1979 Baseball: Hats Off! Hilltop, Metropolitan League
The long game ended the longest wait in the 18-season history of the San Diego Section. Hilltop’s 3-1 victory over Vista in the 17-inning 2-A finals marked the first year that a team not from the Eastern, Western or Grossmont leagues had won the title. Championships had been won by Eastern League schools Hoover (4), […]
Read More1978 Baseball: Dons First in Poll, First in Playoffs
Dick Serrano coached his second San Diego Section championship team and continued to leave a legacy at the school, from which he graduated in 1961 and which he guided the baseball program for 30 years until his retirement after the 2000 season. Unlike the 1972 team that finished the regular season with a 12-10 record […]
Read More1938 Baseball: Strange, Disappointing Ending for Hilltoppers
San Diego’s march to a Southern Section championship was derailed by Glendale in the most confusing finish in the 20-season career of coach Mike Morrow. “Bait and switch” is a often-used political term for what happened to the Hilltoppers. They were told by CIF boss Seth Van Patten that a victory over Norwalk Excelsior in […]
Read More1977 Baseball: Granite Hills Stays Course, Wins First Title
Granite Hills shook off a tie with Monte Vista, one of the the poorest teams in the County. The deadlock had prevented the Eagles from a championship tie with Helix in the Grossmont League, but the Eagles went on to win their first San Diego Section title. 3/11/77 Granite Hills, a preseason No. 2-ranked in […]
Read More2024: Eddie Olsen, 89, Baseball Lifer
The hand shake was a vise grip. I first shook that hand in September, 1964, when Eddie Olsen was hired to manage the Billiard Den, a trendy, new watering hole and pool parlor at 58th Street and El Cajon Blvd. I last saw Eddie months before he passed recently at age 89 and the handshake […]
Read More1976 Baseball: Favorites’ Stumbles Open Door for Madison
The numbers 1, 2, 4, and 5 seeds were eliminated in the first round of the San Diego Section playoffs. Only third-ranked Hoover survived and the Cardinals were ousted in the quarterfinals. That left the door open for No. 6 seed Madison, which edged No. 12 Crawford, 1-0, for the championship. Probably most disappointed was […]
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