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 58^th Street and El Cajon Blvd.

I last saw Eddie months before he passed recently at age 89 and the handshake had not lost any of its strength. That was a reflection of Olsen, direct, sometimes blunt, but always honest.

He left with a legion of friends from an almost lifetime of baseball.

ORGINALLY A PADRE

Olsen was in the game from as a pre-teen serving as a ball boy and bat boy and working in the clubhouse for the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres.

He played baseball for coach Walt Harvey at La Jolla High and earned all-Southern California second team honors as a first baseman and occasional pitcher. The 1953 Vikings ousted San Diego High for the City Prep League championship and advanced to the CIF finals, bowing to Compton, 5-2, and posting a 24-4 record.

Eddie played professional baseball for seven years and served a stint in the Marine Corps before going into coaching, first at Morse High, then as head coach for nine seasons at El Capitan High.

Olsen moved in 1982 to Grossmont College, where his teams posted a 516-373-7 record in 22 seasons before he retired in 2004.  He was inducted into the California Community College Baseball Association Hall of Fame in 2008.

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 Clairemont and coach Ernie Beck, whose top-seed Chieftains took a loss to 16th-ranked Torrey Pines, a second-year school with a 12-10 record from the nascent Coast League.

LEGENDARY COACH

Beck held the County record of 454 victories when he retired after winning his first San Diego Section title in 1984 .

Beck also holds the unique distinction of championships in two of the state’s CIF sections. He coached second-year, no-seniors Clairemont to the Southern Section Class AA title in 1960, the last year of San Diego teams’ participation before the first season of the San Diego Section in 1960-61.

5/11/76

Three league leaders met defeat and two league leaders moved closer to clinching championships.

—The San Diego Union No. 1-ranked Hoover was beaten by Crawford right-hander Curtis Burkhead for the second time, 4-1.

—Tim Muser limited Western League No. 1 Madison to four hits as Clairemont scored a 3-2 victory.

—Metropolitan League leader Mar Vista lost a five-run lead and was defeated by Hilltop, 6-5, moving the Lancers to a half-game lead over the Mariners in the Metropolitan League.

—La Jolla took a two-game lead with three to play in the Coast League, 3-2, in eight innings over Mission Bay.

—Grossmont didn’t play but picked up a half game in the Grossmont League and led by three games with three to play.

5/12/76

Writer Henry Wesch compared Montgomery’s Fermin Singson to the fast-working San Diego Padre Randy Jones when Singson needed just minutes more than an hour to blank Hilltop, 2-0, and gain a tie with Mar Vista (9-3) for first in the Metropolitan League.

Singson gave up three singles and raised his record to 9-3.

Mar Vista stayed apace the Aztecs with a 13-3 win over Chula Vista.

—Patrick Henry scored two runs in the ninth inning to edge St. Augustine, 4-2, in the makeup of a rained-out contest.

—Don Slater’s seventh-inning squeeze bunt scored Scott Brazil and Bonita Vista walked off with a 1-0 victory over Sweetwater.

5/13/76

Steve Dergonc drove in seven runs with a grand slam home run batting lefthanded and three-run homer batting righthanded and Madison won a Western League rout over visiting University, 16-3.

5/14/76

Lee Guetterman’s two-run home run and three-hit pitching resulted in a 7-0 Avocado League victory by Oceanside over Fallbrook that knocked the Warriors out of first place, a game behind Carlsbad, 5-0 winner against San Marcos.

5/17/76

El Capitan scored a run in the top of the ninth inning to defeat Grossmont, 6-5, in a game interrupted by a bench-clearing beef, which saw eight players ejected, four from each team.

5/18/76

Patrick Henry stayed alive in the Eastern League by overcoming a 6-1 lead with six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, shocking Morse, 7-6, to remain one game behind Hoover with one to play.

–La Jolla clinched the Coast League title with a 3-2 victory at San Dieguito.

5/19/76

Clairemont and Patrick Henry earned ties for the Western and Eastern League championships, respectively.

The Chieftains, given an opportunity when Kearny edged Madison, 2-1, rallied for four runs in the seventh inning to defeat San Diego, 5-2.

Coach Ernie Beck’s team also was given the league’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs after defeating league leader Madison twice during the regular season.

—Patrick Henry, aided by three errors, rallied for seven runs in the sixth inning to top Hoover, 10-8, but the Cardinals became the Eastern’s top seed in the playoffs after a vote of league representatives following the game.

5/21/76

Championship of the Lions Baseball Tournament, played on April 15, was decided 36 days later, when Kearny’s Bart Bass pitched a 5-0 victory over Clairemont for the Lions 3-A crown.

Bass was working on a one-hit, 11-0 lead when play was halted after a rainstorm hit Smith Field on the San Diego State campus in the fourth inning on April 15.

Five innings were required for the contest to be considered official.

Bosses agreed to replay the final in toto following the last regular-season game.

STANDINGS

AVOCADO LEAGUE

                        LEAGUE                                                                                          OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	PCT.	GBL	WON	LOST	PCT.
Carlsbad	12	2	.857	—	21	4	.840
Fallbrook	12	2	.857	—	17	6	.737
Oceanside	10	4	.714	2	15	6	.714
San Marcos	9	5	.643	3	17	7	.708
San Pasqual	4	10	.286	8	8	11	.421
Vista	4	10	.286	8	10	13	.435
Escondido	3	11	.214	9	6	17	.261
Orange Glen	2	14	.143	3	15	.167	.833

EASTERN LEAGUE

                       LEAGUE                                                                                           OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Hoover	11	5	.688	—	20	6	.769
Patrick Henry	11	5	.688	—	15	9	.625
Crawford	9	7	.563	2	17	10	.630
Morse	6	10	.375	5	6	16	.273
St. Augustine	4	12	.250	7	7	16	.304
Lincoln	3	13	.188	8	4	17	.190

WESTERN LEAGUE

                       LEAGUE                                                                                     OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	PCT.
Clairemont	12	4	.750	—	18	7	.720
Madison	12	4	.750	—	21	6	.778
Kearny	11	5	.688	1	16	9	.640
Point Loma	10	6	.625	2	13	9	.591
University	5	11	.313	7	10	14	.417
San Diego	2	14	.125	10	5	15	.250

OTHER LEAGUE FINAL STANDINGS AND FINAL OVERALL RECORDS NOT PUBLISHED.

5/24/76

2-A PLAYOFFS

PLAY-IN ROUND

Torrey Pines 4, @Oceanside (15-7) 3.

Bonita Vista 17, @Santana (12-11) 14.

Scott Brazil had three hits, including a three-run home run, drove in seven runs, and then picked up the victory with two shutout innings in relief after the Barons, trailing, 9-0, in the first inning and 14-12 in the top of the seventh, pulled out the victory.

Tom Tussell was four for five, doubled twice, and drove in four runs, and Dan Meza hit a 340-foot home run for the Sultans.

5/25/76

FIRST ROUND

Patrick Henry 8, @Fallbrook (17-6) 7.

Two-run home runs by Patriots Dave Miller, Mike Messina, and Jim Minerd were enough to offset John Christensen’s 4 for 4 that included a two run homer and run-scoring double.

Montgomery 1, @No. 5 La Jolla (20-4) 0.

Joe Williams’ fourth-inning home run backed Felmir Singson’s 10-strikeout, three-hit pitching.

Torrey Pines 3, @No. 1 Clairemont (18-7) 1.

John Kentera’s three hits and Steve Summers’ four-hit pitching marked the second-year Falcons’ seventh straight win and a stunning playoff loss for the top-seeded Chieftains.

No. 9 Bonita Vista 4, @No. 2 Carlsbad (22-4) 1.

Scott Brazil’s two-run single in the fifth inning provided the winning runs and Brazil’s three-hit pitching shut down the Lancers, whose run was on Brazil’s first-inning balk.

Crawford 5, @No. 4 Grossmont (15-8) 2.

The Colts moved on after Brent Wittmayers’ grand slam home run in the fifth inning.

Kearny (16-9) 3, @No. 3 Hoover 4.

Helix 6, @Mar Vista (16-7) 3.

Mission Bay (14-9) 3, @Madison 6.

Paul Wirkus’ three-run homer and Raymond Lane’s pitching advanced the Warhawks.

1-A CHAMPIONSHIP

Christian (12-6) 10, Francis Parker (11-7) 9, @El Capitan.

The Patriots stole nine bases and built a 10-3 lead, but five bases on balls, two errors, and a hit batsmen had them hanging on to a one-run lead after the Lancers crossed home plate with six runs in the top of the seventh inning.

Patriots pitcher Steve Stockwell weathered the baseball version of a Category Level 4 hurricane, striking out Patriots freshman John Mansfield for the final out with the bases loaded and the ball-strike count 3-2.

QUARTERFINALS

5/26/76

Torrey Pines 12, Patrick Henry (15-9) 3.

The Falcons continued to impress as former San Diego State football great Craig Scoggins’ club rode with first baseman John Kentera, who singled, doubled and tripled, scored three runs and knocked in a run. Paul Salgado and Bryan Bowen drove in three runs apiece.

Crawford 4, Montgomery (18-8) 1.

Leading, 2-1, Crawford scored four times in the sixth inning. Greg Smith and Ken Vasquez combined to hold the Aztecs to seven hits and Brett Wittmayer singled in two runs and scored on a wild pitch.

Helix 4, @No. 3 Hoover (20-6) 3, (8), @Southwestern College.

Chris Myers scored on Larry Fixen’s squeeze bunt in the eighth inning and the Highlanders ushered out the favored Cardinals.

Madison 12, Bonita Vista (18-7) 7.

Brent Hillenga and Steve Derganc hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning and the Warhawks built a 6-1 lead after three innings against last year’s playoff runner-up.

5/28/76

SEMIFINALS

Madison 6, Helix (16-11) 3, @University of San Diego.

Raymond Lane (9-1) survived a three-run first inning and struck out 11 for the complete-game win.

The Warhawks were hitless for the first four innings against Al Knerr, who gave up a single to Lane in the fifth inning after a leadoff walk to John Nelson.

Dennis Brickel followed a squeeze play that scored Nelson with a triple that tied the score at 3-3.  Another squeeze, by Scott Fowler scored Brickel.

I had a sore back in practice yesterday and I didn’t think I would start,” said Lane, “but coach (Bob Roeder) likes to keep the rotation and he said I’d have to suck it up and go today.”

Crawford 5, Torrey Pines (15-11) 1, @Mesa College.

CHAMPIONSHIP

5/29/76

Madison (21-6) 1, Crawford (17-10) 0, @San Diego State.

“We’re the first Madison team that didn’t choke,” shouted centerfielder John Nelson.

“We’ve never had a team get past the second round before,” said coach Bob Roeder, “but this team never got down.”

Scott Fowler blooped a single down the leftfield line to score Dennis Brickel in the bottom of the sixth inning for the game’s only score.

The Colts, who had runners in scoring position in the first, fifth and sixth innings, could not get to Warhawks starter Rich Leahy, who worked out of trouble each time and gave up three hits.

The Colts’ Mike Martinez and Ken Vasquez almost matched Leahy’s gem and the Colts, seeded 12^th at the start of the postseason, drew praise from coach Jerry Tooze.

“Not many thought we’d make it (this far), but I did and you couldn’t ask for a much better game than we played,” said Tooze.

 

San Diego High won its third consecutive CIF championship under fifth-year coach Mike Morrow and posted a 19-3 record, according to Don King’s Caver Conquest.

The Great Depression was raging, unemployment was high, young men had time on their hands, and many played baseball.

Possibly without budget for travel beyond obligatory Coast League games, Morrow’s clubs played contests that did not count and several that apparently were official against local amateur clubs, including a team from University Heights playground and another called “Harding’s North Park.”

Morrow’s team wielded heavy lumber, with a combined batting average of .390 for five league games and four playoffs, led by Athos Sada’s .611, 22 hits in 36 at bats.

Table includes usual starters.

NAME	AT BATS	HITS	AVERAGE
Athos Sada	36	22	.611
Allan Storton	31	16	.516
Walter Bostrom	38	17	.447
Tony Galassio	40	16	.400
Irvine (Cotton) Warburton	38	15	.395
Ray Holt	34	11	.324
Bill Howell	51	16	.314
Cecil McElvain	14	4	.286
Roy Holt	39	11	.282
Bill Larson	18	5	.278

3/31/30

Following identical 8-6 victories over Calexico 3/28 and 3/29, St. Augustine won at Sweetwater, 8-6.

—Rod Luscomb slugged two triples and the University Heights playground squad defeated San Diego, 14-5, leaving coach Mike Morrow’s team with a 4-2 record and evening their series at one victory each.

—Sweetwater defeated San Diego High’s visiting second string squad, 5-4.

4/1/30

Fourteen St. Augustine players and coach Herb Corriere embarked on barnstorming tour of four games in five days, at Fallbrook, at Ventura, at Los Angeles Roosevelt, where former San Diego High star Coney Galindo was coach; and at USC Freshmen.

4/3/30

Johnny Funk hit a three-run home run and pitched a three hitter and George Albin had three hits as St. Augustine beat Ventura, 10-2.

—Tony Galasso set down the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on two hits and San Diego High amassed 15 hits in a 7-0 victory at Navy Field.

4/4/30

—Pacific Beach’s Army-Navy opened the season with a 9-6 win over visiting Sweetwater.

Coach Viggo Hansen announced an upcoming northern trip to Anaheim, Brea, Claremont Webb, L.A. Pacific Military, and Venice.

—Johnny Fink hit a three-run home run and allowed three hits as St. Augustine won at Ventura, 10-3. George Albin supported Fink with three hits and Fred Traynor, Tony Moreno, and Jimmy Aguirre added two each.

4/8/30

Athos Sada, who would become deputy chief of the San Diego Police Department and raised Eddie and Don Sada to be stars at Point Loma, had three hits as San Diego defeated the University Heights playground squad, 17-5.

4/9/30

St. Augustine scored a run in the eighth inning for a 7-6 win over Escondido at Golden Hill Playground.

4/15/30

After San Diego High defeated the University Heights Playground team, 9-7, in the City Stadium, coach Mike Morrow was faced with a scheduling question.  Some of Morrow’s players also were on the track team.

The baseball squad was scheduled for a Coast League opener against visiting Alhambra on April 26, the same day Cotton Warburton, Eddie Reed and others were scheduled to be part of the Hilltoppers’ aggregation in the Southern California track and field trials at Los Angeles High.

Morrow was willing to move the game with Alhambra to April 25, but if the Moors did not want to travel on that date, Morrow said he would take his team to Alhambra on April 25.

—St. Augustine won at Sweetwater, 8-2, as shortstop Frankie

Morehouse collected three hits.

—Army-Navy socked Anaheim for seven runs in the fifth inning and five more in the seventh en route to a 17-3 victory on the Pacific Beach diamond.

—Rod Luscomb hit two triples but San Diego defeated University Heights, 9-7, in the Hilltoppers’ final game before league play, improving their record to 10-2.

4/16/30

Frankie Morehouse singled, doubled, and hit a home run and St. Augustine topped Anaheim, 7-3, at Navy Field.

4/17/30

The Marine Corps Recruit Depot Devildogs shut out Escondido, 6-0, at Navy Field as Carl Parker had four hits in five times at bat, including a single, double, and two home runs.

4/22/30

Point Loma defeated Army-Navy, 5-2, on the cadets’ Pacific Beach diamond despite a home run, triple, and single by the Warriors’ second baseman Ritchie.

4/23/30

Brothers Pete and Steve Coscarart starred in the field as Escondido’s defense played a prevailing role in a 6-4 win over traveling St. Augustine.

4/25/30

San Diego opened defense of its Coast League championship by raining 17 hits on City Stadium and crushing Alhambra, 13-3, a day earlier than originally scheduled.

Home runs by Cotton Warburton and pitcher Tony Galasso highlighted the Hillers’ attack.

—Sweetwater (2-1, Point Loma) and Grossmont (11-6, Mountain Empire) of the Bay Division and Escondido (14-3, Oceanside), and Fallbrook (7-3, Ramona) of the Mountain Division won opening games in Southern Prep League play.

4/30/30

San Diego High coach Mike Morrow reached agreement to play Glendale on May 1 instead of May 2, so shortstop Irvine (Cotton) Warburton could compete in the Southern California track finals 440-yard run at Los Angeles High.

—Roy Holt had five hits and the San Diego varsity defeated the University Heights playground team, 5-4, for their fifth win against one loss versus skipper Rod Luscomb’s team.

—Host Mountain Empire evened its Southern Prep League Mountain Division record at 1-1 with a 4-3 win over La Jolla.

5/1/30

Sweetwater mustered two hits in a 9-0 loss to the San Diego State Freshmen.  Future Hoover football coach Pete Walker tripled twice for the Frosh and starting pitcher George Sunderman was 4 for 4 at the plate.

—Tony Galasso struck out 19 Glendale Dynamiters and gave up four singles as San Diego won the rescheduled Coast League game, 4-1.

The Hillers broke a 1-1 tie with runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. Galasso was the offensive catalyst with four hits, including a home run.

Thirteen players plus coach Mike Morrow and manager Louis DePablo left at 7 a.m. for the 3-hour, 130-mile jaunt.

5/4/30

St. Augustine (19-5) concluded its season in Calexico, where the Saints divided two nine-inning games, losing, 8-7, on 5/3 and winning, 6-5, today.

The Saints, with a team batting average of .318, out hit the Bulldogs, 24-20, and their George Albin hit the game’s only home run.

Fred Traynor led he Saints with a .453 season batting average, 24 hits in 53 times at bat. Jimmie Loftus hit .439 and Frankie Morehouse .385.

–Ran played havoc with Southern Prep League teams, washing out four games.

5/8/30

Bill Howell singled in Roy Holt with the winning run from second base and Tony Galasso set down Long Beach Poly in the bottom of the ninth inning, and San Diego won a tense Coast League battle, 4-3.

Home runs by Irvine (Cotton) Warburton and Walter Bostrom had given the Hilltoppers a 3-0 lead after three innings.

A writer in a special dispatch to The San Diego Union declared the game was “one of the hardest fought contests ever seen on a Long Beach diamond.”

5/13/30

Escondido won the Southern Prep League Mountain Division with an 8-3 victory at Fallbrook.  Sweetwater maintained its lead in the Bay Division with a 4-3 win over Mountain Empire.

—It was determined before the season that the league champion would not participate in the CIF playoffs.

5/14/30

Flat and thinking ahead, San Diego dropped a 5-1 decision in City Stadium to Harding’s North Park team.

Roy Holt homered for the Hilltoppers in the ninth inning.

The game result was published in The San Diego Union as an official game, but perhaps was a scrimmage.

–Memorial Junior High defeated the Southern League Bay Division contender Sweetwater varsity, 13-5, on the National City Diamond.

5/16/30

San Diego earned a tie for the Coast League championship with a 9-2 win over the visiting Pasadena Bullpups.

Tony Galasso’s triple in the second inning usually was a home run in City Stadium but special ground rules were in effect for this game.

Galasso turned his ankle on the play and had leave the field.  Pasadena consented to allow Hilltoppers coach Mike Morrow to insert Cecil McElvain as a pinch runner but let Galasso return at the end of the inning to continue pitching.

5/20/30

Point Loma remained in contention with Sweetwater in the Southern League Bay Division with a 10-0 victory over Grossmont.

The Pointers have one loss and Sweetwater is undefeated.

—Erstwhile St. Augustine stars Reid Jaggers and Fred Traynor aided Harding’s North Park team, but San Diego scored a 5-3 victory in City Stadium.

5/22/30

Harding’s North Park team, coached by Rod Luscomb, won its second of three contests from the host Escondido Cougars, 4-3, as second baseman Lee Ramage, a future heavyweight boxing championship contender, had three hits in five times at bat.

5/23/30

Warren Bridgens hurled a near-perfect game, allowing one base runner and no hits, and Point Loma routed La Jolla, 20-0, in the season-ending game one week after Bridgens had measured Mountain Empire on one hit.

—Sweetwater claimed the Bay Division title with a 3-2, eight-inning win over Grossmont and will meet Mountain Division champ Escondido for the Southern League title.

Sweetwater had defeated Point Loma, 2-1, in the league opener, after which Point Loma outscored league foes, 58-2.

5/24/30

Athos Sada homered, doubled, and singled and Bill Howell had three hits; Cotton Warburton had a home run and single; Tony Galasso gave up three hits and San Diego, starting slowly scored 15 runs in the final three innings and claimed its third straight Coast League title, 22-0, over last-place Santa Ana.

The Hilltoppers, who had 18 hits, also received two safeties each from Allan Storton, Walter Bostrom, Bill Larson, and Roy Holt.

1. Higashi of Santa Ana earned some dubious distinction.

He started the game in left field…

…and then shifted to third base…

…and then shifted to the pitcher’s mound…

…and pitched long enough to walk three consecutive batters…

…and then shifted to second base…

…and then finally relocated to right field, where he finished the game.

5/26/30

A CIF semifinals playoff home game against Calexico for San Diego High 5/30 or 5/31 was nixed.

The board, which governs the property in South Balboa Park, declared that the City Stadium grass field was to be resurfaced today.

Hilltoppers coach Mike Morrow tried to book Navy Field but learned that it was scheduled for games May 29-31.

Various other area locales were not considered worthy of such a game’s import and it looked as if the Hilltoppers, trying to win their third consecutive title, would have to go to the Imperial Valley.

5/27/30

Calexico agreed to a Thursday, May 29, contest at Navy Field. The Bulldogs would have been unavailable May 30-31, Morrow learned. Graduation and assorted weekend events and gigs were on the desert school’s weekend calendar.

6/2/30

After much burning of telephone wires and shouting voices between San Diego and the Imperial Valley, another agreement was reached and Calexico arrived San Diego today for a playoff tomorrow.

6/3/30

Calexico took advantage of Tony Galasso’s wildness to jump into a 4-0, first-inning lead, only to see San Diego score six runs in its first en route to a 13-4 CIF first-round victory at Navy Field.

Home runs by Athos Sada, who also tripled in two runs in the first, and Galasso were part of the Hilltoppers’ 14-hit attack.

6/7/30

Tony Galasso gave up two singles and struck out 13 and won a CIF semifinals playoff at Huntington Beach, 4-0.

Roy Holt’s homerun in the second inning gave San Diego a two-run lead.  Holt’s twin brother, Ray, got on base later with a two-base hit.

6/10/30

San Diego reached the Southern California finals by defeating Colton in a second CIF semifinals playoff, 9-1, at Navy Field.

Colton, behind, 7-0, mounted a mild threat in the fifth inning but Hilltoppers catcher Cecil McElvain threw out a runner at second base and Cotton Warburton’s throw back to McElvain doubled up another Yellowjacket, thwarting an attempted double steal.

6/15/30

Los Angeles Cathedral, rested and ready, was coached by Mike Pecarovich, future University of San Diego football coach.

San Diego, in its fourth playoff, more than any other playoff team, defeated the Phantoms, 9-0, for their third consecutive championship.

Tony Galasso gave up two hits and struck out 13 and helped himself with two hits and two runs scored.

Jerry Bartow ended a 14-season run at Hoover with his third San Diego Section championship and with an overall record of 226-119 (.656) then headed off to Southwestern College, where the Apaches won more than 900 games in the next 39 years before Bartow retired in 2014.

Until Ted Williams Field was built on the Hoover campus in 1967, the Cardinals, like other city schools, played baseball in a football stadium, with peculiar boundaries and ground rules.

Bartow took advantage of the at least 500 feet to the leftfield fence, which bordered Monroe Avenue, by creating a more reasonable distance for home runs.

The Hoover coach installed hurdles borrowed from the track team as a leftfield “fence”, moving them forward or backward depending on the prowess and power of his opponent’s hitters.

According to Wikipedia, Bartow‘s stepfather was Carl Mays, 207-126 in a 15-year major league pitching career and who was on the mound when Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman was beaned by a pitch in 1920 and succumbed from a fractured skull the next day.

5/13/75

Joe Vido walked, stole second base, and scored on Kyle Montague’s single to give Coronado a 4-3 win over Poway that ended the Coast League-leading Titans’ 13-game winning streak.

—Don Moyer restricted Helix to five hits and drove in seven runs with a single and grand-slam home run in El Cajon Valley’s 11-4 victory.

—Roger DePriest of San Diego pitched a complete-game, 17-inning contest at Madison, but came away with nothing to show.

The Western League squads played to a 2-2, no-decision.  Umpires called the game because of  darkness.

Mike Free pitched the first six innings for the Warhawks and Rich Leahy the last 11.

5/14/75

Poway was on a two-game losing streak, 10-2 victim of San Dieguito, whose John Lazerich cuffed the Titans on six hits

—Hoover moved closer to an Eastern League championship, winning, 12-4, at Crawford.

Daryl McGee’s leadoff home run in the sixth inning broke a 4-4 tie and opened a five-run outburst for the Cardinals, who also were supported by Johnny Davis and Dexter Redd home runs.

5/16/75

Clairemont wrapped the Western League championship, scoring four runs in the last three innings to win at Kearny, 5-4.  Hoover claimed the Eastern League championship, 7-1, at St. Augustine.

—Vic March’s seventh-inning home run was the difference in El Capitan’s 6-5 win over visiting Grossmont and left the Vaqueros with a 12-3 Grossmont League record, a half game better than the Foothillers. Winning pitcher Jay Hostetler hit a two-run home run.

“I wouldn’t go so far as calling it a grudge match,” said El Capitan coach Eddie Olsen in response to an observation from Bill Polk of the Evening Tribune, “but I’ve never seen this bunch so high spirited as they were after reading Gray’s remarks in the press.”

Grossmont coach Bill Gray had said that if Grossmont played El Capitan 10 times a season “we’d win probably win eight out of 10 times.”

Gray refused to talk to writers after the game (“I have nothing to say”) and responded with a terse “no comment”, to questions.

5/20/75

Dave Holston allowed one hit, hit a home run and pitched Poway to the Coast League championship, 6-0, at La Jolla.

—Rain played havoc in the Avocado League, postponing three games.  A four-way tie for the championship could necessitate play-in games to determine the three teams to represent the loop in the playoffs, which were to begin in five days.

—Ken Pryce hurled a no-hitter and Ken Rutar drove in the winning run with a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning as Mar Vista edged Hilltop, 1-0.

—Castle Park jumped Bonita Vista on the road and its 16-5 win tied the Barons for first in the Metropolitan League, each with a 9-4 record.
A two-run, first inning by the Barons evaporated when the Trojans erupted for 10 runs in the third.
Castle Park’s 15 hits included two doubles, two triples, and home runs, by Mark Snyder, Steve Thomas, and Tony Yaptangeo.

5/21/75

Patrick Henry defeated Morse, 2-0, on Steve Sherman’s five-hitter, forcing a playoff the next day for an Eastern League playoff berth.  The teams ended the regular season with 8-8 loop records.

—Dexter Redd was 5 for 5 and Kirk Tronerud allowed five hits in Hoover’s 13-0 victory over Lincoln, giving the Cardinals with a 13-3 league record.

5/22/75

SAN DIEGO SECTION 1-A CHAMPIONSHIP

Francis Parker sophomore Lee Carson struck out 10 and allowed four hits in pitching the Lancers to a 6-0 victory over Christian.

Dave Cook was 3 for 3 with three runs batted in for the Southern League Coastal Division champions.

—Pete Parsons’ two-run home run gave Santana an 8-7 win over El Cajon Valley.  Parsons’ hit overcame a Braves lead in the bottom of the 18^th inning, following continuation of an earlier contest that was suspended after 16 innings.

Santana then won the regularly scheduled nightcap at El Cajon, 3-1, to finish with an 8-8 Grossmont League record.

—Mike McEwen’s home run in the fourth inning was the significant blow in a 5-3 Granite Hills victory over Grossmont that coupled with El Capitan’s 3-1 win over Valhalla gave the Vaqueros the Grossmont League title.

5/26/75

SAN DIEGO SECTION PLAYOFFS

FIRST ROUND

Patrick Henry (13-12) 0, @Hilltop 1.

Writer Bill Polk described the Hilltop Lancers as being “engulfed by an air of spellbound euphoria” after their victory and as a “gutsy squad of suburban lads who could hardly believe the scoreboard after the final out.”

Willard McPherson’s first-inning triple scored Eric Linderman and was the difference in the game, played in one-hour and nine minutes.

The Lancers’ Jerry Caposs (6-4), backed by an outstanding defense, gave up five hits and kept the defending CIF champion Patriots at a distance, winning a duel with Steve Sherman (7-5), who allowed only two hits.

Point Loma (14-9) 0, @San Dieguito 1.

Webber’s home run in the sixth inning and Lazarich’s one-hit pitching provided another suburban team with victory over a city squad.

5/27/75

REGULAR-SEASON STANDINGS

EASTERN

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
Team	Won	Lost	Pct.	GBL	Won	Lost	Pct.
Hoover	13	3	.829	—	18	5	.783
Crawford	9	7	.563	3 ½	15	8	.652
Morse	8	8	.500	5	14	9	.609
Patrick Henry	8	8	.500	5	12	11	.522
Lincoln	6	10	.375	7	8	15	.348
St. Augustine	3	13	.171	10	4	19	.174

WESTERN

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
Team	Won	Lost	Pct.	GBL	Won	Lost	Pct.
Clairemont	13	3	.829	—	18	4	.778
Kearny	11	5	.688	2	15	6	.714
Point Loma	10	6	.625	3	14	8	.636
Madison	8	7	.533	4 ½	12	12	.500
University	6	10	.375	7	10	13	.435
San Diego	1	14	.067	13 ½	2	15	.118

GROSSMONT

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
Team	Won	Lost	Pct.	GBL	Won	Lost	Pct.
El Capitan	13	3	.829	—	18	6	.750
Grossmont	12	4	.750	1	16	6	.727
Granite Hills	9	7	.563	4	10	10	.500
Santana	8	8	.500	5	16	9	.640
Monte Vista	7	9	.438	6	12	10	.522
Mount Miguel	7	9	.438	6	11	11	.500
El Cajon Valley	7	9	.563	6	11	12	.478
Helix	6	10	.375	7	9	14	.391
Valhalla	3	13	.171	10	6	14	.300

METROPOLITAN

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
Team	Won	Lost	Pct.	GBL	Won	Lost	Pct.
Bonita Vista	10	4	.714	—	16	7	.696
Castle Park	9	5	.643	1	14	8	.636
Hilltop	9	5	.643	1	12	10	.522
Montgomery	9	5	.643	1	11	8	.579
Mar Vista	8	6	.571	2	10	11	.476
Sweetwater	4	10	.286	6	5	17	.222
Chula Vista	4	10	.286	6 ½	7	14	.333
Marian	3	11	.214	7	4	17	.190

AVOCADO

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
Team	Won	Lost	Pct.	GBL	Won	Lost	Pct.
San Marcos	10	4	.714	—	15	7	.682
Vista	10	4	.714	—	15	7	.682
Fallbrook	10	4	.714	—	11	9	.550
Carlsbad	9	5	.643	1	15	9	.625
San Pasqual	6	8	.429	4	11	11	.500
Oceanside	6	8	.429	4	11	12	.478
Escondido	4	10	.286	6	5	17	.223
Orange Glen	1	13	.071	9	5	16	.238

COAST

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
Team	Won	Lost	Pct.	GBL	Won	Lost	Pct.
Poway	16	2	.889	—	19	4	.826
San Dieguito	12	6	.667	4	15	7	.682
Mission Bay	12	6	.667	4	14	9	.609
La Jolla	10	8	.556	6	10	12	.455
Coronado	8	10	.444	8	10	12	.455
Torrey Pines	4	14	.222	12	4	21	.160
Ramona	1	17	0.56	15	1	19	0.46

 Hilltop (13-10) 0, @Clairemont 8.

Steve Blackman’s no-hitter, plus his three-run homer in the sixth inning, elevated the Chieftains to their first postseason victory since 1971.

The Blackman (8-1) home run was his sixth and he drove in another run with a sacrifice fly.

Grossmont 2, @Vista (15-8) 0, 12 innings.

Losing pitcher Rick Somers went the distance and struck out 13, but was beaten by Charlie Prokop’s run-scoring single.

Castle Park 7, @Poway (19-5) 2.

Poway outhit Castle Park, 4-2, but committed eight errors.

Fallbrook (11-10) 3, @Hoover 4.

Granite Hills (10-11) 0, @Kearny 5.

Mission Bay (14-10) 3, @Bonita Vista 4, 8 innings.

Tony Camara’s home run sent the game into extra innings and Camara won it with a run-scoring single.

Crawford 4, @San Marcos (15-8) 3.

San Dieguito (16-8) 1, @El Capitan 2-1.

Jay Hostetler’s walk-off home run in the last of the seventh inning augmented the five-hit pitching of Mike Finch.

5/28/75

QUARTERFINALS

El Capitan (19-7), 2, Crawford 8, @Grossmont College.

Crawford’s Alvin Edge struck out 12 and was reached for only two hits.

Bonita Vista 7, Kearny (16-7) 3, @Mesa College.

Grossmont (17-7) 6, @Clairemont 8.

 Hoover 3, @Castle Park (15-9) 0.

5/30/75

SEMIFINALS

Crawford (17-9), 3, Bonita Vista 7, @University of San Diego,

Hoover 5, Clairemont (21-5) 1, @Mesa College.

Brad Griffith pitched a four-hitter and the Cardinals broke open the game with four runs in the sixth inning.

Tye Waller doubled in two runs in the big sixth and Hoover outfielders Dexter Redd, John Wells, and John Davis made several defensive plays.

“I think we’ve all got the playoff fever,” Hoover coach Jerry Bartow said of the Cardinals’ advance to the big game for the sixth time in nine seasons.

“The guys have played errorless ball, they’re hitting well, and we’re getting great pitching,” said Bartow.  “Griffith…mixed his pitches well.  He stayed cool even when they were hitting shots to the outfield.”

5/31/75

CHAMPIONSHIP

Hoover (22-5) 11, Bonita Vista (19-8) 4, @San Diego Stadium.

The Cardinals won their 11^th straight and first title since 1969 as Kirk Tronerud (12-2), who was severely spiked on his non-pitching hand the day before during the celebration after the semifinals win, scattered five hits.

The Barons mustered a leadoff triple by Don Slater in the first inning, but Tronerud was backed by five extra base hits, three doubles and two triples, against losing pitcher Wally Hirst (10-3).

“We’ve been telling people that we had a great ball club all season but a lot of folks didn’t believe us because we stumbled a bit against Western League teams,” said Bartow.

It was another great season by coach Mike Morrow’s San Diego High Hilltoppers, who won their second Southern Section championship in the last three seasons.

(San Diego also won the team championship in track and field and reached the finals in football, losing, 13-12, to Santa Monica).

The Hillers were 69-16, a .812 winning percentage,  since Morrow returned from the war to coaching the Hilltoppers in 1946.

San Diego (26-3) lost to Compton, 3-2, in the finals of the Pomona 2030 Rotary Club tournament but slammed the Tarbabes, 24-0, in the Coast League season.  They also lost two games to the powerful Tucson Bears, but were 4-2 against the Arizona club in home-and-home series.

POSTSEASON LACKS

This would be incredible by 21st century standards.

There still was half of the Metropolitan League season remaining when CIF boss Seth Van Patten announced that Grossmont would represent the league in the playoffs.

Grossmont and Point Loma were tied for first with seven games remaining, but the Pointers declined.

“Grossmont seems to be more fortified in the pitching department and could stand the strain of three games in a week, whereas on us the burden  might weaken our chances for the Metro flag,” Pointers coach Hilbert Crosthwaite was quoted.

The playoffs would begin before the league season was completed.

Van Patten often found it necessary to fill a bracket while regular-season games still were to be played.

The playoffs held no great attraction to some teams and leagues.

4/16/48

“Under a stifling April sun,” wrote Gene Earl of The San Diego Union, San Diego’s Eddie Simpson singled home John Switi in the ninth inning for an 8-7 triumph over Hoover in Balboa Stadium.

Simpson and Neale Henderson each had three hits for the Hilltoppers and Joe Brown and Don Jordan two apiece.

Bill McColl was the losing pitcher but he kept the Cardinals in the game with three hits, all “hard hit” doubles.

—Art Preston struck out 14 and gave up three hits and Dick Rand socked a three-run home run in Grossmont’s 11-3 win over visiting Oceanside.

—Yoko Takeshita drove in three runs with a tie-breaking eighth-inning double and Eddie Serrano homered as Point Loma outlasted La Jolla, 10–7, despite three hits each by the Vikings’ Charlie Way and Eddie Whitehead.

—Al Hooper, Terry Shaw, and Frank Castro clubbed home runs as newcomer Chula Vista whipped Escondido, 16-9, at Sweetwater.  Don Silcock homered for the Cougars.

—Dick Bartz had four hits in five times at bat, drove in four runs, and pitched a three-hitter in Kearny’s 7-5 win over Sweetwater.

—Gene Green was 2 for 5 with a triple and single to lead errorless St. Augustine to an 8-3 win at Brown Military, which erred four times.

4/18/48

Bill McColl pitched Hoover to a 7-4 win over Pasadena and the Cardinals completed a doubleheader sweep, 13-1 over Pasadena Muir as part of Coast League scheduling that sent teams from the North on combined weekend trips.

McColl and Larry Nenna had two hits each and Leroy Darnell drove in four runs in the opener.  McColl had two hits and four runs batted in and Bill White gave up three hits in the seven-inning nightcap.

4/19/48

Brown Military made it three straight Southern League victories, 11-9 at Vista.

—Grossmont and Point Loma each improved to 4-1 in the Metropolitan League, the Foothillers 13-4 over Chula Vista and the Pointers 6-3 over Kearny in eight innings.

—Sweetwater, which was behind, 8-1, in the fifth inning, scored its first league win, 15-14 over Escondido.  Earl Holbrook singled in Dave Brennan with the winning run in the seventh inning.

4/23/48

San Diego (8-0) clinched the Coast League championship, hammering Pasadena, 9-1, in Balboa Stadium, while Hoover (5-3) was dropping an 11-7 decision at Compton as loop play concluded.

Hoover’s Bill White “was even wilder” than the 50-mile-an-hour winds, walking 11 batters.  San Diego’s Andy Stagnaro struck out 14 and walked none.

—Point Loma beat Escondido, 13-1, and Grossmont topped La Jolla, 7-3, to remain tied for first in the Metropolitan loop.

The Foothillers trailed, 3-2, in the eighth inning and mounted two late rallies.  The Pointers’ Eddie Serrano took the bite out of the Cougars by allowing only five hits and stroking a pair of doubles.

—Reserve outfielder Huddy McWilliams hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning and Kearny nipped Oceanside, 8-7.

4/27/48

San Diego collected 12 hits but needed Frank San Filippo’s triple that scored Neale Henderson in the 11th inning to claim a 2-1 win over the Submarine Force at Navy Field.

—Tom Boehlke’s single in the fifth inning was the only hit for Kearny, which dropped a 2-0 decision to the Foothillers’ Art Preston.

—Tom Browning struck out 12 batters in five innings and Mal Vargas hit a grand slam home run in the first inning as Point Loma beat Sweetwater, 13-0, and finished the first round of play with a 6-1 record, tied for first with Grossmont.

5/1/48

San Diego opened a three-game series in Tucson, Arizona, and scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning and then held on for an 8-7 victory.

Frank San Filippo’s 400-foot, three-run home run was the clincher after the Hilltoppers had fallen behind, 7-4, when the Bears scored four runs in the eighth inning.

Ray Irving hurled a scoreless bottom of the ninth for coach Mike Morrow’s visitors before 1,350 persons.

—Outhit, 14-8, visiting Point Loma took advantage of seven Chula Vista errors to score an 11-10, Metropolitan League victory and remain tied for first, matching the 7-1 record of Grossmont, which rolled 1-7 Escondido, 15-4.

5/2/48

Hoover completed a 19-5 season with a doubleheader sweep of visiting Bonita, 12-6 and 5-4.  Bill McColl was unavailable to coach Les Cassie’s team as McColl was competing in theall-Coast League track meet at Balboa Stadium.

5/3/48

Home Brown Military won its fourth consecutive Southern League game, 15-5, parlaying 12 hits and seven San Dieguito errors.

Pedro Mesa was 4 for 4, Red Wright doubled and tripled, and Morris (Dude) Hedrick pitched Fallbrook to a 6-2 win against visiting Ramona.

5/7/48

Grossmont put an end to Point Loma’s Metropolitan League hopes, embarrassing the Pointers at home, 8-1.  The Foothillers pounded out 15 hits and Art Preston shut down the Pointers on three hits.

Grossmont improved to 9-1 in league play. Point Loma and La Jolla were tied for second, each 7-3.

5/9/48

Two games remained in the Metro League but Grossmont had been informed days earlier by Southern Section boss Seth Van Patten that the Foothillers would meet Brown Military in the first round of the playoffs.

Point Loma, at the time still with a mathematical chance to catch John Hancock’s La Mesa squad and with an earlier, 8-6 win over Grossmont, had informed Van Patten that it would not be party to the postseason.

Metro loop squads over the years often declined postseason invitations.

San Diego High was scheduled to take on Imperial Valley titan Calexico the following day.

5/10/48

Grossmont warmed up for Brown Military with a 6-2 win over Oceanside, while the Cadets beat Julian, 12-3.  La Jolla whacked Point Loma, 11-3, to take a one-game lead for second place.

Vikings pitcher Bud Releya set down the Pointers on eight hits and contributed a home run, matched and then some by catcher Charlie Woy’s two home runs.

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS.

San Diego 19, @Calexico 1

The Hilltoppers led, 8-0, in the fourth inning, when they exploded for 10 runs.

It would be a happy but long ride back over the Laguna mountains for coach Mike Morrow’s team, so the game mercifully was called after both teams scored in the seventh inning.

Don Jordan homered, Frank San Filippo was 3 for 3, and Neale Henderson had two triples and a single to pace the Hillers’ 16-hit attack.

5/13/48

Grossmont 15, @Brown Military 3.

There were two rounds of games left on the Metro schedule but the playoffs got under way with Grossmont knocking off Brown Military of the Southern League, 15-3.

The Cadets took a 3-0 lead on their Pacific Beach diamond in the first inning when Phil Milligan tripled with the bases loaded after a couple singles and a walk.

Grossmont pitcher Art Preston settled down and Preston’s and his teammates’ bats came to life with a 17-hit onslaught as coach John Hancock’s team scored at least one run in the third through seventh innings and two more in the ninth.

Preston doubled and tripled, drove in six runs, and shut out the Cadets over the last eight innings.

5/14/48

Grossmont backed into a tie Metropolitan League championship after sustaining a 10-3 loss to Chula Vista on the Sweetwater diamond while Oceanside eliminated La Jolla, 7-6.

The standings, with one round remaining, showed the Foothillers (10-2) with a two-game lead over the Vikings (8-4).

Far down in the standings, Escondido (2-8) erupted for a 20-6 victory over visiting Sweetwater (1-9).

Assigned game umpires stiffed Point Loma (7-4) and host Kearny (6-5). The arbiters failed to show, probably thinking the game was at Point Loma.

5/15/48

SOUTHERN SECTION QUARTERFINALS

San Diego 12, Grossmont 0, @Lane Field.

About 700 persons were in attendance as coach Mike Morrow’s Hilltoppers continued to drive the opposition into submission, claiming a fourth win over coach John Hancock’s team, following 22-5, 5-1, and 7-6 victories.

San Diego collected only seven hits, but three Grossmont pitchers issued 14 bases on balls, beginning with three in a row followed by Curtis Everett’s single that put starter Art Preston and the Foothillers in a 2-0 hole in the first inning.

The Hilltoppers’ Andy Stagnaro allowed one extra base hit, Preston’s double, and three singles to Jack Graham, among the losers’ seven.  Stagnaro teammates Everett and Joe Brown each had two hits.

5/20/48

SOUTHERN SECTION SEMIFINALS

San Diego 5, @Newport Beach Newport Harbor 1.

It was a semifinal game for San Diego but a quarterfinals game for the Sailors.  A Newport Harbor victory would have advanced it to the semifinals.  San Diego needed one victory to gain the finals.

Such was the peculiar status of the postseason, a time of constant juggling by commissioner Seth Van Patten in search of filling brackets for an event that wasn’t embraced by all of Van Patten’s CIF constituents.

Andy Stagnaro, soon to be named Southern California player of the year, saw his 22-innings scoreless streak end when the Sailors bunched two hits and a couple errors and scored an unearned run in the ninth inning in San Diego’s 5-1 victory.

Frank San Filippo tripled with Joe Brown and Don Jordan on base to give the Hilltoppers a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

San Fillippo homered in the ninth inning for a 5-0 lead after a two-run eighth that featured Don Jordan’s single, which was followed by three walks, an error, and wild pitch.

5/22/48

Arlan King hit two home runs and Ramona, scoring four runs in the bottom of the bottom of the 10^th inning, after San Dieguito had taken an 8-5 lead, pulled out a 9-8 victory.

—Halbert Crow’s two triples and 14 additional base hits by Crow’s Grossmont teammates, plus five Kearny errors, allowed the Foothillers to close their season on a winning note, 14-0, and with a 12-2 league record.

—First-year Chula Vista slugged La Jolla, 14-7, and gained a tie for third place, each with an 8-6 record.  Point Loma (9-4) was scheduled to play a makeup game with Kearny (7-6) but clinched second with an 11-8 win over Sweetwater.

5/25/48

The umpires showed and the rescheduled game of the May 10 postponement was a 4-2 Point Loma (10-4) victory over Kearny (7-7).  Hunter Browning spaced 10 hits and pitched the Pointers’ victory.

5/29/48

Grossmont’s Art Preston hit safely 23 times in 45 at-bats to lead the Metropolitan League with a .511 average.  Preston also was the most productive pitcher with an 8-1 record and .889-win percentage.

Twenty-seven players hit at least .300 in league play.  The 27^th was La Jolla outfielder-first baseman, Bob Skinner, who played 12 seasons and coached or managed in a long major league career.

Skinner had 11 hits in 37 times at bat for a .300 average.

6/5/48

SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS, @LANE FIELD

Glendale Hoover 1, San Diego (26-3) 20, @Lane Field.

Described as “lengthy and drab,” the game lasted two hours and 27 minutes and was essentially over when the Hilltoppers took a 5-0 lead in the first inning.

Andy Stagnaro (15-1) struck out nine, gave up four hits, and won his fourth consecutive playoff start.

The Hilltoppers mustered only eight hits, but four errors and the Tornadoes, without star pitcher Warren Hart, out with the flu, suffered as four pitchers issued 15 bases on balls.

San Diego executed a triple steal during a four-run seventh inning.

Tommy Martinez, Dave Jordan and Bob Evert each had two hits before the turnout of about 700 persons at the San Diego Padres’ ball park.

 6/22/58

A crowd of 1,258 persons saw a team of all-stars from the Coast League defeat a all-star squad from the Metropolitan League, 14-1, at Lane Field.  The contest was sponsored by the Breitbard Athletic Foundation with proceeds to the San Diego Kiwanis Club’s Child Care Fund.

Don Jordan of San Diego High and Robbie Boone of Compton each had three hits for the Coast League team. Boone and Bill Casey of Hoover tripled with the bases loaded to account for 6 runs.

 

 

For the first time in the San Diego Section’s 14 years, a team not from the city or the eastern suburbs had reached the playoff finals.

Twenty-six squads, including Hoover, Helix, El Capitan, Crawford, Point Loma, San Diego, Santana, Kearny, Clairemont, and University had won or gotten to the championship game from 1961-73, and they were joined this season by a 27^th, Patrick Henry.

A 28^th, the North County Oceanside Pirates, who had become a power in track and field and was a stalwart in football, broke the City-East lock and became the first from their corner of the area.

The Pirates, behind righthanded pitcher Frank Ciammachilli, parlayed a 13-1 Avocado League and overall 20-3 regular season into a march through three rounds of the playoffs.

The Pirates came up short  as an overworked Ciammachilli finally tired and was beaten in the finals.

Cimmachilli’s remarkable season included a 15-2 record, 168 innings pitched, and 148 strikeouts

4/30/74

Willie Brigham singled, stole second base, and scored on Dorman Malone’s single in the bottom of the 10th inning and San Diego, with Brigham going  the distance on the mound, defeated Western League co-leader Clairemont, 6-5.

—Kearny won its sixth game in a row, 5-3, over Madison and moved into first place after Clairemont lost.

—Bob Robinson of Mission Bay shut out La Jolla, 2-0, on one hit.

—Jeff Byrd’s two-hit pitching and a home run by Gary Armstrong ensured El Capitan’s 7-0 win over Helix, giving the Vaqueros undisputed possession of first place in the Grossmont League with an 8-3 record.

5/3/74

With one week remaining, Crawford (13-1-1) was the only team to claim a league championship, their seventh in the last 11 Eastern League campaigns.

Reese Mitchell improved his pitching record to 9-3, Dave Engle was 3 for 4, and the Colts beat Hoover, 6-3.

5/7/74

Oceanside’s Frank Ciammachilli was 12-1 and his earned-run average 0.65 after Ciammachilli’s four-hitter defeated Vista, 4-0, and the Pirates clinched a second straight Avocado League championship.

Oceanside’s 11^th consecutive victory snapped the Panthers’ eight-game winning streak.

—Dan Flanagan’s four-hitter stopped Castle Park, 3-1, and Hilltop clinched a tie for the Metropolitan League championship.

–Bonita Vista beat Sweetwater, 6-5, to stay one game behind the Lancers, who will face the Barons in the final regular-season game in three days.

5/8/74

Clairemont gained a share of the Western League championship behind Gary Stogstill’s six-hit, 1-0 shutout of Kearny.

Kearny’s Billy Joseph allowed only two hits and struck out 10 but gave up the game’s only run in the fourth inning when Steve Agosto singled with two outs, went to second when Steve Splitt was hit by a pitch, and scored on Ron Molina’s single.

The Chieftains and University each finished with a 10-6 league record, but Clairemont held two league wins over the Dons.

—Crawford beat Patrick Henry, 4-3, in 10 innings and the Colts 14-1-1 record was the best in the 14-season history of the Eastern League.  A tie with Morse was not included in the standings.

The 1965 Crawford team and 1968 Hoover each posted a 13-2 league record.

—A 4-0 win over El Cajon Valley gained El Capitan (10-4) a share of the Grossmont League title with Monte Vista, 1-0 winner over Santana. The Vaqueros won or shared the championship six of the last 12 years.

FINAL REGULAR-SEASON STANDINGS

EASTERN

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Crawford	14	1	.933	—	19	4	.826
Patrick Henry	13	3	.829	1-1/2	17	8	.680
Hoover	10	6	.625	4 ½	15	7	.682
St. Augustine	5	11	.313	9 ½	7	15	.318
Lincoln	5	11	.313	9 ½	7	14	.333
Morse	3	12	.200	11	6	15	.286

SOUTHERN

COASTAL DIVISION

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Army-Navy	7	2	.778	—	12	4	.750
La Jolla Country Day	4	5	.444	3	6	7	.462
Francis Parker	4	5	.444	3	8	10	.444
San Diego Military	3	6	.333	4	4	10	.286

MOUNTAIN DIVISION

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Ramona	8	0	1,000	—	13	8	.619
Christian	5	3	.625	3	9	6	.600
Borrego Springs	4	4	.500	4	9	7	.563
Julian	2	6	.200	6	4	9	.308
Mountain Empire	1	7	.125	7	1	11	.091

WESTERN

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Clairemont	10	6	.625	—	18	7	.720
University	10	6	.625	—	16	7	.696
Kearny	9	7	.563	1	13	9	.591
San Diego	7	9	.438	3	9	12	.429
Madison	6	10	.375	4	10	12	.455
Point Loma	4	12	.250	6	7	15	.318

GROSSMONT

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Monte Vista	10	4	.714	—	16	6	.727
El Capitan	10	4	.714	—	17	7	.708
El Cajon Valley	8	6	.571	2	11	12	.478
Granite Hills	7	7	.500	3	9	13	.409
Grossmont	6	8	.429	4	12	10	.522
Santana	6	8	.429	4	11	13	.458
Mount Miguel	5	9	.357	5	12	11	.522
Helix	4	10	.286	6	9	13	.409

METROPOLITAN

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Hilltop	13	1	.929	—	16	5	.762
Bonita Vista	11	3	.786	2	14	7	.667
Castle Park	9	5	.643	4	12	9	.571
Mar Vista	9	5	.643	4	10	11	.476
Montgomery	6	8	.429	7	11	12	.478
Sweetwater	5	9	.457	8	6	15	.286
Chula Vista	2	12	.157	11	2	20	.091
Martian	1	13	12	12	2	18	.100

COAST

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
La Jolla	10	6	.625	—	12	11	.522
Poway	10	6	.625	—	14	9	.609
Coronado	8	8	.500	2	14	11	.560
Mission Bay	8	8	.500	2	13	11	.542
San Dieguito	4	12	.250	6	8	12	.500

AVOCADO

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Oceanside	13	1	.929	—	20	3	.870
Vista	9	5	.643	4	13	8	.619
San Marcos	7	7	.500	6	11	12	.478
Orange Glen	7	7	.500	6	9	9	.500
Fallbrook	6	7	.462	6 ½	9	9	.500
Escondido	5	9	.357	8	10	122	.455
San Pasqual	4	9	.308	8 ½	9	13	.409
Carlsbad	4	10	.286	9	5	16	.238

5/14/74

SAN DIEGO SECTION PLAYOFFS

CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP

ARMY-NAVY (12-4) 1, RAMONA (13-9) 0, @SAN MARCOS HIGH

Robbie Temple gave up five hits and earned the victory when Joe Smith doubled in the fifth inning, advanced on Scott Kelleher’s infield single, and scored when an attempted pickoff throw at first was wild.

CLASS AA

FIRST ROUND

San Marcos (11-13) 2, @Crawford 16.

Dean Hall scored three runs and had five of the Colts’ 16 hits.

Kearny 2, @Hilltop (16-6) 0.

Billy Joseph faced the minimum 21 batters and hurled a no-hitter, striking out 10 and walking one, erased on a double play.

Joseph’s near-perfect outing marked the second playoff no-hitter since Hoover’s Ken Kollmeyer blanked Granite Hills in  1970.

Vista (13-9) 2, @Patrick Henry 15.

Mike Proctor homered, doubled, and drove in six runs for the Patriots.

El Cajon Valley 8, @Clairemont (18-8) 6.

The Braves exploited Clairemont pitching for five home runs over the Chieftains’ inviting, 250-foot leftfield fence, including two by No. 9 hitter Dan Truttman.

Poway (14-10) 12, @Oceanside 13, 9 innings.

The Pirates survived despite nine errors and then scored the winning run on a Poway error in the second extra inning.

El Capitan 7, @Hoover (15-8) 5, 11 innings.

Joe Unden had five hits in six times at bat—triple, two doubles, and two singles—including the one-base hit that drove in the winning run for the Vaqueros.

University (16-8) 1, @La Jolla 2.

Tom Watson halted Uni at seven hits and drove in both Vikings runs.

Bonita Vista 9, @Monte Vista (16-7) 4.

The Barons stunned the Monarchs with five runs in the third inning.

5/15/74

QUARTERFINALS

Oceanside 2, El Capitan (18-8) 1, @MiraCosta College

The Pirates won their 15^th game in a row as pitcher Frank Ciammachilli upped his record to 14-1, cuffing the Vaqueros on two hits and winning his second game in two days.

Rick Ward singled to lead off the game, stole his 28^th base and came home on David Meyer’s single, and Ward doubled in the winning run in the seventh inning.

Bonita Vista 5, La Jolla (13-12) 4, @San Diego State.

Winning pitcher Jim Davis doubled to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning, advanced on an infield out, and scored the winning run on Donald Slater’s single.

Crawford 11, Kearny (14-10) 8, @Mesa College.

The No. 1 seed Colts were outhit 11-7 but won a three-hour battle, coming from 9-7 behind with two runs each in the sixth and seventh innings.

Patrick Henry 3, El Cajon Valley (11-12) 2, @University of San Diego.

The Patriots eliminated the Braves by scoring two unearned runs in the fifth inning.

5/17/74

SEMIFINALS

Crawford (21-5-1) 2, Patrick Henry 6, @San Diego State.

The Patriots, losers of two, one-run decisions to the Colts in the Eastern League race, led, 2-1, when they got to Crawford ace Reese Mitchell for four runs in the fifth inning.

Matt Powell, who pitched for Hoover in the 1973 championship game and usually came on in relief for the Patriots, held the Colts to five hits in his first start since the April Lions Tournament.

Rich Cosio drove in three runs with a pair of doubles and Matt Proctor slugged a 380-foot, three-run home run in support for Powell.

Trailing, 6-1, in the seventh Mitchell homered for Crawford.

Oceanside 11, Bonita Vista (16-8) 6, 8 innings, @Mesa College.

The Pirates won their 16^th game in a row and Frank Ciammachilli improved to 15-1 on the mound, winning his third game in four days, and hit a bases-empty home run for.

Ciammachilli started the Barons’ downfall in the eighth inning when he broke a 5-5 tie with a 340-foot home run.  Steve Gelfarb’s bases loaded triple and Joe Gonzales’ run-scoring single sealed the victory

Ciammachilli had relieved starter David Drake in the sixth inning.

5/18/74

CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP

Patrick Henry (21-8) 7, Oceanside (23-4) 3, @San Diego State.

“I thought we’d be a .500 team,” said coach Bob Imlay of his Patrick Henry team that survived four rounds of playoffs to emerge as the fifth second place (Eastern League) squad in 14 years to win the San Diego Section title.

Shortstop Rich Cosio’s 400-foot, three-run home run in the fifth inning broke a 3-3 tie and dealt Oceanside ace Frank Ciammachilli a rare defeat.

“We had a lot of problems and a lot of question marks,” said Imlay, citing inexperience, injury (shortstop Cosio, sore arm and out of position at first base; Casey Clark, regular first baseman, ankle in cast), and grade problems when the season began.

The Patriots’ Dave Disbro, who helped Imlay develop his pitching staff,  survived a two-run second inning and settled down to win his ninth game in 12 decisions.

“Disbro was about ready to come out,” said Imlay after his pitcher retired 16 of the last 20 batters he faced.

“It’s just unfortunate that he had to throw so much this week,” said Pirates coach Bill Williams, referencing Ciammachilli’s fourth time on the mound in five days.