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.

Baseball in the San Diego Section was an urban game.

Point Loma became the sixth different and overall 11th city squad in the Section’s 13 seasons to win the Class AA championship when it defeated Hoover, 12-2, in the playoff finals.

The Pointers, who fell to University in the 1972 championship, were coached by Dick Huddleston, who became a champion in two sports.

Huddleston was a starting tight end and linebacker at Escondido when the Cougars won the first San Diego Section football championship in 1960. He also would win a title as a coach in football, leading La Jolla to a 13-0 season and defeating St. Augustine, 14-6 in the 1993 title game.

4/30/73

Wayne Steele started for Hoover in a rivalry game with Crawford, got into trouble and was relieved, going to centerfield.

Steele returned to the mound in the second inning and was relieved again, going to centerfield, where Steele remained until taking the mound again in the fourth inning.

Steele and three other Cardinals pitchers allowed only seven hits but virtually “walked the ball yard” at Hoover.

Reese Mitchell improved to 9-2 and Crawford (10-4) took the Eastern League lead with a 14-3 victory.  Hoover fell to 9-5.

5/2/73

Hilltop (12-1) clinched the Metropolitan League championship, 7-0 over Marian.

Coupled with Castle Park’s 3-1 victory against Chula Vista (8-5), the Lancers took a four-game lead over the Spartans with three to play.

Hilltop, 17-3, overall got four-hit pitching from Dan Flanagan. Castle Park’s Scotty Burney gave up five hits.

5/4/73

Helix and pitcher Bob Watkins threw shadow on the presumed Grossmont League title game of May 8 between Monte Vista and El Capitan.

Watkins beat El Capitan, 4-1, ending the Vaqueros’ 13-game winning streak and clinched the victory with a three-run home run in the sixth inning.

Monte Vista, 3-2 winner over Grossmont, took possession of first place with a 10-2 record.

El Capitan fell to 9-3 and Helix, the defending champion, was 7-4, tied for third with Granite Hills.

With two games to play, the win was significant for the Scots.  The first three finishers make the playoffs.

—Idle Point Loma backed into a tie for the Western League championship, when Clairemont lost to University, 2-1.

Point Loma (11-6), which was 2-4 after six league games but had won nine of its last 10, led Clairemont by two games with two to play.  The Chieftains, once 7-0, had faded to 9-7.

5/8/73

El Capitan (10-3) beat Monte Vista (10-3), 5-4, to throw the Grossmont League race into a tie with one game remaining.

With two runners on and none out in the fourth inning, junior Gary Armstrong, a .330-hitting shortstop, came on in relief and pitched four scoreless innings for the Vaqueros, who won on Gary Philips’ run-scoring single in the fourth.

—Point Loma won its third Western League championship in the last four years, 9-3 over Kearny. Steve Grimes (7-1) pitched a seven-hitter and homered for the Pointers (12-6).

5/9/73

Crawford, 8-1 down the stretch and 11-5 overall, earned a tie for the Eastern League title, 7-1, over St. Augustine as Gary Williams pitched a four-hitter and outfielder-turned catcher Dennis Snead was 2 for 3, scored two runs and drove in another.

5/11/73

Crawford, Hilltop, and Mission Bay clinched league titles and Monte Vista and El Capitan shared one, leaving it to the bosses to declare a champion and recipient of a better seed in the playoffs.

Crawford won its sixth Eastern League gonfalon since 1963, shutting out Lincoln, 5-0, for the Colts’ ninth win in the last 10 games, compliments of Reese Miller’s two-hit pitching.

—Hilltop closed a 19-4 regular season, best since 16-4 in 1964, with an 8-0 win over Metropolitan loop rival Sweetwater.

—Oceanside scored five times in the first inning and beat San Marcos, 7-4, for the Avocado League crown.  First-year San Pasqual finished fifth in the 10-team circuit.

—El Capitan beat Grossmont, 6-3, and Monte Vista topped El Cajon Valley, 6-4, the teams sharing the Grossmont title.  There was no question who would receive the top playoff seed.  El Cap was 3-0 versus the Monarchs.

—Point Loma and Clairemont began playing at 3 p.m., and called it a day at 7:16 p.m., after the teams, scoreless after the fourth inning, struggled to a 3-3 tie in 12 innings.

The game would not be entered into league standings because no decision was reached, slipping Clairemont into third place behind University, which whipped Mission Bay, 6-1.

FINAL STANDINGS
WESTERN LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	TIE	Pct.
Point Loma	12	5	.706	—	14	7	1	.659
University	11	7	.611	1 1/2	15	10	0	.600
Clairemont	10	7	.588	2	12	9	1	.568
Kearny	9	9	.500	3 1/2	11	13	0	.458
La Jolla	7	11	.389	5 ½	8	14	0	.364
Mission Bay	7	11	.389	5 ½	7	15	0	.318
Madison	6	12	.333	6 ½	8	14	0	.364

EASTERN LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Crawford	13	5	.722	—	15	7	.682
St. Augustine	11	7	.611	2	13	9	.591
Hoover	10	8	.556	3	13	10	.565
Patrick Henry	9	9	.500	4	13	11	.542
Morse	9	9	.500	4	10	12	.455
San Diego	6	12	.333	7	9	13	.409
Lincoln	5	13	.278	8	7	16	.304

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Hilltop	14	2	.875	—	19	4	.826
Castle Park	11	5	.688	3	15	8	.652
Chula Vista	10	6	.625	4	15	9	.625
Mar Vista	9	7	.563	5	11	11	.500
Bonita Vista	8	8	.500	6	12	10	.522
Sweetwater	7	9	.438	7	11	11	.500
Coronado	7	9	.438	7	11	12	.478
Marian	3	13	.188	11	5	13	278
Montgomery	3	13	.188	11	4	18	.182

AVOCADO LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Oceanside	14	3	.824	—	17	5	.778
Escondido	13	5	.722	1 ½	15	9	.625
Orange Glen	11	6	.647	3	11	8	.579
Carlsbad	11	7	.611	3 ½	13	9	.591
Poway	8	10	.444	6 ½	11	12	.478
San Dieguito	8	10	.444	6 ½	10	13	.435
San Pasqual	8	10	.444	6 ½	8	14	.364
Vista	7	10	.412	7	12	10	.545
Fallbrook	5	13	.278	9 ½	7	13	.333
San Marcos	3	14	.176	11	5	17	.222

GROSSMONT LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
El Capitan	11	3	.768	—	19	6	.760
Monte Vista	11	3	.786	—	17	6	.739
Granite Hills	9	5	.643	2	13	10	.565
Helix	8	6	.571	3	12	11	.522
Mount Miguel	7	7	.500	4	14	11	.560
El Cajon Valley	6	8	.429	5	15	10	.600
Santana	2	12	.143	9	8	12	400
Grossmont	2	12	.143	9	6	16	.273

SOUTHERN LEAGUE
COASTAL DIVISION/MOUNTAIN DIVISION

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Army-Navy	8	0	—	Ramona	8	1	—
Christian	4	4	4	Borrego Springs	7	2	1
San Diego Military	4	4	4	Julian	2	7	6
Francis Parker	3	5	5	Mountain Empire	1	8	7
La Jolla Country Day	1	7	7

5/15/73

SAN DIEGO SECTION PLAYOFFS

CLASS AA

FIRST ROUND

UPPER BRACKET

Carlsbad (13-10) 3, @ El Capitan 4.

The Vaqueros powered up with two-run home runs by John Woodward and Joe Unden.

Castle Park (15-9) 1, vs. University 9, @Kearny Mesa Youth Field.

St. Augustine 3, @Escondido (15-10) 2, nine innings.
The Saints’ Mike Gastelum singled, stole second and third base, and scored the winning run on a passed ball.

St. Augustine’s Mark Briskey homered and drove in another run; the Saints had just two hits off the Cougars’ Paul Ring

Chula Vista (15-10) 2, @Point Loma 5.

LOWER BRACKET

Hoover 2, @Oceanside (17-6) 1.

The Cardinals’ Wayne Steele stopped the Pirates with 13 strikeouts.

Granite Hills (12-11) 2, @Crawford 3.
The Colts’ Andy Marino homered on a 1-2 count leading off the bottom of the 11th inning. Reese Mitchell of Crawford and Mike Ortega of Granite each pitched 10 innings, the maximum for one day, according to CIF rules.

Clairemont (12-10) 1, @Monte Vista 8.

Orange Glen (11-9) 4, @Hilltop 5.

CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP

Ramona 5, @Army-Navy 5 (13 innings).

Ramona and host Army-Navy fought to a 5-5 tie in the Class A championship that was called after 13 innings because of darkness.

Dan Gordon went the distance for the Warriors, who scored four runs in the sixth inning to tie the score.  Dan Stockhalper hit a two-run home run for the Bulldogs.

The game would continue three days later.

5/16/73
QUARTERFINALS

UPPER BRACKET

El Capitan (20-7), 4, University 5, @Grossmont College.

The defending champion Dons pieced together five hits and three runs in the sixth inning.

Charlie Tuttle singled in Mike Dunning, who gave up one hit after coming on relief in the first inning, with the winning run.

St. Augustine (14-10) 1, Point Loma 6, @Mesa College.

The Saints committed six errors and Pointers hurler Terry Greaves’ “sweeping curve ball” kept the North Park team off-balance all afternoon.

LOWER BRACKET

Hoover 8, Crawford (16-8) 3, @San Diego State.

Reggie Waller hit an inside-the-park home run and Matt Powell pitched a steady six-hitter for the Cardinals.

Monte Vista (18-7) 1, Hilltop 5, @Southwestern College.

Hilltop profited from five Monarchs errors to score four unearned runs.

5/18/73

SEMIFINALS

University (17-11) 5, Point Loma 7, @San Diego State.

Pitcher Steve Grimes opened the last of the seventh inning with a single, advanced on Steve Vargas’ intentional base on balls, and went to third when Paul Contreras walked. Tom Pike’s two-run double ended University’s quest for a second straight championship.

Grimes and Pike each had two hits.  The rest of the team, zero.

Hoover 3, Hilltop (21-5) 1, @Mesa College.

Lefthander Wayne Steele allowed four hits in a powerful pitching performance and the Cardinals were in the championship game for the sixth time in 13 San Diego section seasons.

“I went to my fast ball a lot today,” said Steele, “because (lately) I’ve been throwing my curve ball into the dirt….”

Steele also walloped a 402-foot triple that hit the centerfield fence on one bounce, scoring Reggie Waller and Wayne’s brother, Dwayne Steele.  Wayne then scored on David Todd’s single.

CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP

Ramona (9-1) 6, @Army Navy (8-1) 5, 17 innings.

The Bulldogs’ Mark Miller walked to open the top of the 17^th inning, which followed the game that was suspended after the earlier, 13-inning tie.

Miller was sacrificed to second by John Skahan and scored the winning run on Brian Blomberg’s single.

Nick Crouch struck out two batters in the bottom of the 17^th to secure the victory.

5/19/73

CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP, @SAN DIEGO STATE

Point Loma (18-7-1) 12, Hoover (16-11) 2.

Eight different Pointers combined for 13 hits, including home runs by winning pitcher Steve Grimes (7-1) and Tom Pyke.

Pyke’s three-run clout capped a playoff season of 10 runs batted in after Pyke had hit .206 in the regular season.

“That’s the Tom Pyke we’ve been looking for all season,” said Pointers coach Dick Huddleston.  “He hit .600 and stole 25 bases last year on the JV team, so we knew the ability was there.”

Strong teams abounded but it was University of San Diego High, third in the Western League and only 12-10 overall, that emerged in the Class AA playoffs.

Dick Serrano coached the Dons to their first CIF championship and followed with titles in 1978, ’80, and ’81, figurative mileposts for the 1961 Uni graduate who coached and taught at the school for 48 years, 1966-2014.

When Serrano walked off the field after coaching his final varsity game in 30 seasons in 2000,  he had led his team to 549 victories, against 294 losses for a .691 winning percentage.  Serrano sent several players to universities and professional baseball, including future major leaguers Barry Zito, Mark Prior, and Carlos Quentin.

CIF bosses, once critical and myopic of long seasons and extended play, increased the playoff pool to 16 teams this season.  Serrano and Uni took advantage.

5/1/72

Aces Rick Tronerud and Dwayne Steele were unavailable, forcing Hoover coach Jerry Bartow to send seven pitchers to the mound and the result was a 17-hit, 19-4 Morse victory on the Cardinals’ diamond.

—Ray Smith’s double in the eighth inning gave Lincoln a 4-3 win over visiting Patrick Henry.

—Chuck Lopez (8-0) kept Vista in the Avocado League lead with a 3-2 win over Escondido, wrapped by Paddy Fagan’s sixth-inning single that scored John Pangrace.

5/2/72

Point Loma swept Madison, 1-0, and 1-0 in a doubleheader that began on March 21, seven weeks to the day earlier.

The chronology:

—Point Loma’s Mark Connors had not given up a hit through 11 innings when he gave way to Mark Mulvany, who pitched a hitless bottom of the 12^th inning.

—The teams were tied, 0-0, but there would be no 13^th inning because darkness was closing in on the Madison diamond.

–Since it was a league game and standings would be affected, the game needed to be completed.

—Forty-two days later, Mark Mulvany took the mound again for coach Dick Huddleston’s Pointers.

Mulvany and gave up a hit in the 13^th and three more before Point Loma’s Steve Grimes tripled in the 15^th inning and scored on Jose Rodriquez’ single for a 1-0 victory.

–Mulvaney took the ball again several minutes later for the regularly scheduled contest.

–Point Loma won again, 1-0, as Mulvany (7-3) singled and scored in the fourth inning, gave up two hits, and headed home with two victories in one day.

Point Loma (9-6) was battling Kearny and University for second place.  Clairemont clinched a tie for the championship with a 5-2 win over Mission Bay.

5/5/72

Helix clinched the Grossmont League championship, 2-1 in an eight-inning battle with Monte Vista, matching the Scots’ 1962 and ’68 championship squads.

Helix scored a run to tie in the seventh inning and another in the eighth, winning when  Don French walked, was sacrificed to second base, took third on  a wild pitch, and scored on Danny Hiben’s single.

—Mark Briscoe’s three-run home run in the seventh inning was the difference in St. Augustine’s 5-4 victory over San Diego and moved the Saints (9-6) into a tie for first in the Eastern League with Hoover.

—Clairemont, behind the two-hit pitching of Craig Skoglund and Mike Rector, clinched the Western League title, 8-0, over La Jolla.

—Talk about putting out the fire, Crawford’s Guy Beaghler came on in the seventh inning with the Colts leading Patrick Henry, 3-2, and flames raging everywhere.

–Beaghler faced a situation in which Henry had loaded the bases with none out. The batter had a 3-0 count. Beaghler battled from behind to earn a strikeout,  then coaxed the next  Patriot to hit into a double play and send the Colts home happy.

5/8/72

Clairemont, winner of 12 in a row, 15-2 in the Western League, and 20-3 overall, continued its ride to the playoffs, 3-1 win over University, the last team to beat the Chieftains 33 days before.

–Rene Quinones improved his record to 9-3 and pitched Mar Vista (11-4) to a step closer to the Metropolitan League title, 4-3 over Chula Vista in 11 innings.

5/10/72

Tom Merritt’s three-hit pitching boosted St. Augustine into a tie for the Eastern League championship.

The 2-0 victory at Patrick Henry gave the Saints (11-6) a one-game lead over Hoover and Crawford, but the Saints still had to face Crawford in the regular-season finale.

5/12/72

Hoover’s Dwayne Steele “booted” the Cardinals into second place in the final Eastern League standings.

St. Augustine defeated Crawford, 9-3, to clinch the championship; Hoover topped Patrick Henry, 5-4, with Crawford third and Henry fourth, all destined to make the playoffs.

Let’s try Dwayne Steele’s so-called boot again:

—Hoover trailed Henry, 4-3, with two out and the bases loaded in the last of the seventh inning.

—The Cardinals’ Rick Tronerud drove a low liner to the right side of the infield.  Steele, running from first, apparently was struck in the ankle by the ball.

—The rule is that the base runner is automatically out, but the rule also stipulated that an umpire must see the ball strike the runner, wrote Evening Tribune reporter Bill Finley.

—Umpires Bob Russell and Andy Anderson apparently didn’t see what happened.

—The ball caromed into right field.  By the time the ball was fielded Hoover’s runner from third base had crossed the plate and the Cardinals were celebrating.

—Steele, who was on base after being hit by Patrick Henry hurler Andy Bertrem, admitted later that he had been hit by Tronerud’s grounder.

“Either that or I stepped on an arrow,” said Steele.  “It still hurts.”

”That’s the first time I’ve ever been beaten by an umpire and I’ll admit it shook me up,” said Patriots coach Bob Imlay, between a few more chosen words.

FINAL STANDINGS

EASTERN LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	TIE	Pct.
St. Augustine	12	6	.667	—	14	8	0	.636
Hoover	11	7	.611	1	17	7	1	.700
Crawford	10	8	.556	2	16	9	0	.640
Patrick Henry	9	9	.500	3	11	12	0	.478
Lincoln	7	11	.388	5	10	13	0	.435
San Diego	7	11	.388	5	9	14	0	.391
Morse	7	11	.388	5	9	14	0	.391

WESTERN LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	TIE	Pct.
Clairemont	15	3	.833	—	20	4	0	.833
Point Loma	12	6	.667	3	13	8	1	.614
University	10	8	.556	5	12	10	0	.522
Kearny	7	11	.388	8	13	12	0	.520
Madison	6	12	.333	9	10	14	0	.417
La Jolla	4	14	.222	11	7	16	0	.308

AVOCADO LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	TIE	Pct
Fallbrook	11	5	.688	—	16	6	0	.727
Oceanside	10	6	.625	1	14	8	0	.636
Vista	10	6	.625	1	15	9	0	.652
Carlsbad	9	7	.563	2	14	8	0	.636
*Orange Glen	8	7	.533	2 1/2	13	10	2	.560
*Poway	8	7	.533	2 1/2	12	9	2	.565
San Marcos	7	9	.463	4	9	14	0	.391
Escondido	6	10	.375	5	9	12	2	.435
San Dieguito	2	14	.125	9	6	16	0	.273

*Poway and Orange Glen played tie game in league.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	TIE	Pct.
Bonita Vista	12	4	.750	—	16	6	0	.727
Mar Vista	12	4	.750	—	14	9	0	.609
Hilltop	11	5	.688	1	15	8	0	.652
Chula Vista	11	5	.688	1	13	11	0	.542
Sweetwater	7	9	.438	5	11	12	1	.489
Coronado	6	10	.375	6	8	15	0	.348
Castle Park	5	11	.313	7	7	15	0	.318
Montgomery	5	11	.313	7	7	14	0	.333
Marian	3	13	.188	9	5	17	0	.222

GROSSMONT LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	TIE	Pct.
Helix	13	1	.929	—	19	2	1	.887
Monte Vista	8	6	.571	5	11	11	0	.500
Santana	8	6	.571	5	12	11	2	.520
El Capitan	7	7	.500	6	11	9	0	.550
Mount Miguel	7	7	.500	6	11	11	0	.500
Grossmont	5	9	.357	8	9	14	0	.291
El Cajon Valley	4	10	.286	9	8	15	0	.348
Granite Hills	4	10	.286	9	7	13	1	.357

SOUTHERN LEAGUE
Coastal Division

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
Team	Won	Lost	Pct.	GBL	Won	Lost	TIE	Pct.
Army-Navy	7	1	.875	—	9	6	0	.600
Christian	7	1	.875	—	9	6	0	.600
Francis Parker	4	4	.500	3	6	10	0	.375
San Diego Military	1	7	.125	6	3	7	0	.300
La Jolla Country Day	1	7	.125	6	3	9	0	.250

Mountain Division

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	Won	Lost	TIE	Pct.
Ramona	9	0	1.000	—	15	10	0	.600
Borrego Springs	5	4	.556	4	8	15	0	.348
Mountain Empire	2	7	.222	7	8	15	0	.348
Julian	2	7	.222	7	5	13	0	.278

 GBL=Games Behind Leader.

5/16/72

SAN DIEGO SECTION PLAYOFFS

CLASS AA

FIRST ROUND

Santana 6, @St. Augustine (14-9) 1.
Patrick Henry (11-13) 0, @Fallbrook 2.
Fallbrook won in its first playoff experience, three years after not winning a game in the Avocado League.

Monte Vista (11-12) 1, @Mar Vista 2.
Point Loma 4, @Hilltop (15-9) 2.

Crawford (16-10) 1, @Clairemont 2. (9).
Chieftains Sophomore Gary Skogsdill pitched six innings of scoreless relief and improved to 3-0 with seven saves and an 0.95 earned-run average.

University 6, @Helix (19-3-1) 4.

“As long as he could walk, he was going to be our starter against Helix,” said Dons coach Dick Serrano of Jim Whitaker, three weeks removed from a knee injury, and giving the Dons six innings.

Vista (15-10) 2, @Bonita Vista 4.
Oceanside (14-9) 3, @Hoover 9.

5/17/72

QUARTERFINALS

Bonita Vista (17-7) 3, Clairemont 20, @Southwestern College.
Point Loma 4, @Santana (13-12-2) 2 (11).

Mike Mulvany opened the 11^th inning with a single and scored on Paul Contreras triple and then Contreras scored on an error.

Mar Vista (15-10) 4, Fallbrook 18, @San Diego State.

The Warriors had half of their 22 hits in the first inning and took a 10-1 lead.

Hoover (18-8-1), 2, @University 4.

5/19/72

SEMIFINALS

Point Loma 9, vs. Fallbrook (18-7) 3, @San Diego State.

Pointers catcher Paul Contreras had three doubles and a single, and centerfielder Dave Watson had three hits and drove in four runs, including a two-run home run.

Clairemont (22-4)  4, vs. University 5, @Mesa College (13).

Coach Dick Serrano’s Dons, third in the Western League, five games behind Clairemont, scored three runs in the seventh inning and won with an unearned run in the 13^th.

Three walks, an error, and a single by Kevin Buchanan had drawn Uni even with the No. 1-seed Chieftains.

Bill Nally, who hadn’t pitched a varsity inning all season, relieved Jim Whitaker in the 11^th.  “It was a gamble,” said Serrano, but he throws strikes and our luck had been so good, I thought maybe he would get ‘em out.”

Nally gave up one hit in three innings and got the victory when Don Hogan singled, went to third on a throwing error and scored the winning run on Charlie Tuttle’s sacrifice fly.

“I’ve known all year we had a good ball club, but until this week we just weren’t doing the job,” Serrano told Bill Finley of the Evening Tribune.  “Not only were we playing poorly, but we got the toughest draw in the tournament.”

5/20/72

AA CHAMPIONSHIP

University (16-10) 4, Point Loma (16-9-1), 1, @San Diego State.

About 1,500 persons watched University complete a remarkable stretch run with a 4-1 victory, becoming the first to finish third in the league season and win a title in the Section’s 13-season history.

Uni defeated the County’s top-ranked teams, Clairemont (1), Helix (2), Point Loma (4), and Hoover (5).

Bill Nally pitched three more innings in relief of starter Mike Dunning and the two, despite giving up 11 hits, stranded 11 Pointers base runners.

”We played well and the breaks that were going against us bounced our way for a change,” said Dons coach Dick Serrano.  “These guys could have rolled over, but they sucked it and went after ‘em this week.”

Clairemont scored on a home run by Vic Damico.  Its second run was unearned and the third and fourth because a Pointer didn’t tag first base on an apparent double play.

5/18/72

CLASS A

CHAMPIONSHIP

Ramona (16-10) 5, @Army-Navy (9-7) 0 (5).

Two of baseball’s all-time greatest players were playing with hundreds of so-called mortals.

Hoover’s Ted Williams and Pasadena Muir Tech’s Jackie Robinson trod on the diamonds and little Escondido High knocked down some  giants and went all the way to the Southern California finals.

3/31/36

A total of 31 teams and up to 600 players were signed to play in the fourth annual Pomona 20-30 Rotary Club tournament, including Escondido, San Diego and St. Augustine, and Hoover, which was on a waiting list.

4/1/36

San Diego divided its squad, with coach Mike Morrow taking the first team to Escondido, where it defeated the Cougars, 4-3.

The second team stayed home and dropped a 13-2 decision to the U.S. Dobbin.

4/7/36

Hoover, late to apply for a berth in the Pomona Tournament and finding the field filled, was allowed in when St. Augustine withdrew.

—A five-run third inning propelled San Diego to a 13-4, Coast League victory in Balboa Stadium against Santa Ana.

Bill Skelley allowed the visitors five hits and hit a home run for the Hilltoppers.

Johnny Le Grand had four hits in five times at bat and San Diego moved into a tie with Santa Ana and Long Beach Poly for the Coast League lead, each 2-1.

4/9/36

POMONA 20-30 ROTARY CLUB TOURNAMENT

Hoover coach Wofford (Wos) Caldwell went with a couple reserve pitchers, saving ace Ted Williams, for a later game, but the Calexico Bulldog erupted for 15 hits and won the opener, 11-0, behind Andrade, who limited the Cardinals to three hits and struck a home run.

—San Diego blanked Chino, 12-0, behind Vidal Ortiz’ three-hit pitching.

—Karl Hoffmann hurled a three-hit, 7-1 victory for Escondido over Azusa Citrus.

4/10/36

San Diego won a second-round game, 7-1 over Norwalk Excelsior in the morning and then scratched out a quarterfinals victory against Lawndale Leuzinger, 3-1, in the afternoon quarterfinals.

The Hilltoppers, trailing, 1-0, scored three runs in the top of the seventh on successive hits by Bill Skelley, Chito Rivas, Roy Ortiz, and James Curtis.

—Escondido also gained the semifinal found with wins of 5-3 over Compton and 4-1 over Pasadena Muir Tech, the latter in which Aden Galindo hit a two-run homer.

—Hoover, exiled to the Consolation bracket after its opening loss, bounced back with Ted Williams, in a 21^st century version of an “opener”, starting both games of 18-1 and 8-2 triumphs over Monrovia and Anaheim, respectively.

Del Ballinger relieved Williams in the first game and Gordon Bennett stepped up in the nightcap.

4/11/36

San Diego (2-1 over Whittier) and Escondido (4-3 over Long Beach Poly) won morning semifinal games, setting up an afternoon championship encounter, and Hoover gained the Consolation finals.

San Diego won its third Pomona 20-30 Club tournament title since the event debuted in 1933, 13-3, over Escondido

The Hilltoppers’ victory, aided by seven Cougars errors and behind the five-hit pitching of Bill Skelley, was accompanied by Ted Williams’ pitching in Hoover’s 7-0 win over Pasadena for the consolation championship.

Williams also was on the mound when Hoover won its consolation semifinal, 13-1 against South Pasadena.

Williams allowed three runs on nine hits in four tournament games, struck out 21 batters in 19 innings and hit four home runs, two in the same inning against Monrovia.

As a team, Hoover hit .331 and Joe Villarino led with eight hits in 11 at-bats.

4/16/36

Bill Skelley pitched an 11-inning, 8-7, Coast League victory at Alhambra and doubled home Johnny Le Grand with the winning run.

—Ted Williams apparently was purposely walked three times and made an infield out in his other time at bat but gave up only a third inning triple before slamming the door on Bay League rival Compton, 7-1.

4/20/30

Ed Vitalich’s home run was the big blow in St. Augustine’s 6-2 victory at Sweetwater.  Catching for the Saints was Solly Hemus, future major league infielder and manager.

4/22/36

Chet Kehn and Al Olsen combined to give up one hit and pitched San Diego’s junior varsity to a 13-2 win over the host Sweetwater varsity.

—The Muhleisen Company team edged San Diego, 9-8, as both teams combined for 30 hits in a warmup for the Hilltoppers before their game with Long Beach Poly.

4/25/36

Ted Williams struck out 19 batters and broke a 1924 Bay League record as Hoover won on the road at Redondo Beach Redondo, 5-2.

—Long Beach Poly clinched the Coast League championship with a six-run ninth inning that stunned coach Mike Morrow’s San Diego Hilltoppers, 8-5.

The Jackrabbits collected four hits and two bases on balls, and capitalized on an error. Bill Skelley, who went the distance on the mound for the Hilltoppers, had two doubles and a single.

4/28/36

Lefty Al Olsen gave up five hits and pitched the San Diego JV to a win over the host La Jolla varsity, 5-0.

5/1/36

San Diego clinched second place in the Coast to Long Beach Poly with a 14-11 win at Santa Ana as Vidal Ortiz hit two home runs. Bill Skelley and Jack Zimmerman also homered.

5/2/36

Ted Williams and Gordon Bennett combined to pitch Hoover to a 17-0 win over Inglewood.

Hoover collectively was almost knocking the cover off the ball, according to statistics most likely provided by the Cardinals to The San Diego Union.

Through 21 games, Hoover batsmen had 215 hits in 614 at-bats for a .351 average with 172 runs scored, an average of eight a game.

Outfielder-pitcher Ted Williams had 28 hits in 61 plate appearances for a .460 average with 19 runs scored.

Catcher Roy Engle, later the Cardinals’ head football coach, was batting .381 and outfielder Del Ballinger, who played many years in the minor leagues, including six with the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League, was batting .319.

5/4/36

Del Ballinger pitched and Roy Engle caught and Coach Wos Caldwell, prepping for a big Bay League contest against Long Beach Wilson, sent his varsity against his reserves and the first team won, 4-3.

5/6/36

Ted Williams homered and Hank Ondler had three hits as Hoover’s first team defeated the visiting Marine Corps Recruit Depot Devildogs, 6-2.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals’ second team invaded the foothills and topped Grossmont, 7-2.

5/8/36

Sweetwater’s Tom Coffman pitched well enough, allowing six hits, but the Red Devils committed 10 errors and Karl Hoffmann pitched an 8-1, Metropolitan League victory for Escondido (3-0), setting up a championship game with Oceanside, also 3-0.

5/12/36

Gordon Bennett homered, tripled, and doubled in four times at bat and cuffed visiting Beverly Hills on two hits, 9-1, as Hoover claimed the Bay League championship.

—Escondido’s Karl Hoffmann outdueled Ortega and the Cougars clinched the Metropolitan League championship with a 1-0 victory over Oceanside.

Willie Reyes singled in the eighth inning and eventually scored on errors by Pirates centerfielder Bobby Betoncini and shortstop Goodin, whose throw to the plate almost caught Reyes.

5/14/36

Hoover was going to play Calexico in a CIF Southern Section first-round playoff until the Civilian Conservation Corps, a product of President Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal”, got involved.

Early in the evening CIF commissioner Seth Van Patten informed Hoover coach Wos Caldwell that the Cardinals would meet coach Ed Covington’s Imperial Valley champion Bulldogs at a site to be determined.

Later in the evening Covington placed a long-distance call to Caldwell  and said that three of Covington’s players were entering a CCC camp and that Calexico would have to disband for the remainder of the season, leaving Hoover without an opponent.

Boss man Van Patten was to go into clarification mode.

5/15/36

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

No news for the Cardinals today, but Metropolitan champion Escondido eliminated Mountain Empire of the Southern League, 16-1.

5/16/36

Hoover, given a first-round bye, was assigned a second-round playoff at Escondido and prepared for a game with a team called the San Diego All-Stars at Golden Hill playground.

5/21/36

Metropolitan loop coaches met at the downtown YMCA to discuss whether to play baseball in 1937.  Coronado, Point Loma, and Army Navy did not field teams this season and some coaches favored going to a softball schedule.

5/22/36

QUARTERFINALS

HOOVER 3, @ ESCONDIDO 8

Escondido eliminated Hoover in what The San Diego Union described as “a startling upset.”

Escondido lefthander Karl Hoffmann walked seven but allowed only five hits.  Hoover’s Ted Williams was reached for nine hits.

The Cougars’ Aden Galindo collected three hits in three at bats and Willie Reyes doubled and singled in three tries.

–An interclass baseball game at Coronado High ended in “turmoil.”   A team of seniors defeated juniors, 13-12.

The underclassmen shouted that the seniors used a fifth-year player.

5/23/36

USC assistant football coach Hobbs Adams and San Diego State head coach Leo Calland were principal speakers at San Diego High’s year-end sports banquet.

Approximately 250 athletes from varsity and junior varsity football, basketball, baseball, and track squads, plus letter winners in minor sports were saluted in the school cafeteria.

5/29/36

SEMIFINALS

PASADENA MUIR TECH 4, @ESCONDIDO 5.

Pitcher Karl Hoffmann tripled to centerfield leading off the ninth inning.  Willie Reyes walked, and Aden Galindo singled to centerfield, scoring Hofmann with the winning run.

The Escondido victory was the Cougars’ second over the Mustangs, following a 4-1win in the Pomona 20-30 Rotary Club tournament.

Muir’s lineup included future Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who broke the major league color line with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

6/3/36

An obscure but historic item appeared in The San Diego Union, headlined “Padres Seek Ted Williams”.

The short story said H.W. (Bill) Lane, owner of the new Pacific Coast League team in San Diego, had offered Williams a contract for the remainder of the season.

Williams would hit .271 with 2 home runs in limited action for the Padres in a precursor to a career as one of baseball all-time great hitters.

6/5/36

FINALS

ESCONDIDO 4, @LONG BEACH POLY 14

The Cougars couldn’t repeat their 4-3 win over the Jackrabbits in the Pomona tournament after taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Escondido represented the Metropolitan League, one of the Southern Section’s circuits for small schools, while Poly was from the Coast League, arguably the strongest in Southern California.

Poly, which advanced after victories of 8-2 over Paso Robles and 11-1 over Montebello, jumped on Cougars starter Karl Hoffmann for three runs in the first inning, three more in the third, four in the seventh, and finally drove Hofmann from the mound in a three-run eighth.

Chuck Stevens had three hits, including one of the Jackrabbits’ five home runs.  Willie Reyes had two hits for the Cougars and Bob Iliff added a home run.