	6	.714
La Jolla	4	8	.333	7	8	12	.400
Mission Bay	3	9	.250	8	7	15	.318
Kearny	3	9	.250	8	5	15	.250

GROSSMONT LEAGUE

                                       LEAGUE                                                                          OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Helix	11	0	1.000	—	16	4	.800
El Capitan	9	3	.750	2	16	6	.727
El Cajon Valley	5	7	.417	6	11	12	.478
Grossmont	5	7	.417	6	11	9	.550
Monte Vista	5	7	.417	6	10	9	.526
Mount Miguel	4	8	.333	8	7	13	.350
Granite Hills	2	10	.167	9	5	15	.250

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

                                             LEAGUE                                                                           OVERALL                                          

TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Chula Vista	9	3	.750	—	16	6	.727
Escondido	7	5	.583	2	13	9	.591
Sweetwater	6	6	.500	3	8	12	.400
Hilltop	4	8	.333	5	7	13	.350
Mar Vista	4	8	.333	5	4	14	.222

PALOMAR LEAGUE

                                             LEAGUE                                                                       OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	POST	Pct.
Poway	10	0	1.000	—	16	3	.842
Army-Navy	6	4	.600	4	7	8	.467
Carlsbad	5	5	.500	5	7	8	.467
Fallbrook	5	5	.500	5	7	9	.438
San Marcos	4	6	.600	6	8	8	.500
Ramona	0	10	.000	10	5	12	.294

AVOCADO LEAGUE

                                             LEAGUE                                                                      OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Oceanside	9	3	.750	—	14	7	.667
University	8	4	.500	1	14	6	.700
Coronado	7	5	.583	2	11	11	.500
San Dieguito	4	8	.333	5	7	11	.389
Vista	2	10	.167	7	5	16	.238

 GBL:m Games behind leader.

5/15/62

FIRST ROUND

Clairemont (15-7) 6, @Chula Vista  7.
Dick Pipes, facing an 0-2 count with two outs in the eighth inning, singled in Tim White for the winning run in the eighth inning.

The Spartans had lost a 6-4 lead when the Chieftains scored three in the top of the seventh.

Clairemont’s Arnie Powers and Chula Vista’s Ron (Flame) Tompkins each went the distance, each surviving 11 combined errors, six by the Chieftains.

The Spartans-Chiefs game was the only contest, as the three others scheduled were rained out or postponed because of wet grounds.

El Capitan 5, San Diego (19-5) 4, @Beeson Field.

Vaqueros lefthander Dave Varvel allowed only one hit and survived five errors, but a defensive play saved the game.

Dave Duncan cut down a tying run in the third inning with a perfect throw from right field.

Graig Nettles’ single to right field scored Fred Shuey, but Vaqueros catcher Gordon Carlson took Duncan’s throw and held on to the ball despite a collision with 200-pound Henry Peavy.

The victory avenged the East County club’s controversial, 4-3 loss to the Cavemen in the Lions Tournament.

Crawford (17-6) 4, @Helix (16-5) 3, eight innings.
The Colts, who overpowered Helix in the football playoffs, again carried the hammer.

The Highlanders were leading 3-1, in the third inning when John Allison and Tom Whelan hit home runs.

Dave Duncan led off the eighth inning with a 340-foot drive that decided the duel between pitching aces Ron Dargo of Crawford and George Sherrod.

Escondido (14-9) 1, @Point Loma (16-8) 0.

Pitcher Jack Turner hit a two-out single in the fourth inning, scoring Nick Thurlow, and won a tense duel with the Pointers’ hard-luck Gary Rucker.

SEMIFINALS        

El Capitan 9, Chula Vista (17-7) 5.

Dave Varvel, pitching on one day’s rest, got the better of Chula Vista’s Ron Tompkins,

Varvel allowed eight hits but the Vaqueros attacked Tompkins with 12 hits, including a double and two singles by Ron Carlson and a three-run home run by  Dave Duncan that broken open the game in the fifth inning.

Crawford 3, Escondido (14-10) 1. 

John Allison’s complete-game five-hitter was enough for Crawford to advance and allowed coach Bill Sandback to rest lefty ace Ron Dargo.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Crawford (19-6) 9, El Capitan (18-7) 0, @Westgate Park.

Ron Dargo limited El Capitan to three singles and the Vaqueros’ Dave Varvel, pitching his third straight playoff, issued six walks in one inning.

Dave Bruen drove in three runs and Tom Ault two runs.  Tom Cassie had two hits and Cassie and Tom Whelan each had two-base hits.

Attendance was an estimated 1,200 persons, giving Crawford two major championships, defeating more renowned Helix along the way.

1-A

Poway (17-3) 3, Oceanside (14-8) 2.                                                                                         

Daro Quiring won his 13th game against two defeats, allowing two hits, and the second-year Titans survived eight errors.

The single-game playoff was between Palomar League Poway and Avocado League Oceanside.