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.

 

 

Grossmont became the eighth different team since 1980 to win the San Diego Section 2-A championship.  Forgotten by many, the title also was the Foothillers’ first since they claimed a larger bauble.  They won the Southern Section major division crown, 5-0, over Compton in 1951.

The Foothillers also won a Southern Section minor division title in 1955.

Mt. Carmel had won four of the previous 10 championships in 3-A, but Mira Mesa, about 5 miles and a few traffic signals South on Black Mountain Road to Camino Ruiz,  challenged that domination.

The Marauders’ 8-1 defeat of Monte Vista in the finals would be followed by championships in 1991 and ’92.

Julian won its second 1-A title in three seasons, 5-2, over Midway Baptist, later known as Ocean View Christian.

Rather than have Julian or Midway travel 67 miles, the longest trip in San Diego County, the CIF sent the teams to marginally more geographically desirable Grossmont College, still a distance of 51 miles for the mountain-high Eagles.

UGLY SCENE

Winner Monte Vista and loser Patrick Henry gathered for the handshake ceremony following their playoff semifinal.

Suddenly a Patrick Henry player sucker punched a Monte Vista player, creating a black eye and bruising.

The ensuing brawl lasted about three minutes as both side engaged.

“It was brewing all game long,” a Monte Vista player told Pedro Gomez of The San Diego Union.  “You could tell something was going to happen the way they were talking (trash).”

“It takes the fun out of our victory,” said the Monarchs’ Steve Dolias.

“LITTLE KIDS”

Said Monte Vista coach Rob Phillips: “That was one of the most classless things I’ve ever seen.  Can’t you just play the game?”

Patriots coach Bob Imlay was furious with his team: “You guys have no idea what class is.  Some of you think you’re men but you’re nothing but immature little kids.”

Section rules stated that anyone involved in a fight would be ineligible for the next game, but CIF commissioner Kendall (Spider) Webb exonerated the Monarchs.

“From everything that I’ve gathered it doesn’t appear that they were the instigators,” said Webb.

 5/4/90

“They act like we made their season,” a Mt. Carmel player said of Poway players after the Titans had scored a come-from-behind, 10-9 victory over the visiting Sundevils, four-time Section champions in the 1980s.

“Not at all…we’d be acting the same way if we beat (bottom feeder) San Dieguito,” retorted Poway pitcher Dan Miller.

The loss was Mt. Carmel’s first in the Palomar League since 1988, leaving coach Sam Blaylock’s team with a 9-1 circuit record and 19-4 overall.

—Lincoln pounded out 28 hits to Hoover’s 13, and the Hornets won a 12-inning, Central League slugfest, 15-13.

5/11/90

Grossmont’s Todd Cady set a San Diego Section record for one season with 52 runs batted in.

Cady, who was 4 for 6, hit a grand slam home run and drove in eight runs in Grossmont’s 18-3 win over West Hills.

Jeff Meyers of Carlsbad drove in 47 runs in 1988.

5/14/90

DREADED ADMINISTRATIVE GLITCH

Hilltop, 18-7 competitively, tied for first at 9-3 with Montgomery and San Diego Southwest in the Metropolitan League and ranked fourth in the section, forfeited 18 wins.

Sergio Guzman, the Lancers’ leading hitter with a .455 batting average, was declared ineligible because a hardship waiver for Guzman was not filed by one of Hilltop’s bosses.

Guzman had transferred after playing for Morse in 1989. CIF rules require the waiver when a student changes districts without being accompanied by his parents or legal guardian.

Guzman was said to be living with friends in the Hilltop district.

GLITCH, MARK II

Another residential beef, but this time Hilltop avoided the glitch after a question of outfielder’s Mike Romero’s home address. “It checked out; he’s fine,” said Lancers athletic director Bob Dodds after Romero was cleared by the San Diego Section police.

5/15/90

University scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 7-6 victory over Mission Bay and clinched the Western League championship. The visiting Buccaneers won or tied for first in the last seven seasons.

The Dons had five base hits in the seventh, climaxed by David Sanchez’ game-winning single.

Win and Mission Bay would have tied for the title, which they shared with University in 1983.

5/18/90

Helix closed the regular season with its sixth straight win and clinched a first-place tie in the Grossmont 3-A League with El Capitan, the 4-3 loser to the Highlanders.

“I feel like this is a team that didn’t believe in itself for a long time,” Highlanders coach Jerry Schniepp told Helix alum and The San Diego Union writer Kirk Kenney.  “But they believe in themselves now.  They’re playing like they know they’re going to win.”

—Poway’s Dan Miller allowed two hits and struck out 12 in a 4-0 win at Rancho Buena Vista.

“All we knew coming back on the bus is that we were at least tied for the title,” said Titans coach Rudy Casciato.

“But when the bus pulled into the parking lot a group of parents were holding a five-foot long sign that said, ‘MC lost.’  The kids went wild.”

Vista had beaten Mt. Carmel, 6-3, knocking out the Sundevils.

—Mauricio Martinez was 4 for 4 at the plate and Montgomery backed Martinez’ pitching with 11 runs in the fifth inning of a 14-5 win over San Diego Southwest.

The Aztecs gained the Metro League’s No. 1 playoff seed over the Raiders after the teams tied with 11-3 records.

REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS

EASTERN LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Patrick Henry	8	4	.667	—	14	11	.560
Point Loma	8	4	.667	—	14	12	.538
Mira Mesa	7	5	.583	1	18	8	.692
Serra	5	6	.455	3	11	17	.393
Morse	1	10	.091	7	6	18	.250

CENTRAL LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
San Diego	9	3	.750	—	17	7	.708
Crawford	9	3	.750	—	18	7	.720
Madison	8	4	.667	1	14	9	.609
Hoover	2	10	.167	7	10	17	.370
Lincoln	2	10	.167	7	7	16	.304

WESTERN LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
University	11	1	.917	—	24	4	.857
Mission Bay	9	3	.750	2	15	10	.600
La Jolla	5	7	.417	6	13	12	.520
Kearny	4	8	.333	7	11	15	.423
University City	1	11	.091	10	6	18	.250

HARBOR LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
St. Augustine	9	3	.750	—	17	11	.607
Coronado	8	4	.667	1	17	8	.680
Clairemont	8	4	.667	1	16	12	.571
Marian	3	9	.250	6	7	19	.269
Christian	2	10	.167	7	5	19	.208

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Montgomery	11	3	.786	—	20	8	.714
Southwest	11	3	.786	—	14	13	.519
Castle Park	10	4	.713	1	19	10	.655
Sweetwater	8	6	.571	3	20	8	.714
Bonita Vista	7	7	500	4	12	13	.480
Chula Vista	5	9	.357	6	10	15	.400
Hilltop	2	12	.167	9	2	24	.077
Mar Vista	2	12	.167	9	5	23	.179

AVOCADO LEAGUE

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
San Pasqual	10	2	.833	—	14	9	.609
Escondido	8	4	.667	2	20	8	.714
Oceanside	8	4	.667	2	15	10	.600
San Marcos	7	5	.583	3	14	11	.560
El Camino	6	6	.500	4	12	12	.500
Ramona	2	10	.167	8	6	17	.261
Carlsbad	1	11	.083	9	9	19	.321

GROSSMONT 3-A

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Helix	6	2	.750	—	18	8	.692
El Capitan	6	2	.750	—	18	10	.643
Granite Hills	4	4	.500	2	18	9	.667
Monte Vista	3	5	.375	3	17	11	.607
Mount Miguel	1	7	.125	5	5	22	.185

GROSSMONT 2-A

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Grossmont	8	0	1.000	—	25	2	.926
Santana	6	2	.750	2	20	6	.769
Valhalla	4	4	.500	4	14	13	.519
El Cajon Valley	2	6	.250	7	7	16	.304
West Hills	0	8	.000	8	3	22	.120

PALOMAR

	LEAGUE				OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	Pct.
Poway	11	3	.786	—	19	6	.760
Rancho Buena Vista	10	4	.714	1	15	11	.577
Mt. Carmel	10	4	.714	1	20	7	.741
Orange Glen	7	7	.500	4	16	12	.571
Vista	7	7	.500	5	12	14	.462
Fallbrook	5	9	.357	6	10	14	.517
San Dieguito	4	10	.286	8	4	23	.148
Torrey Pines	2	12	.167	9	12	16	.429

PLAYOFFS

3-A

FIRST ROUND

16 San Diego Southwest (14-14) 2, @1 Poway 3.

Dan Miller (13-1), the County’s top-ranked pitcher, came on in relief in the fifth inning, shut down the Raiders, and the Titans scored the winning run in the last of the seventh.

15 Mira Mesa 6, @2 Helix (18-9-1) 3.

The Marauders, losers of six of their last eight games, dealt Helix righthander Eric Nicholson (11-1) his first defeat.

“These guys were insulted,” Marauders coach Mike Prosser said of the seeding meeting days before.  “Teams we beat all year long were seeded ahead of us.  They asked, ‘Does that mean we’re no good?’”

Point Loma (15-12) 1, @3 Montgomery 2.

Castle Park (19-11) 2, @4 Patrick Henry 6.

Granite Hills (18-10-1) 2, @Mt. Carmel 3.

Sweetwater (20-9) 4, @Rancho Buena Vista 5.

9 Monte Vista 1, @8 Hilltop (2-25) 0.

The Monarchs’ Robbie Stone allowed two hits and Hilltop’s Jose Silva gave up three.

Orange Glen 4, @El Capitan (18-11) 3.

QUARTERFINALS

Monte Vista 7, @Poway (20-7-1), 5.

The Monarchs scored all their runs in a four-run sixth inning and three-run seventh.

Mt. Carmel 4, Montgomery (21-9) 3.

John Moon’s fly ball, about 15 feet foul, was caught by the left fielder and became a sacrifice out for Mt. Carmel’s winning run.

Orange Glen (17-13) 2, @Patrick Henry 10.

Mira Mesa 5, @Rancho Buena Vista (16-12-1) 0.

Marc Nielsen homered, tripled, and pitched Mira Mesa’s shutout.

SEMIFINALS
Monte Vista 9, Patrick Henry (16-12) 7, @University San Diego.

Mira Mesa 5, Mt. Carmel (22-8) 0, @University San Diego.

“Everyone thinks that (Coach) Sam Blalock is a god and Mt. Carmel can’t be beat,” said Marauders coach Mike Prosser.  “We want to prove once and for call that Mira Mesa is a good baseball school.”

CHAMPIONSHIP

Mira Mesa (22-8) 8, Monte Vista (20-12) 1, @University San Diego.

“The perseverance, sticking with it, the never-say-die…it paid off,” said coach Mike Prosser.  “I’m happy for these kids.  They deserve it.”

Mira Mesa was 13-0 at the start of the season, lost 7 of its last 12 and six of its last eight.  The Marauders were relegated to a 15 seed in the post-season pairings.

Mira Mesa struck eight consecutive base hits, including seven straight singles in a seven-run second inning.

Starting pitcher Marc Nielsen and relievers Brendon Hause, and Mike Bovee combined to hold the Monarchs to six hits.

The victory was the fourth straight in the postseason, which followed a victory in the Marauders’ last regular season game.

2-A

16 La Jolla (13-14) 2, @1 Grossmont 11.

Todd Cady, Danny Lennon, and John Tatum each homered for the Foothillers.

15 Clairemont 6, @2 University (23-6) 5.
Chieftains pitcher Oscar Sanchez (11-6) survived a four-run sixth inning and was backed by three hits from David Salonius and Jesus Jauregui.

Madison (16-11) 1, @Oceanside 3 (8 innings).

Escondido 2, @3 Crawford (17-8) 1.

Coronado 6, @5 Santana (20-7) 5.

Mission Bay 11, 5 St. Augustine (17-12) 6 (10 innings) @Hickman Field.

The Buccaneers scored five runs in the top of the 10^th inning.

Valhalla (14-14-1) 0, @4 San Pasqual 1.

San Marcos (14-12) 5, @3 San Diego 8.

QUARTERFINALS

Escondido (21-9) 3, @Grossmont 5.

Todd Cady’s hit his 10^th home run and drove in his 60^th run, but the Foothillers advanced after Scott Brennan’s two-run single in the sixth inning.

Mission Bay (16-11) 7, @San Pasqual 9.

Dave Vejtasa and Eric Marsh hit home runs and the Golden Eagles outlasted a 4-for-4 day by the Bucs’ Marlon Gardinera.

Coronado (18-9) 4, @San Diego 5.

Pitcher Josh Stepner earned a save but also homered, doubled, scored two runs and drove in three.

Clairemont 7, @Oceanside (21-10-1) 6.

Angel Torres’ two home runs weren’t enough for the Pirates.

SEMIFINALS

Grossmont 5, San Pasqual (15-11-1) 2, @Grossmont College.

San Diego 9, Clairemont (17-14), 2, @Grossmont College.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Grossmont (29-2) 5, San Diego (20-8) 2, @University of San Diego.

Mike Spears, Dan Lennon, and John Tatum combined to limit the Cavers to three hits.

“Mike had good stuff but I don’t think he was overpowering,” Grossmont coach Jeff Meredith said of his starting pitcher, to writer Jim Trotter.  “And when you have a guy who is 10-1 (Lennon) and a guy with 12 saves (Tatum), why take a chance?”

Spears, who finished the season with a 7-0 record, gave up two hits and no runs before he was derricked after four innings.

1-A

QUARTERFINALS

La Jolla Country Day (8-15-1) 5, @1 Midway Baptist 8.

The Bishop’s 1, @4 Holtville 5.

Mountain Empire (11-9-1) 6, @ 3 Imperial 10.

Borrego Springs 5, @2 Julian 12.

SEMIFINALS

Julian 7, Imperial (12-7-3) 0, @Ramona

The Eagles’ Travis Denmark struck out 10 and hit a 400-foot home run.

Midway Baptist 8, Holtville 4, @Mar Vista

CHAMPIONSHIP

2 Julian (20-6) 5, Midway Baptist (20-4) 2, @Grossmont College.

Travis Denmark, who led the County during the regular season with 13 home runs (Christian’s Tony Clark, who would hit 251 in the major leagues, was second with Grossmont’s John Tatum, each with 10) retired 16 of the last 18 batters and struck out nine.

Denmark went to what the Union’s Ed Graney described as a “biting curveball” after giving up two, run-scoring singles in the second inning.

San Diego High gave Southern Section commissioner Seth Van Patten the figurative middle-finger salute when the Hillers were denied permission to play Delano High of the Central Section for a mythical state championship.

After being told San Diego would meet Long Beach Wilson in a one-game Southern Section playoff, San Diego players voted not to participate, fold the season, and to accept gold baseballs commemorating their Pomona 2030 Rotary Club and Coast League titles.

The Hillers (13-1) won the Coast and the Pomona tournaments, and were favorites for a Southern Section championship but were going to stiff a watered-down, one-game version of the postseason if allowed to play the Northern California champion.

3 GAMES IN NORTH

A three-game series would be played the week of May 24 or June 1. The host Tigers guaranteed expenses and offered to use a Southern California umpire, according to Charles Byrne of The San Diego Union.

Van Patten, perhaps with a push from Harry Moore,  the principal at Long Beach Wilson and the Southern Section’s representative to the state CIF, said no to the Hilltoppers.    Moore wanted Mike Morrow’s San Diego club to play Moore’s Bruins for the playoff-shortened championship.

The Hilltoppers had beaten Wilson, 7-5, and 9-4, and weren’t interested in another joust.  San Diego’s only loss was a meaningless, final regular-season game, 12-7, to Long Beach Poly, which San Diego had beaten, 12-3, and 23-6.

News articles seemed incomplete, but the CIF record book declared Wilson champion.  San Diego had not forfeited, but “withdrew”.

Discretion was the better part of valor.  The Hillers had defeated East Technical of Cleveland in a two-game, unsanctioned series for the national championship in 1921 and were barred from the 1922 playoffs by Van Patten.

3/2/40

Hoover’s 12-1 victory at Sweetwater was called because of rain in the fifth inning.

—Grossmont’s 10-1 lead over Point Loma at Collier Park in Ocean Beach, was official when rain halted play in the fifth inning.

3/5/40

Hoover’s three hits were enough to defeat visiting Escondido, 5-4, in a seven-inning nonleague game was notable for the many walks and wild pitches by Cougars pitchers.

3/7/40

Fred Matson, who would  later be declared ineligible because he had signed an agreement to report to a Brooklyn Dodgers farm team after the sesson,  pitched a no-hitter as Hoover blanked the USS Melville team, 5-0, at Navy Field.  Doug Donnan homered and singled for the Cardinals.

3/9/40

San Diego scored a run in the 10^th inning on a fielder’s choice to win at Escondido, 1-0.   Bill Williams, who coaxed a walk from Bill Kern at the start of the 10^th, scored the game’s only run.

San Diego’s Duane Pillette gave up a second-inning single to Joe Reyes and was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 10^th, with John Beck finishing the shutout.

Escondido’s Bill Kern did not give up a hit until Alex Le Grand’s single in the seventh.

The teams combined for a total of two hits.

3/11/40

Escondido, which had been a power since the Metropolitan League was formed in 1933, had trouble with San Diego and Hoover of the Coast League.

Doug Donnan and Fred Matson combined to give up six hits and visiting Hoover shut out the Cougars in a nine-inning, non-league contest, 7-0.

3/13/40

Point Loma, making its season debut, fell to a 15-hit attack by host Hoover, which won, 17-5.

3/16/40

George Usher’s double in the bottom of the seventh inning scored Alex Le Grand with the winning run in San Diego’s 5-4 win over Escondido.

3/22/40

San Diego defeated Redondo Beach Redondo, 4-1, and Long Beach Poly, 12-3, on the first day of the Pomona 20-30 Rotary Club tournament, joining Escondido, which defeated Pomona, 4-2, and South Pasadena, 10-5, in the semifinals.

—Pomona had surprised Hoover, 2-1, in nine innings in the third round.  Riverside Sherman Institute eliminated Grossmont, 10-1.  Sweetwater and Point Loma also were scheduled to participate.

3/23/40

Duane Pillette pitched San Diego to a 7-4 victory over Escondido and the Hilltoppers’ fourth tournament championship since 1933 (they had to return the title from that first-year event because two brothers played in a meaningless semi-pro game) and the third over the Cougars.

The Hillers, trailing, 1-0, scored four runs in the fourth inning and single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh of the nine-inning finale.

San Diego had advanced to the championship with a 2-0 victory over Monrovia and Escondido qualified with a 6-1 win over Azusa Citrus, behind Winston Patterson’s two-hit pitching.

3/28/40

La Jolla, which did not field a team in 1939, made its Metropolitan League return a 10-5 success against visiting Point Loma.

Centerfielder John Bambalere doubled twice and drove in six runs for the Vikings, while pitcher Ned Haskell scattered six Pointers hits over nine innings.

3/29/40

Relief pitcher Tom Schoneman’s successful bunt in the ninth inning scored Tom Finney from third base and delivered a 5-4 victory for Escondido at Sweetwater.

Schoneman’s five innings of scoreless relief overcame the effort of sophomore Tom Anson, who went the distance for the Red Devils.

—Grossmont scored without a hit in the 10^th inning in a 7-6 victory over visiting Oceanside:  Hit by pitch, walk, and outfield error by the Pirates.

3/30/40

Hoover swept a doubleheader during a Northern trip to Covina, 6-4, and 8-5.

Jim Moore and Babe Belasco each homered for the Cardinals in support of Doug Donnan’s four-hit pitching in the opener.  Bob Stevenson homered and tripled and combined with Moore to hold the Colts to six hits in the nightcap.

4/2/40

Hoover traveled by cars to National City, stepped into interleague action and won a 12-1 contest at Sweetwater that was called because of rain in the fifth inning. The Cardinals needed only seven hits and capitalized on three host errors.

4/4/40

Ken Finney and George Petersen each had three hits and Ted Schoneman struck out 13 and allowed six hits as Escondido hammered visiting La Jolla, which committed nine errors in the 20-0 defeat.

4/6/40

Hoover’s Doug Donnan and Bob Stevenson walked 12 batters and San Diego had 12 hits and won the Coast League opener, 13-5, at Balboa Stadium.

Hoover, which had posted an 18-1 record (probably counting unofficial scrimmages) fell out contention when the Hilltoppers scored six runs in the fourth inning for a 10-3 lead.

Sam Rosenthal homered, Bill Williams doubled and tripled, and Tom Ortiz contributed four consecutive singles to back Duane Pillette, who went the distance despite giving up 10 hits.

4/9/40

Bill Kern and Willard Patterson combined on a four-hitter and Joe Reyes was 3 for 3, with a double and two singles, as Escondido blanked Oceanside, their seaside rival from 20 miles away, 6-0.

4/10/40

Pete Galindo had three hits and Ted Schoneman and Willard Patterson weathered several storms as Escondido overcame an early, 3-0 lead by Grossmont to win their third straight Metropolitan League game against no defeats, 19-12, both teams collecting a total of 33 hits.

4/12/40

San Diego raked 23 hits, scoring runs in every inning but the fourth and seventh, and rolled to a 23-6 victory at Long Beach Poly.  The offensive outburst was not a Hillers record, not even close.

There had been more explosive outbursts several times in their history, which included victories of 29-10 over Santa Monica in 1917; 31-5 over Orange in 1928, and 31-5 over Fullerton in 1930, according to Don King’s Caver Conquest.

Bob O’Dell, Johnny Ritchey, and Bert Marshall homered and Dick Roxborough and Marshall allowed 11 hits but kept the Jackrabbits at a distance.

—Don Shinn drove in six runs with a home run and double and Sweetwater collected 17 hits in a 17-3 win over La Jolla.

4/16/40

A six-run third inning and Bill Kern’s two hit pitching were enough in Escondido’s 7-1 victory at Oceanside.

4/19/40

Sophomore Bob Stevenson, with help from Doug Donnan in the seventh inning, stopped visiting Long Beach Poly, 4-3, to set up a rematch with San Diego, which beat the Cardinals, 13-5, 13 days before.

—Escondido claimed the Metropolitan League championship, shaking off coach Bill Bailey’s Point Loma Pointers, 10-4, after the teams were tied, 2-2, at the end of five innings.

—Singles by Howard Deckstader and Wendell Wilson backed the three-hit, 12-strikeout pitching by Tom Anson in Sweetwater’s 1-0 victory over rival Grossmont.

4/20/40

Third baseman Jack Maupin and pitcher Duane Pillette watched from the sidelines as San Diego whipped Long Beach Wilson, 9-4.

Hilltoppers coach Mike Morrow suspended the pair after it was revealed they had been involved in a dustup at the Hoover-Long Beach Poly game the day before.

4/25/40

Oceanside gave Metro League champ Escondido a battle, sending the game into the 10^th inning, tied, 2-2, but the Pirates collapsed under the weight of three errors and four Cougars hits for a 7-2 loss.

—Point Loma scored on a wild pitch in the ninth inning to defeat Sweetwater on the Collier Park diamond in Ocean Beach.   Shortstop Ollie Mathis took to the mound for the Pointers and held the Red Devils to three hits.

4/26/40

Duane Pillette was wild high, outside and low, walking three batters and hitting five others, but Pillette gave up only three hits and San Diego clinched the Coast League championship, 3-0, at Hoover.

—Grossmont closed out Metro League play with a 2-1 win over La Jolla. Cliff Blankenship led off the 10^th inning with a double and attempted to steal third base.  The La Jolla catcher threw wildly and Blankenship scored.

5/1/40

Escondido, champion of the Metropolitan League, will not participate in the upcoming Southern Section playoffs.

In making the announcement, Coach Charlie McEuen declared that several squad members soon would be turning out for spring football drills and that the players, as a team, voted not to continue.

By coincidence (?) McEuen also was head football coach.  His team was 5-3-1 and a 3-2-1 third in league play behind Point Loma and Coronado in 1939.

The spring-football-over-baseball-playoffs decision would have no impact on the Cougars’ 1940 football season.  They were 4-3-2 overall and 3-2-1 and fourth in the Metro behind Coronado, Sweetwater, and Point Loma.

5/2/40

HARDBALL HARDWARE

A couple hours before a 12-7 loss to Long Beach Poly ended a 13-game winning streak and undefeated season for San Diego High, Hilltoppers players and coach Mike Morrow received trophies and baubles.

Representatives of the Pomona Rotary 20-30 Club presented the Pacific Coast League Hollywood Stars’ perpetual trophy, which would stay with the Hilltoppers, acknowledgement of their winning the Pomona tournament three times.

They also retired the (San Diego) Carnation Ice Cream trophy, emblematic of their three Pomona championships.

Coach Mike Morrow was awarded a trophy as the tournament’s winningest coach.  Fifteen players received medals and Bobby Williams was given a gold baseball as an all-tournament selection.

—Hoover sophomore Ray Boone received a gold baseball from the Pomona officials after making all-tournament and players from Escondido, runner-up to the Hillers, were to be honored later in the day.

5/4/40

Hoover’s Bob Stevenson and Doug Donnan cuffed visiting San Bernardino on three hits in a 2-0 victory, one day after Grossmont had beaten ‘Berdoo, 10-9.

5/9/40

Hoover coach Wofford (Wos) Caldwell couldn’t enjoy a 9-7 win at Long Beach Poly that clinched second place in the Coast League, even as the Cardinals rallied with three runs in the eighth inning.

Leaning over to pick up a ball during infield practice, Caldwell was struck in the face by a thrown ball. Taken to a local hospital, Caldwell was diagnosed with a broken jaw, which could require surgery.

Caldwell returned and was on hand for part of the game before returning to San Diego.

Doug Donnan hit two home runs for the Cardinals and Art Spahr had four hits, including a home run.

(Caldwell was later diagnosed to have sustained a crack cheekbone, with no surgery planned).

Having won the Coast League and the Pomona 2030 Rotary Club championships, San Diego bailed on the so-called playoffs (see narrative above).

 

A stunning Eastern League wipeout saw Crawford, Patrick Henry, and St. Augustine knocked out of the playoffs by the quarterfinals round.

No team from the that circuit had failed to advance to the semifinals in the San Diego Section’s first 10 seasons, 1961-70, and had won 8 of 10 championships.

Kearny, from the Western League, emerged this season and teams from that sector of the city would win 6 of the next 10.

TOPSY TURVY SEASON

The Komets, who lost five in a row in the middle of the season and got into the playoffs with the second poorest (12-10) record of the 16 qualifiers, defeated Clairemont in an extra-innings finale, in which they gave up a 6-0 lead.

“We never do anything the easy way,” said coach Jack Taylor, who pointed out that “four of those five losses were by one run.” The Komets won 10 of their last 11.

4/30/71

Two errors were all that prevented Granite Hills’ Dale Hansen from pitching the season’s first perfect game.  Hansen settled for a 2-0, no-hit victory over Helix on the Highlanders’ diamond.

—Said Clairemont coach Ernie Beck: “The way things are going, 10-8 might be good enough to win it and, despite the way we’ve been playing, we’re 8-7.”

Beck may have been reading tea leaves as he assessed the Western League race after the Chieftains dropped an eight-inning, 7-6 decision at home to Kearny, which won on Jesse Martinez’ single and Ed Schoen’s double.

5/4/71

Ernie Beck had tried several remedies for his Clairemont team after four losses in five games and then gave the ball to Jim Lyons and told to him leave his first base glove in the dugout and pitch against Mission Bay.

The Chieftains (9-7) shut out the Buccaneers, 5-0.  “He doesn’t have great stuff, but he throws strikes,” Beck said of Lyons to Bill Finley of the Evening Tribune. “Besides, he has as much moxie as anyone we have.”

Lyons, who hadn’t started all season, gave up four hits and walked one.

—On a day when Chula Vista’s 2-0 win over Mar Vista moved the Spartans closer to their first Metropolitan League championship since 1968, Hilltop coach Don Helton was bullish on his 8-5 Lancers.

“If we can get to the playoffs, our chances are as good as anyone’s,” said Helton after a nine-inning, 5-4 win over Bonita Vista. “Since all four rounds (of the playoffs) are played the same week, the name of the game is pitching and we think are pitchers are as good as anyone’s.”

Greg Wilkes and Hunter Likins combined to outpitch Bonita Vista ace Ken Bretsch, when Max Stewart singled in pinch runner Rick Hintz in the bottom of the 10^th inning.

—Roger Perdomo went 3 for 4 and raised his Grossmont League batting average to .579 as Granite Hills beat Monte Vista, 7-1.

5/5/71

Hoover usually battled for first place but today it battled to get out of seventh in the Eastern League.  The Cardinals, 3-12 in the East and 6-13 overall, defeated Morse, 9-6, for its second win in four games since a 10-game losing streak.

The win moved the Cardinals to within a half-game of sixth place Morse. They overcame four errors but a six-run first inning, highlighted by Alan Grant’s grand slam home run, gave them a cushion.

5/7/71

Rain washed away a three-run sixth inning and 5-3 Santana lead against El Cajon Valley, which received a gift, 3-2 victory that tightened the Grossmont League race as Granite Hills and Mount Miguel each picked up a game on the league-leading Sultans.

—“Just what we needed,” groused St. Augustine coach Bill Whittaker.  “Here we are with two sore-armed pitchers and it rains.  That means an extra game next week.  I may have to pitch against Patrick Henry myself.”

—Crawford, trailing St. Augustine by one game in the Eastern League, had a 5-1 lead against Hoover wiped out by the rain.

—Bob Tagye, Chula Vista’s 6-foot, 6-inch Metropolitan League basketball player of the year, pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Terry Zankiewitz in the Spartans’ 6-0 win over Marian that gave coach Bob Kennedy’s team (13-1) a two-game lead over Bonita Vista with two remaining.

Tagye has an 8-0 league record and 9-1 overall.  He’s hitting .468 and has struck out only seven times in 67 at bats.  “I’ll tell you one thing,” said Kennedy.  “He has my vote for player of the year.”

George Milke struck out 11 Chula Vista batters but the Marian defense committed eight errors.

5/11/71

Jim Lyons continued to strengthen coach Ernie Beck’s Clairemont (10-7) pitching staff, stopping La Jolla (9-7) on seven singles, 4-2, in his second start of the year. Big hit was Mike Young’s three-run, 275-foot home run down the third-base line.

5/12/71

San Diego’s Mike Antos, a 6-foot, 4-inch, 240-pounder, made his third appearance in a week, pitching 5 2/3 innings in relief as the Cavers (10-7) continued to harbor playoff hopes with a 7-6 win over Patrick Henry (10-6).

Antos had gone 10 innings in a 4-3 loss to Crawford, and eight in a win over St. Augustine.

—Kearny (11-6) clinched a tie for the Western League championship, winning its sixth game in a row, 10-2 over La Jolla (9-8).

5/14/71

Western League teams played 42 league games and couldn’t determine a champion; Kearny, Clairemont, and Point Loma finished in a flat-footed tie, each with an 11-7 record.

CIF bosses awarded Kearny the loop’s No. 1 playoff seed, followed by Clairemont and Point Loma, because the Komets had advantages over the Pointers and Chiefs in their season series.

—Crawford and St. Augustine tied for first in the Eastern League with 14-4 records, but the Saints would go into the playoffs as the No. 1 team after two wins in three games against the Colts.

—Santana and Grossmont, each with a 9-5 record, tied for the Grossmont League championship.

FINAL STANDINGS

EASTERN LEAGUE

                                   LEAGUE                                                                         OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	PCT.	GBL	WON	LOST	PCT.
Crawford	14	4	.778	—	20	5	.800
St. Augustine	14	4	.778	—	17	5	.778
Patrick Henry	11	7	.611	3	14	8	.636
San Diego	11	7	.611	3	12	11	.522
Morse	6	12	.333	8	7	15	.318
Hoover	4	14	.222	10	7	15	.318
Lincoln	3	15	.167	11	4	18	.182

WESTERN LEAGUE

                                 LEAGUE                                                                           OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	PCT.	GBL	WON	LOST	PCT.
Clairemont	11	7	.611	—	15	8	.652
Point Loma	11	7	.611	—	15	9	.625
Kearny	11	7	.611	—	12	10	.522
Madison	9	9	.500	2	11	11	.500
La Jolla	9	9	.500	2	10	12	.455
Mission Bay	7	11	.389	4	11	14	.440
University	5	13	.278	6	7	17	.292

GROSSMONT LEAGUE

                                 LEAGUE                                                                            OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	PCT.	GBL	WON	LOST	PCT.
Grossmont	9	5	.643	—	11	8	.579
Santana	9	5	.643	—	13	9	.591
Helix	8	6	.571	1	13	10	.565
Mount Miguel	8	6	.571	1	13	10	.565
Granite Hills	8	6	.571	1	11	11	.500
El Capitan	7	7	.500	2	10	12	.455
El Cajon Valley	5	9	.357	4	8	14	.364
Monte Vista	2	12	.167	7	3	20	.130

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

                             LEAGUE                                                                                      OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	PCT.	GBL	WON	LOST	PCT.
Chula Vista	15	1	.938	—	18	4	.818
Bonita Vista	12	5	.706	3	18	5	.783
Mar Vista	10	6	.625	5	11	10	.524
Hilltop	9	7	.563	6	15	10	.600
Sweetwater	9	7	.563	6	14	11	.560
Coronado	6	9	.400	8 ½	9	13	.409
Castle Park	6	10	.375	9	8	14	.364
Marian	2	13	.167	12 ½	2	19	.095
Montgomery	2	14	.125	13	2	15	.118

AVOCADO LEAGUE

                             LEAGUE                                                                               OVERALL       

TEAM	WON	LOST	PCT.	GBL	WON	LOST	PCT.
Escondido	15	1	.938	—	17	4	.810
Carlsbad	11	5	.688	4	15	6	.714
Poway	11	5	.688	4	16	5	.762
Fallbrook	10	6	.625	5	14	6	.700
San Dieguito	7	9	.438	8	9	11	.450
Oceanside	6	10	.375	9	9	13	.409
Vista	5	11	.313	10	5	11	.313
San Marcos	4	12	.333	11	6	14	.300
Orange Glen	3	13	.188	12	6	15	.286

5/18/71

SAN DIEGO SECTION PLAYOFFS

1-A CHAMPIONSHIP

San Diego Military assured itself as the most successful team in the San Diego Section with a 5-4 win over Ramona at Palomar College.

The Cadets improved their record to 15-0-1, cashing five Bulldogs errors into five runs for their second straight title game win over Ramona (12-6).

2-A PLAYOFFS

FIRST ROUND

Crawford (20-6) 2, @Poway 3, 10 innings.

“They’re a pretty good ball club, but I think there are a couple teams up here (in the North County) as good as Crawford,” said Poway coach Jim Christ after Mark Leszcynski doubled home Joe Cameron with the winning run in the third extra inning.

Hilltop (15-11) 2, @Chula Vista 7.

Bob Tagye, arguably the Spartans’ only reliable pitcher, went five innings as coach Bob Kennedy eyed the possibility of four games in five days.  “If we make it to the playoffs he’ll either have pitched the allowable 16 innings or have a sore arm,” said Kennedy.

Patrick Henry (14-9) 5, @Kearny, 11.

Rick Nelson and Jerry Waldvogel each had three hits and the Komets scored in every inning but the second, had 12 hits against 4 pitchers, and won their seventh game in the last eight.

Carlsbad 2, @Grossmont (11-9) 1.

Bob Hecklinger’s winning one-hit pitching was the source of a scoring dispute.   Grossmont’s Larry Olson drove a ground ball between third base and shortstop. The Lancers’ third baseman fielded the ball and threw wildly to first base.

The Carlsbad scorekeeper ruled error, but the official scorebook was Grossmont’s, as the Foothillers were the home team, and their scorer called base hit.

“The ball was a hit,” Grossmont coach Terry Love told Bill Center of The San Diego Union. “I’m not robbing the boy. There was just no way they could throw Olson out on the play.”

Bonita Vista 8, @Santana (13-10) 3.

The Barons’ Ed Larkins stopped the defending champion Sultans on three hits.

Point Loma 6, @Escondido (17-5) 4.

Four Pointers sat this one out after running afoul of school honchos, b but they scored three runs in the fourth and fifth innings to oust gth favored Cougars.

Mar Vista (11-12), 4, @Clairemont 13.

Mount Miguel (13-11) 2, St. Augustine 3, @North Park Recreation Center.

5/19/71

QUARTERFINALS

St. Augustine (18-6) 3, Clairemont 4, @Mesa College.

Clairemont coach Ernie Beck turned to centerfielder Mike Agosto, who had not pitched all season, and Agosto kept the Saints at a distance, holding their big four of Charlie Flower (.387), Pat Tormey (.360), Rod Spence (.470), and Frankie George (.507) to one hit in 12 times at bat.

The Saints’ loss, following earlier defeats of Patrick Henry and Crawford, made for an Eastern League wipeout, no team advancing to the semifinals for the first time in the San Diego Section’s 11 seasons.

Bonita Vista (19-6) 0, Point Loma 1, @Southwestern College.

Kearny 4, Carlsbad (16-7) 3, @Grossmont College.

Poway 9, Chula Vista (19-5) 2, @San Diego State.

5/21/71

SEMIFINALS

Clairemont 8, Point Loma (17-10) 7, 10 innings, @Hoover.

Larry Eller’ suicide squeeze on an 0-2 count scored Craig Skoglund and Mike McMorran singled in Bill Goddard for an 8-6 lead in the top of the 10^th.

Craig Settles homered twice for Point Loma and P.J. Cole connected in the bottom of the 10^th before Goddard got the last out with the bases loaded.

The game originally was scheduled at San Diego State.

Kearny 4, Poway (18-6) 1, @Mesa College.

Kearny bunched four hits, including Jesse Martinez’ triple and two infield hits to score all its runs in the fourth inning.

5/22/71

CHAMPIONSHIP

Kearny (16-10) 9, Clairemont (18-9) 8, eight innings, @Hoover.

Artis Matthews looping line drive to right field in the fourth inning scored three runs and Ed Shoen’s triple in the fifth scored two more.

Jesse Martinez’ two-run single in the 10^th inning followed by a run-scoring hit by Shoen meant a 9-6 lead that proved to be enough, although Clairemont scored twice in the bottom of the eighth and had come back and tied at 6-6 after trailing, 6-0, in the fifth inning.

San Diego’s 11th CIF Southern section championship and Coach Dewey (Mike) Morrow’s sixth came at the end of a turbulent decade and on the eve of World War II.

The Great Depression that started in 1929 raged through the ‘thirties and playoffs would be affected as the CIF moved forward.  San Diego did not participate in 1940 and ’41, and Morrow was in the Navy from 1942-45, a period when the CIF suspended the postseason.

Normalcy returned and so did Morrow.  The Hillers won the CIF championship in 1946, Mike’s first year back.

3/15/39

Ollie Mathis pitched a no-hitter and struck out 10 as Point Loma defeated Fallbrook, 3-0, at Golden Hill Playground.

3/17/39

Grossmont players were ducking all afternoon as visiting Escondido sprayed 24 hits on the Grossmont diamond and demolished the Foothillers, 25-5, in a Metropolitan League contest.

—Chaffee Kieber struck out 15 Sweetwater batters and gave up two hits, and Ollie Mathis drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning in Point Loma’s 3-2 win.

3/31/39

Host Hoover beat San Diego, 3-2, behind the pitching of Fred Matson and scored the winning run in the sixth inning on two walks, hit batter and an error.

—Bill Kern drove in Pete Galindo with a two-run home run in the sixth inning and Pete scored his brother Don with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth in Escondido’s 7-2 win over Sweetwater.

—The Four Coast League teams, San Diego, Hoover, Alhambra, and Long Beach Poly, were tied with 1-1 records after Poly’s Leroy Koenig hit a walk-off home run in the 10^th inning to defeat Alhambra, 6-5.

Point Loma defeated Grossmont, 7-6, when Pointers pitcher Chaffee Kieber struck out the last Grossmont  batter with the tying and winning run on base.

4/6/39

San Diego, Hoover, and Escondido were among the favorites in the seventh-annual, 48-team Pomona 20-30 Club Tournament.  Point Loma, Sweetwater, and St. Augustine also were in the gigantic  field of teams from Southern California.

San Diego and Long Beach Poly, each with two previous championships, were vying for the 30-inch perpetual trophy which goes to a three-time tournament winner.

4/6/39

Unheralded Point Loma upset seeded Long Beach Poly, 8-5, after earlier defeating favored Redondo Beach Redondo, 5-0, on the first day of the Pomona 20-30 Rotary tournament and Poly whipping Santa Paula, 16-2.

San Diego walloped Chino, 18-0, and the Chino Boys Republic, 27-2. Escondido beat Lawndale Leuzinger, 12-3, and Hoover topped Antelope Valley, 8-1, before receiving second-round byes.

Sweetwater and St. Augustine were eliminated in the first round, the Red Devils losing to Phoenix Union of Arizona, 3-2, and the Saints losing to San Luis Obispo, 9-7.

Chaffee Kieber went the distance for Point Loma, allowing only four hits and was backed by a five-run Pointers rally in the sixth inning.

4/7/39

San Diego, Hoover, and Escondido reached the semifinal round of the Pomona 20-30 Club tournament, but Point Loma, first-round conqueror of favored Long Beach Poly, was ousted.

The Pointers were in a 4-4 tie with Bonita, which broke open the game with five runs in the top of the seventh inning.  The Pointers scored four in their half of the inning but left the tying run stranded on third base.

Coach Mike Morrow’s Hilltoppers had a four-game total of 60 runs after defeating San Luis Obispo, 6-1, and Bonita, 9-2.

Hoover beat Monrovia, 3-1, in the morning and South Pasadena, 3-1, in the afternoon as Danny Roland and Don Donnan combined on three-hit pitching.

Escondido, champion in 1937 and runner-up in ’38, moved on with a 7-0 blanking of Huntington Beach and a 6-2 win over host school Pomona, 6-2, behind Don Galindo’s four-hitter.

Sweetwater stayed alive in the consolation bracket, 8-0, over Compton.

4/8/39

Mike Morrow’s sluggers pounded out 24 hits and defeated Phoenix Union, 18-6, to win their third Pomona title since the first in 1933.  The Hilltoppers, 6-0 over three days, beat Escondido, 4-3, in the morning semifinals.

The Hilltoppers scored 8 runs in the fifth and sixth innings, and administered an emphatic coup de grace with seven in the seventh. Manuel Hernandez and Bill Morales hit home runs.  Morales, Bill Williams, Stan Sharp, and Earl Bowman each had four hits.

Five Hoover errors contributed to Phoenix’ 5-2 victory in the morning. The game was called after five innings because of a tournament time limit.

Sweetwater was eliminated in the consolation semifinals by Fullerton, 5-4.

4/10/39

Writer Mitch Angus of The San Diego Union noted that the six San Diego teams in the Pomona event were 17-7 and that San Diego, winning the $250, 30-inch perpetual championship trophy, outscored opponents, 82-15.

San Diego also won the 1933 tournament but later were forced to forfeit because two of their players had played under assumed names in a meaningless exhibition in El Centro the previous summer.

4/12/39

Visiting Escondido scored nine runs in the seventh inning and Don and Ursulo Galindo homered in a 12-9 victory at Hoover.

4/14/39

Alhambra’s Bob Chambers quieted San Diego bats and pitched the Moors to a 2-1 win over the visiting Hilltoppers as play resumed in the Coast League.

Chambers allowed the Hillers five hits and his team had seven, bunching three in the bottom of the ninth inning against Jimmie Cortez to break a 1-1 tie.

–Hoover’s Fred Matson pitched a four-hit, 8-1 victory over visiting Long Beach Poly.

4/17/39

Bill McGee and Chaffee Kieber were reported to have combined to strike out 21 batters in Point Loma, 3-1 win over Sweetwater.

4/18/39

Escondido swept its home-and-home series with Hoover, beating the Cardinals, 6-2, at Finney Field on the Cougars’ campus after a 12-9 victory at Hoover four days before.

4/19/39

Danny Roland limited Point Loma to two hits and Hoover scored a 2-0 shutout at Point Loma in a nonleague contest between Coast League and Metropolitan League contenders.

4/21/39

Hoover (3-1) moved into first place in the Coast League with a 1-0 win at Alhambra (2-2), behind Fred Matson, who gave up 10 hits, all singles, but only once did the Moors get two in an inning and they were thwarted by three Cardinals double plays.

San Diego (2-2) defeated Long Beach Poly (1-3) in another Coast League contest at the Hilltoppers’ City Stadium.

Jimmie Cortez scattered seven hits and Nan Hernandez drove in Freddie Martinez and Jackie Albright with a second-inning hit.

–Escondido, closing in on a fourth consecutive unbeaten league season, warmed for its important Metropolitan loop game at Point Loma by defeating Fallbrook, 2-1, despite a 14-strikeout performance and home run by Warriors pitcher Lavata.  Pete Galindo homered for the Cougars.

–Grossmont, 0-4 and buried in the Metropolitan cellar, erupted for six runs in the third inning and broke a tie with two in the bottom of the ninth to beat arch-rival Sweetwater (1-3), 9-7.  Vincent Villavicencio tripled twice for the Foothillers.

4/26/39

Grossmont surprised Point Loma, 11-9, helped in part by 12 walks issued by Pointers starter Ollie Mathis, forced to go the distance because Chaffee Kieber was nursing an injured ankle.

4/27/39

Bill Swezey’s triple with the bases loaded was the difference in St. Augustine’s 6-2 win over the San Diego State Frosh at University Heights playground.

4/28/39

San Diego took a 5-0 lead after two innings and Duane Pillette scattered eight hits in a 7-2 victory over Hoover that tied the Hilltoppers (3-2) for first place in the Coast League with the visiting Cardinals.

4/30/39

Escondido completed an undefeated league season with its sixth Metropolitan League victory against no losses, 13-0 over Sweetwater.

The Cougars would have to wait for an unknown playoff opponent that still was playing in a league that had not completed its schedule.

5/3/39

Hoover, prepping for its game with Long Beach Poly, defeated a team called the Brooklyn Juniors, 6-2, as three Cardinals held the Juniors to one hit.

5/4/39

San Diego managed only two hits off Fenton Rinder, whose control problems led the Hillers to a 5-2 win over St. Augustine in the City Stadium.

5/5/39

Long Beach Poly dealt a critical blow to Hoover’s hopes for a first Coast League championship when the plate umpire ruled catcher interference on the Cardinals’ Jerry Davidson, allowing the Jackrabbits to score the winning run in the bottom the 10th inning.

5/6/39

Jackie Albright, Manuel (Nay) Hernandez, Stan Sharp, Freddie Martinez, and Earl Bowman slugged home runs—Albright’s to centerfield leading off the bottom of the first inning—and San Diego claimed the Coast League championship with a 9-1 win over Alhambra.

Duane Pillette gave up four hits as the Hilltoppers (4-2) finished ahead of the Moors, Hoover, and Long Beach Poly, all 3-3.

5/9/39

Still waiting for word on the Southern Section playoffs, Escondido defeated the San Diego Marines, 7-6, when Don Galindo singled in Bob Houser with the winning run in the last of the ninth inning.

5/12/39

Freddie Martinez had four hits, including a two-run home run in the eighth inning as San Diego won its opening Southern Section playoff game with a 12-8 victory at Whittier.

—Escondido meanwhile routed visiting Perris, 15-0, in its playoff opener.

5/20/39

Escondido, whose only two losses had been in nonleague games against San Diego High, saw its season end with a 5-3 loss to Long Beach Wilson in quarterfinals of the CIF playoffs.

5/26/39

Freddie Martinez and Earl Bowman each had two hits and Jimmie Cortez scattered five hits in San Diego’s 5-1, CIF playoff semifinals victory at Riverside Poly.

The Hilltoppers would face Long Beach Wilson, 4-2 winner over Santa Maria, in the CIF finals.

6/2/39

The five home runs that San Diego High slugged in its Coast League-deciding game against Alhambra was drawing snickers from people in the Long Beach Wilson program.

Bruins faithful didn’t think much of the Hilltoppers’ power, because of the very short distance to the leftfield fence in City Stadium, according to Mitch Angus of The San Diego Union.

San Diego coach Dewey (Mike) Morrow was unperturbed and pointed out that the Hillers win as often on the road as they do in the stadium, not just with home runs but solid pitching and overall play.

Angus was raising a moot point. The championship game wouldn’t be played in City Stadium but at Lane Field. Hillers had waived their right to play in City Stadium for the more neutral home of the San Diego Padres.

6/4/39

There were no home runs but San Diego’s Duane Pillette, son of the legendary Pacific Coast League hurler Herman (Old Folks) Pillette, stopped Wilson on one hit and the Hillers won their 11^th CIF championship, 3-0, in the park where his dad pitched.

Nay Hernandez had three hits and drove in a run. Jackie Albright hit a sacrifice fly for another and Albright scored the third run in the eighth inning after a wild throw on pickoff attempt by the Wilson catcher.