San Diego High, for decades the No. 1 team in Southern California baseball, was undefeated and favored to win an 11^th CIF championship.

Until….

The Hillers, as they were most often called (besides Cavemen, Cavers, and Hilltoppers) during the era, lost a quarterfinals playoff to a team it had beaten, handily, twice before.

This San Diego team had several players who signed professional contracts and two, Floyd Robinson and Deron Johnson, would have long careers in the major leagues.

The loss  (below) ranked as perhaps the most unexpected and disappointing in school history.

NO STOPPING CHULA VISTA

Coach Bob Geyer’s Chula Vista Spartans, closing with 15 consecutive victories won a CIF Southern Group (small schools) trifecta.  The Spartans also had claimed titles in football and basketball.

So strong was Chula Vista that it would be placed in the large school (Central Group) playoffs at the beginning of the 1955-56 school calendar.

3/1/54

San Diego High announced a 22-game schedule that included a visit by Orange County power Fullerton and visits to Los Angeles Loyola and Lynwood.

3/3/54

Tony Asaro’s two-run home run and Paul Gaughan’s five-hit pitching was enough for San Diego to win its opener, 2-1, at Chula Vista.

Lennie Arevalo drove in three runs and Percy Campbell homered as new City Prep League member Lincoln, with no senior class, improved to 2-0 with a 7-3 victory over Mar Vista.

Dave Jordan hit two home runs and drove in six and pitched La Jolla to a 9-5 win against San Dieguito.

3/5/54

Edward (Duke) Hottell of Kearny blanked Chula Vista on two hits, 2-0, and home runs by Louie Serrano and Frank Rogers paced Point Loma to a 7-3 win over Mar Vista.

3/6/54

Sophomore Jim Gilchrist hit an inside-the-park home run on San Diego’s diamond and Lee Babbitt scattered eight hits as the Hillers defeated Fullerton, 7-2.

Freddy Tooze and Johnny Bates combined for a no-hit pitching performance and Helix bats and six Brown Military errors led to a 17-0 victory.

3/9/54

Kearny and Escondido and Hoover and St. Augustine couldn’t come to a decision.

The teams headed home after each game was called because of darkness.

Hoover and St. Augustine went 11 innings to an 0-0 standoff, with the Cardinals’ Ron Wilkins and Joel Mogy holding the Saints to one hit.

Kearny and Escondido were at a 2-2 deadlock after eight innings.

3/10/54

Floyd Robinson had two hits and three runs batted in and Horace Tucker and Deron Johnson each had two hits, backing Lee Babbitt in San Diego’s 9-3 win against Chula Vista.

3/12/54

City Prep League teams were 4-0 against outside opponents until independent St. Augustine defeated La Jolla, 5-3.

The Vikings’ Jack Cravens had struck out 12 and allowed the Saints no hits for the first six innings.

San Diego sophomore Deron Johnson struck out 10 and gave up five hits as the Hillers stopped Metropolitan League toughie Sweetwater, 4-1.

3/16/54

Evening Tribune writer Jerry Brucker called it one of the best played games of the (very young) year “in spite of the wind, dust, and cold” on the “bitter-cold Sweetwater diamond.”

The Red Devils beat City Prep League power Hoover, 2-1, on home runs by Jim Redman and Alonzo Boles, and defensive plays that three times cut down Hoover runners at the plate.

Hoover’s Billy Capps was the hitting star with a double and two triples, but was thrown out at home in the first and eighth innings.

Hoover scored in the ninth when Bob Youngs singled with two outs and scored on Gene Leek’s long hit to left, but Leek also was out trying for an inside-the-park home run.

3/17/54

La Jolla and Sweetwater went nine damp innings to a 4-4 tie in National City, but 5 miles North at Lincoln the Hornets and visiting Chula Vista canceled because of wet grounds.

Rain washed out a San Diego trip to Los Angeles Loyola.  Escondido’s trip to Point Loma also was off.

3/27/54

Hoover’s trip to El Camino Junior College in Inglewood was rewarded with a 12-6 win over Manhattan Beach Mira Costa as Bob Youngs (four for five) and Jerry Smith (three for four) set the pace.

3/30/54

March came in like a lion but was not going out like a lamb.

The fields at Point Loma and Grossmont, where Kearny and Hoover would open the CPL season, were still wet from a drenching two nights earlier.

Two games, La Jolla’s defending champion at San Diego, and Helix at Lincoln, were worth braving the weather.

Floyd Robinson’s seventh-inning home run was the difference in a pitching duel between the Hillers’ Lee Babbitt and the Vikings’ Dave Jordan.

Babbitt allowed four hits and struck out 10 in the 4-3 victory.

Lincoln’s Vince Kilpela and Helix’ Freddie Tooze each struck out 15, but Lincoln won, 3-2, as Joe Merino scored on David Washington’s eighth-inning triple.

Kenny Lee restricted Sweetwater to three hits and Chula Vista (2-0) beat their Metropolitan League arch rival, (1-1), 6-1.

4/2/54

Trailing, 4-1, after six innings, San Diego scored 13 runs in the final three innings at Grossmont to win, 14-5.

Joe Barrington of La Jolla limited Helix to one hit and the Vikings clinched an 8-3 victory with a six-run fifth.

Kearny’s Edward (Duke) Hottell shut down first-year Lincoln, 5-0.

4/8/54

“Sophomore Bob Imlay, a pink-cheeked  right hander who specializes in several varieties of curves, a changeup, and expert control…” was part of the opening sentence in the Point Loma-Kearny writeup by Jerry Brucker of the Evening Tribune.

Brucker was describing Imlay’s two-hit pitching and the Pointers’ 4-1 victory. The Komets’ Bud Clark allowed only one hit but was victimized by walks and outfield errors.

Gene Leek homered and Tommy Rinks hit a pair of doubles as Hoover bombed Grossmont, 15-2. Helix routed Lincoln, 17-3.

Bob Franklin hit two home runs as Chula Vista (7-0) beat San Dieguito, 14-6.  Sweetwater (5-2) beat Oceanside, 13-6, and Mar Vista topped Vista, 13-6.

4/12/54

The fourth annual Lions Club tournament opened for approximately 425 players and 32 games in three days at San Diego High, Navy Field diamonds, and an Unlimited Division championship game at Lane Field, home of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres.

Yuma, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, Fullerton, Inglewood, Banning, Brawley, and Thermal Coachella provided out-of-area flavor.

San Diego (Unlimited Division) and Mar Vista (Limited) were defending champions.

All games were scheduled for seven innings, short of the usual regular-season game.

4/12/54

Deron Johnson, who held Sweetwater to three hits, drove in Floyd Robinson with the winning run in the sixth inning of the 2-1 decision after Robinson had tripled.

Thermal Coachella and Oceanside set a record in the Limited Division as the Desert squad outpointed the Pirates, 23-14, in a game of 24 base hits and 12 errors.

Helix’ Ron Svalstad, Oceanside’s Dick James, and Fullerton’s Jerry Fishel hit first-day home runs.

4/13/54

Mar Vista claimed its second straight Limited Division crown, defeating Coachella, 11-8, after eliminating Fallbrook, 2-1.

San Diego gained the Unlimited final by blanking Yuma, 8-0, and Lincoln, 10-0, but the Hillers went to bed not knowing if their championship opponent would be Fullerton or Chula Vista, which were deadlocked at 4 when the game was called because of darkness.

Kearny’s Duke Hottell pitched the first no-hitter in tournament history, 7-0.

4/13/54

Fullerton outlasted Chula Vista, 5-4, in 11 innings to qualify for the championship against San Diego.

The first game of the Lane Field doubleheader (the Padres and Portland Beavers also were on the card) was called after six innings with the Hillers ahead, 13-2.

Floyd Robinson was named tournament most-valuable player after hitting two triples to the farthest reaches of the park and knocked in three runs.

Lee Babbitt allowed four hits and was the championship-game winner for the second year in a row.

4/23/54

Coach Bob Geyer’s Chula Vista Spartans stayed unbeaten in the Metropolitan League by scoring single runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings and winning, 5-4, at Escondido.

Kearny (4-1) defeated defending CPL champion La Jolla, 4-3, behind two-base hits by Tommy Gonzalez and Bud Clark in the ninth inning after the Vikings (4-2) tied the game with three runs in the eighth.

4/27/54

Deron Johnson pitched San Diego to an 18-3 win over Helix, moving the Hillers to 7-0 in the CPL and 17-0 overall.

4/28/54

Kearny (6-1) kept pace with San Diego as undefeated Duke Hottell struggled but held on for a 7-5 victory in a rain-makeup game against Point Loma.

5/1/54

San Diego’s Deron Johnson relieved Lee Babbitt in the first inning and checked La Jolla on two hits as the Hillers ram their record to 18-0 with an 18-3 victory.

Jim Gilchrist and Joe Dini each had four runs batted in for the Cavers.

5/8/54

San Diego’s 20^th consecutive win was an 18-5 laugher over Point Loma.

Sophomore pitcher Deron Johnson went the distance. Jim Gilchrist and Scott Armitage each had three hits, and Richie Johnson tripled and homered.

Vince Kilpela out pitched La Jolla’s Dave Jordan and Lincoln earned a third win against eight league losses, 2-1.

5/12/54

San Diego (11-0) clinched a CPL title tie and won its 21st in a row after scoring six runs in the first inning and hanging on for a 6-4 triumph over Kearny (8-3).

The Hillers scored on two hits, five walks and three Kearny errors.

San Diego pitcher Lee Babbitt ran into control problems and walked in two runs in the third, giving way to Paul Gaughan, who kept the Komets at bay until Hugh McMillan doubled, Bud Clark singled, and Bud Romero doubled for two runs in the seventh.

Sophomore Deron Johnson came on in relief after Gaughan walked the leadoff batter in the eighth inning and checked the Komets.

Point Loma was outhit, 12-4, by Helix but won, 7-6.

5/14/54

San Diego (12-0) clinched the CPL championship and won its 22^nd game in a row, 13-7, after Hoover (6-6) took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Richie Johnson’s two-run homer in the first inning ignited the Hillers, who scored the next 10 runs.

A bunt safety by Helix’ Ron Hamilton was all Bud Clark allowed as Kearny (9-3) won, 3-0.

5/18/54

Fifteen-year-old Deron Johnson gave up three hits, one a Lenny Arevalo fourth-inning home run over the short right field fence at Lincoln, and San Diego moved to 13-0 in the CPL and 23-0 overall, 7-1.

Defending CPL champion La Jolla (6-7) lost its fourth in a row as Kearny’s Duke Hottell, with a 7-0 league record, pitched the 7-2 win.

Chula Vista (10-0) clinched a tie for the Metropolitan League championship with two games remaining by stunning Vista with a nine-run first inning in an 11-0 win on the Panthers’ diamond.

Escondido (8-2) stayed alive with a 3-2 win over Sweetwater.

There were no field goals or touchdowns but football came to mind when Mar Vista beat San Dieguito, 20-15.

The Mariners, who struck 20 base hits that helped ease the burden of nine errors, led, 19-3, after six innings.

5/20/54

San Diego was roaring into the playoffs with a 24^th consecutive win, secured in a 22-2 rout of visiting Helix.

Floyd Robinson hit two home runs, tripled, and drove in seven, completing the 14-game league season with a .508 batting average, six home runs and 27 runs batted in.

Jim Gilchrist backed up Robinson with four hits and Lee Babbitt pitched a three-hit, nine-inning complete game.

5/21/54

Hoover played one game but picked up two victories.  An earlier loss to Point Loma was reversed as Pointers officials were found guilty of the Dreaded Administrative Glitch.  A Point Loma player was found ineligible and a Pointers victory was forfeited to the Cardinals.

Hoover defeated La Jolla, 7-3, on the City Prep League’s final regular-season day to finish 9-5 behind San Diego’s 14-0 and Kearny’s 11-3. Billy Capps hit a three-run home run and drove in four for Hoover.

Kearny’s Duke Hottell, who relieved Bud Clark in the fifth inning, received credit for an 11-4 win over Grossmont and a league-leading 8-0 record.

5/25/54

Chula Vista, 12-0 and Metropolitan League champion, defeated visiting San Bernardino Pacific, 8-3, in its opening round game of the Southern Section small schools (Southern Group) playoffs.

The Spartans, outhit 7-5, committed one error to the Pirates’ six and all of Chula Vista’s runs were unearned.

5/28/54

San Diego, rested after having received a first-round bye, faced Fullerton, a team the Hillers had beaten, 7-2, and 13-2 during the season.

Fullerton was more formidable than the two losses would have indicated.  It reached the quarterfinals with a 14-inning, 3-2 win over 23-2 Ontario Chaffey.

San Diego had a powerful lineup led by Floyd Robinson’s 24-game, .456 average and eight home runs.  Others included Horace Tucker (.404), Scott Armitage (.393), Deron Johnson (.373), Jim Gilchrist (.367), and Tony Asaro (.302).

The game had a 2 p.m. first pitch at Lane Field, where the Cavers had defeated Fullerton for the Lions Tournament title, and the Hillers started fast, taking a 3-0 lead after two innings.

But Fullerton hung around and trailed only 3-2 after the top of the seventh.

San Diego scored what appeared to be an insurance run on Robinson’s single and Deron Johnson’s triple to right centerfield in the seventh.

Fullerton scored two runs to forge a 4-4 tie in the eighth inning, driving San Diego starter Lee Babbitt to cover.  Deron Johnson came in from right field and maintained through the 10^th inning.

Johnson was the losing pitcher after the Indians scored on a single that brought one run home from second base and another on squeeze bunt in the 11th in a devastating, 6-4 loss for the Cavers.

SPARTANS EXACT REVENGE

Chula Vista exacted a measure of revenge in its semifinal, 20-2 victory over Laguna Beach.  The Artists had eliminated the Spartans, 19-0, in the 1952 football playoffs.

Coach Bob Geyer’s team was disappointed only in that they wanted to beat the visitors by 19 runs.

Leadoff man and centerfielder Bob Neeley collected four hits in five at-bats, hit two home runs and a triple, and drove in six.

Catcher Vern Sanna was 4 for 6, doubled, tripled, and hit his second home run of the postseason.  Bob Lusky also homered.

Laguna Beach was the “home” team because it could not find a suitable site to play the game in its area.

6/4/64

Edson Fielder was 2 for 3 and hit a home run, but the El Centro Central pitcher could not duplicate his feat of 1953, when he pitched his team to the championship over Chula Vista.

The Spartans, backed by busloads and carloads of supporters, won the rematch in the Imperial Valley city, 16-6.

Bob Neeley, who finished the season and Chula Vista’s 15^th straight win, with 10 hits in his last 11 at bats (6 for 6 with a double and triple), and Dave Erwin were the only players who also were on the winning football and basketball clubs.

Chula Vista’s Kenny Lee struck out 17 Central Spartans and scattered six hits over nine innings.

Walt Harvey was a football and track coach and once confessed he “didn’t know anything about baseball.”

Harvey was a 1936 Hoover High classmate and friend of Les Cassie, who was a successful baseball coach at San Diego High. Cassie didn’t know it but he deserved an assist when Harvey found himself coaching the varsity at La Jolla and figuritively went to school.

Harvey took his self-described lack of knowledge to the San Diego State library and borrowed books detailing baseball strategy and made it a point to read the  baseball-oriented master’s degree thesis of his old friend, Les Cassie.

That La Jolla won the City Prep League championship and beat Cassie’s San Diego team, was only part of the Vikings’ success.

Behind pitcher Art Weber, who posted a 16-3 record and wielded a powerful bat, La Jolla and Harvey, who coached the Vikings’ football team to playoff appearances in 1951 and ’52, went all the way to the CIF Southern Section championship game.

Weber was the Southern California player of the year and teammate and first baseman Eddie Olsen was a second-team choice.

Cassie would continue to have outstanding teams at San Diego, but Harvey moved on, leaving baseball and building championship football and track programs at fledglings Lincoln and Crawford.

Despite a loss to Compton in the CIF finals, La Jolla became the third different team in three seasons from San Diego to reach the big game. Grossmont won in 1951 and San Diego in 1952.

2/28/53

Twenty-four teams, including outsiders Fullerton, Inglewood, Santa Monica, and Glendale Hoover, were announced as participants in the third annual Lions Tournament at the end of March.

A 16-team, large-school division would be accompanied by an eight-team small-schools’ division.

–San Diego exploded for eight runs in the first two innings and defeated Sweetwater, 12-2.  It was the Hillers’ second straight over the well-regarded Metropolitan League team.

Tony Asaro and Horace Tucker each had two hits and Lee Babbitt allowed the Red Devils three hits.

3/17/53

San Diego moved to 8-0 behind a one-hit pitching performance by Rudy Venzor, who stopped the 8-1 Los Angeles Loyola Cubs, 10-1.

City Prep League middle-of-the-road Hoover took it to Metro power Chula Vista, 14-0, on the Spartans’ diamond.

3/24/53

Chula Vista opened the Metro League campaign with a 10-0 win at Escondido.  Bobby Handley scattered eight hits and Bob West hit four singles in four times at bat.

Point Loma scored 10 runs in the first inning and routed the visiting San Diego State frosh, 13-1.

Ronnie Robertson had three hits including a home run and double for the Pointers; Bill Martin had three hits and four runs batted in, and Bob Roeder held the collegians to four hits.

3/30/53

LIONS TOURNAMENT

Dialing down from nine innings, games were scheduled for seven with no time limit.

One exception.

Play was terminated after five innings with San Dieguito ahead of Julian, 18-3, in the small schools’ division.

San Diego teams banished all five visiting clubs into the consolation bracket.

Sophomores Ron Wilkins and Dick Mesa of Hoover combined to hurl a no-hitter in an 11-2 win over Montebello.

Southpaw Wilkins was relieved by right-hander Mesa after a wild streak in the fifth inning as the Oilers scored twice.

–San Diego’s Rudy Venzor pitched a two-hitter and the Hillers topped Inglewood, 6-0.

–St. Augustine edged Glendale Hoover, 3-2; La Jolla whipped Santa Monica, 10-2, and Point Loma nipped Fullerton, 3-2.

3/31/53

It was doubleheader day.  Quarterfinals in the morning, lunch, and the afternoon semifinal in the large schools’ division, and championship game for the small schools

Mar Vista won the eight-team small schools’ bracket, 9-0 over Oceanside and 6-2 over Yuma at Point Loma High.

Jesus Morales’ and Jim Bragg’s three-hit pitching checked the Pirates in the morning and Morales followed with a three-hitter that stopped the Arizona entry.

If there was an 11-run rule, Ramona would have sued for relief. Fallbrook butchered the Bulldogs, 26-0, including a 10-run fifth inning.

4/1/53

HILLERS, POINTERS IN FINAL

San Diego pounded St. Augustine, 15-1 in the quarterfinals.  Rudy Venzor outdueled Art Weber in a 2-1 semifinals victory over La Jolla.

Richie Johnson’s two-run single in the top of the sixth at San Diego State offset an RBI single by La Jolla’s Joe Barrington in the bottom of the seventh.

Of Vikings pitcher Weber, San Diego coach Les Cassie said, “We’ll have to be lucky to beat that boy again. He’s really good.”

(Cassie was prophetic.  Weber would lead La Jolla to a sweep of the teams’ two-game league series).

Bill Martin went the distance in Point Loma’s morning, 4-2 win over Chula Vista and Bob Snelling tamed Hoover, 6-0, in the afternoon, both games at San Diego State.

FINALS

San Diego and Point Loma were the undercard on a scheduled Pacific Coast League game at Lane Field between the San Diego Padres and Hollywood Stars.

The Hillers opened a 5-0 lead after two innings and cruised to their 15^th win without loss, 9-1, behind Lee Babbitt’s four-hit pitching.

Eddie Boyle and Al Weymiller each had two hits and were the tandem that produced perhaps the play of the tournament.

Weymiller raced in to make a diving, one-handed catch of Frank Stevenson’s fly to shallow right field.  Weymiller then made a throw from a kneeling position to Boyle at first base to double a runner.

Fullerton edged Inglewood, 4-2, for consolation honors.

4/8/53

Lee Babbitt allowed five hits and San Diego scored 3 runs in the fifth inning and defeated Helix, 3-2, in a CPL opener on the Helix diamond.

Dick Greenfield homered and Art Weber held visiting Hoover to two hits in a 3-2 La Jolla victory.

Chula Vista and San Dieguito each improved to 2-0 in the Metropolitan League, the Spartans dominating Mar Vista, 10-4, and the Mustangs pounding out 16 hits in a 21-6 win over North County neighbor Vista.

4/9/53

It was military day in the Southern Prep League.

Luis Marquez pitched a four-hitter and Brown Military shut out visiting Ramona, 12-0.

Pitcher Martinez struck out a reported 19 batters, which was virtually impossible. Army-Navy’s 19-4 victory at home over Mountain Empire went only five innings and Martinez would have faced only 15 hitters who made out.

Perhaps four batters reached first base after striking out but the catcher was charged with passed balls. Perhaps.

Chula Vista’s Bob Handley and Earl Jenson combined to pitch a one-hitter as the Spartans whipped San Dieguito, 9-3, to take the Metropolitan League lead with a 3-0 record.

Escondido handed Vista an 11-4 defeat, no doubt aided by the Panthers’ 10 errors.

4/10/53

The game story lede win in The San Diego Union:

“La Jolla High’s Art Weber exploded the myth of San Diego High invincibility with a slow curve, an occasional fastball, and a deceptive change of pace that limited the Hillers to three hits…”

Weber did not allow a hit until Floyd Robinson singled with two out in the eighth inning and the Vikings ahead, 7-0.

The 9-2 victory on the San Diego diamond represented the Hillers’ first loss after 16 victories and their third in the last 54 games.

Vikings first baseman Eddie Olsen had two hits in three times at bat, including a 350-foot home run.

4/13/53

Chula Vista and Sweetwater each improved to 4-0 in the Metropolitan League, the Spartans beating Vista, 18-4, and the Red Devils measuring San Dieguito, 7-1.

4/14/53

Art Weber hurled a three-hit, 8-2 win over Helix, helped in no small part by Highlanders pitchers, who issued 13 bases on balls and a defense which committed seven errors.

San Diego bounced back from its loss to La Jolla with a 20-hit attack that smothered Grossmont, 20-7.  Hoover beat Point Loma, 15-4.

4/17/53

San Diego and Hoover each moved to 3-1 in the CPL, a half-game behind La Jolla, with victories of 8-1 and 6-3.

Rudy Venzor stopped the Point Loma on four hits and Frank Powell went the distance in Hoover’s 12-inning win over Kearny.

 

5/2/53

Horace Tucker’s grand slam home run in the sixth inning widened a 2-0 San Diego lead and led to a 9-1 victory over Helix and 6-1 Hillers league record.

Art Weber allowed five hits and hit a home run in La Jolla’s 9-3 win at Hoover.

Vikings Dick Greenfield, Jack Cravens, and Joe Barrington also took advantage of Hoover’s inviting ball park dimensions (short right field) with four-base hits.

5/4/53

Bob Handley and Earl Jenson combined to pitch a no-hitter in Chula Vista’s 1-0 shutout of Mar Vista.  Lavon Baker singled home Al Aleman in the seventh inning.

At the end of the day the Spartans were 8-1, a game behind Sweetwater in the Metro.

5/12/53

Hoover and Kearny, tied at 4-4 after nine innings, had lengthening daylight on their side as they went another eight innings before the Cardinals pulled out a 5-4 victory.

Ron Wilkins went the first 11 innings for Hoover and then gave way to Frank Powell.  Jim Schaubel scored the winning run.

The battery of Duke Hottell and Flaming went all the way for the Komets.

Sweetwater’s 10^th straight win without a loss, 5-4 over San Dieguito, kept the Red Devils a game ahead of 9-1 Chula Vista, which beat Vista, 7-2.

5/15/53

Jack Lepore pitched a five-hitter and San Diego stayed mathematically alive in the CPL with an 8-0 win over Kearny.  Days before La Jolla had gained a share of the title with a 6-0 win over Grossmont.

Chula Vista earned a tie for first in the Metro with a 3-0 win over Sweetwater that left both clubs with 10-1 records.

5/19/53

Chula Vista beat Oceanside, 5-2, and Vista shocked Sweetwater 5-2, as the Metropolitan League race ended amid a dramatic, 10-day swing.

The Spartans (11-1) trailed Sweetwater by one game with two remaining, but Sweetwater lost its last two to finish 10-2.

Bob Wilson hit a two-run home run and Lavon Baker drove in two with two singles in Chula Vista’s victory.

La Jolla became the third team in three seasons, following Grossmont and San Diego, to win the CPL as Art Weber advanced the Vikings to 10-1 in league play with a 6-0 win over Point Loma while San Diego (8-3) was losing to Hoover (7-4), 4-3.

Weber struck out seven, allowed six hits, and was 2 for 3 at the plate.  Joe Barrington supported with a home run and Art Luppino singled, doubled, and tripled.

5/22/53

Art Weber’s two-run home run in the sixth inning erased a 1-0 Kearny lead and La Jolla finished the CPL season with a 3-1 victory and 11-1 record.

Hoover’s 11-4 win over Helix moved the Cardinals into a second-place tie with San Diego, each with an 8-4 record.

The Hillers finished 23-4 overall and out of the playoffs.

5/26/52

Fallbrook forfeited its first-round playoff to Chula Vista in the Southern Section small schools’ division playoffs.

La Jolla opened the major division playoffs at the home of the Citrus Belt League champion and left with a 12-6 win over San Bernardino.

The Vikings scored five runs in the fifth inning to break a 2-2 tie and added four more in the seventh.

Coach Walt Harvey relieved Art Weber with the Cardinals leading 12-2 after seven innings, saving the La Jolla ace for a quarterfinals test against Fullerton.

Dick Greenfield and Jack Cravens each had four hits and Eddie Olsen and Weber each drove in four runs.

5/28/53

Eddie Olsen and Joe Barrington ensured La Jolla’s home diamond, 10-8 win over Fullerton before about 1,100 persons at Scripps Field in the playoff quarterfinals.

The Vikings’ Art Weber had developed a sore arm after the game at San Bernardino and was restricted to playing shortstop.

Olsen, who delivered a run-producing, tie-breaking single in the sixth inning, was called on by coach Walt Harvey to relieve sophomore Dave Jordan in the eighth after Jordan had given up a two-run home run and loaded the bases on walks.

Olsen got a third out in the eighth and gave up a double to the lead-off batter in the ninth but then retired the next three hitters for the victory.

Joe Barrington’s three-run homer in the sixth gave the Vikings a 10-6 lead.

Chula Vista took a 5-3 lead in the top of the 10^th inning at El Centro Central, but the host Spartans eliminated the visiting Spartans, 6-5.

Chula Vista ended the season with a 17-8 record.

6/3/53

Art Weber was relegated to outfield duty because of a sore arm, which had been receiving treatment from San Diego Padres trainer Les Cook, so Vikings coach Walt Harvey again turned to sophomore Dave Jordan for the semifinals test against the visiting, 20-7 Lynwood Knights.

Jordan responded with a tidy, six-hit, seven-strikeout performance as the Vikings broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning and scored three runs for a 5-2 victory.

Weber was hit by a pitch leading off the eighth, advanced on Eddie Olsen’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on reserve Hal Maler’s single

Maler had entered the game in the sixth inning after Jack Cravens was forced to retire when Cravens reinjured a groin muscle.

6/6/53

Almost 2,000 persons filled the Scripps Field stadium and the Vikings took a 2-1 lead into the seventh inning of the CIF championship game against the Compton Tarbabes.

Art Weber, making his first start in 10 days, gave up a walk and a two-run homer to Mike Yeager that gave Compton a 3-2 lead in the seventh.

The visitors (23-2) scored two more runs in the ninth to clinch the championship, 5-2.

Weber, who homered in the second inning for the 24-4 Vikings, went the distance, his arm aching with every pitch he attempted.

Hoover, as newspaper accounts and the school yearbook indicated, might have been an undefeated, 12-0 champion.

Published reports in The San Diego Union show that the East San Diego team played only a couple military teams in early-season March, emerging victorious in each.

Other games may not have been reported.

Schools were cutting back on travel because of World War II.

And apparently there was an outbreak of an infectious disease.

A hint was provided in the season review in the 1942 “Dias Cardinales”.

“The team returned from Easter vacation wearing smiles that proved as contagious as the measles the (early) season brought,” wrote a student on the yearbook staff.

Hale and hearty, Hoover had spent the vacation week winning the prestigious, Pomona 20-30 Rotary Club championship, an event usually owned by San Diego High, which had won six titles in the 10 previous tournaments along with 14 Southern California titles.

Roy Engle, the hero of Hoover’s first win over San Diego in 1935 (search “1935: Redbirds and Rioting”) had played for USC in the 1940 Rose Bowl, and joined the school faculty and served as an assistant football coach in 1941.

Engle’s tenure as baseball coach was similar to that of John Brose’s first season at San Diego.  Hoover’s John Perry and San Diego’s Mike Morrow both anticipated calls to active military duty and had stepped back.

The 24-year-old Engle, a favorite of school principal Floyd Johnson, would eventually return to Hoover as head football coach and had a long career (1955-77) in that position.

San Diego High, under coach Ed Ruffa, was the dominant track-and-field squad and won the Southern Section team championship in a tight competition with Glendale.

Special thanks to Southern Section historian John Dahlem for contributions to this narrative.

Some season highlights, with track and field in italics.

3/3/42

Don Le Grande and Lou Ortiz each hit home runs and Le Grande and Bob O’Dell had three hits apiece as San Diego opened the season with a 6-2 win over the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on the Base diamond.

3/5/42

Oceanside officials notified Point Loma that the Pirates were canceling a track meet scheduled tomorrow. 

The Pirates also announced that because of transportation difficulties the school would not compete in track or baseball this season, although they participated in some later events.

3/6/42

Bob O’Dell’s two-run home run in the seventh inning broke a 3-3 tie and Bob Usher’s four hit pitching provided San Diego with a 5-3 victory at Long Beach Wilson.

Grossmont won the 880-yard relay to defeat Sweetwater, 54 ½-49 ½, in a Metropolitan League dual meet opener and Escondido topped La Jolla, 68-36.

3/9/42

Hoover pounded Fort Rosecrans pitching for 18 hits and won, 18-6, at Hoover.

3/11/42

The Cardinals made it two in a row over the Fort Rosecrans army squad, 4-1, at Navy Field as Bob Stevenson allowed four hits.

3/14/42

Trailing, 5-1, in Balboa Stadium, San Diego scored 4 runs to tie in the ninth inning and another in the 10th to defeat Long Beach Wilson, 5-4.

Bob O’Dell singled, Bob Usher doubled, and O’Dell scored on Don Le Grande’s infield hit.

–La Jolla’s Bill Cook, in a decathlete-like performance, won the high jump (5 feet, 8 inches), 70-yard high hurdles (:10.3), and tied for first in the pole vault (10-0), but Sweetwater won the dual meet, 68-34.

–Fred Gallup was the 100-yard dash (:10.3) and 220 (:23.8) winner, and won the broad jump (19-10) as Escondido nipped Coronado, 57-47.

3/21/42

San Diego topped Redondo Beach Redondo Union, 11-1, in Balboa Stadium after a March 14 game at Redondo was canceled.

The Hillers, leading, 3-1, broke open the contest with a six-run sixth inning for their third straight win over a Northern opponent.

3/21/42

San Diego defended its Southern Counties’ Invitational championship with 27 2/3 points.  Glenn Willis and Don Smalley finished 1-2 in the dashes and led the winning relay squad.

Ed Pohl won the 220-yard low hurdles in :24.3 and George Schutte was fourth in the shot put at 47 feet, 11 inches.

3/25/42

Hoover, Point Loma, Escondido, and defending champion San Diego entered the 10^th annual Pomona 20-30 Club tournament scheduled to begin March 30.

3/28/42

San Diego won a triangular meet in Balboa Stadium, outscoring Pasadena and Hoover, 70-26-25, respectively.

Ed Pohl set school records of :09.3 in the 70-yard high hurdles and :13.1 in the 120 lows and Glenn Willis tied Jimmy Willson’s 1929 record of :09.8 in the 100.

Willis also won the 220 (:22.3) and anchored the winning 880-yard relay team (1:30.4).

Dual met scoring had the Hillers over the Bullpups, 71-33 and 78-26 over Hoover.

–Point Loma runners set two school records in the Pointers’ 61 ½-41 ½ win over Coronado. Evan Stover ran the 440 in :53 and Finster took the 120-yard low hurdles in :13.8.

3/30/42

San Diego forfeited to El Monte and was out of the Pomona tournament because the Hillers did not arrive in time for the game.

Hoover won two games, 7-1 over Pasadena and 4-2 over Redondo Beach Redondo Union.

Escondido defeated Fullerton, 4-2, but lost to San Bernardino, 8-6.

Point Loma advanced in the consolation bracket, 7-1, over Long Beach St. Anthony after bowing to Los Angeles Cathedral, 5-3.

3/31/42

Hoover raced into the Pomona finals with victories over Redlands, 3-1, in the morning quarterfinals and 22-5 over Burbank in the afternoon semifinals.

Point Loma dropped a 3-0 decision to Pomona and was eliminated from the consolation bracket.

4/1/42

Hoover unleashed a 19-hit attack and routed San Bernardino, 16-3, for championship of the 10^th annual event.

Pitcher Bob Stevenson did not allow a run until the Cardinals had built a 15-0 lead through seven innings.

Bob Haddock and Olney Patterson each had four hits and Skippy Long added a pair of two-base hits.

Cardinals coach Roy Engle was a catcher on the 1936 Hoover team that, along with future Hall of Famer Ted Williams, won the consolation championship.

4/10/42

Rain interrupted a Hoover trip to Long Beach Poly and San Diego and guest Pasadena could get through only three innings.  The Cavers led, 3-0.

Grossmont, hosting on a crushed gravel track, defeated La Jolla, 63 ½-33 ½, in a Metropolitan League dual, with the relay called off because of the weather.

4/17/42

Evan Stover won the 440 in :52.3 and added a leg in the 880-yard relay, in which his team set a school record of 1:35.8, as Point Loma scored a 63-41 win over Sweetwater.

La Jolla defeated a squad from the 184^th Infantry, 60-44.

The soldiers had been deployed to Del Mar, San Diego and Lindbergh Field for defense of a possible Japanese attack but would move within days to Fort Lewis, Washington.

4/17/42

Hoover, the “Yankees of the West” in California prep circles, as so described by The San Diego Union, knocked out 17 hits and topped San Diego, 9-1, in the first game of what was called the city diamond championship.

Two singles, a walk and doubles by battery mates Bob Stevenson and Ray Boone staked the Cardinals to a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

Stevenson, who scattered eight hits, homered and the Cardinals piled up four more runs before Skippy Long tripled to score Olney Patterson in the eighth inning.

The series would resume in one week at San Diego.

Strong wind helped propel Hoover’s Jim Lakin to a :22.4 220 and Williams of Brawley to a :09.9 100 in Hoover’s triangular meet victory in El Centro.

The Cardinals outscored El Centro Central and Brawley, with 64 ½ points to the host’s 40 /1/2 and the Wildcats’ 23 ½.

San Dieguito won the Southern Prep League team title at Fallbrook with 68 points.  Vista had 63, Fallbrook 26, and Army-Navy and Ramona, 6 ½ each.

4/23/42

Glenn Willis won his customary three events and took part in another win as San Diego won a triangular track meet at Long Beach Poly.

The Cavers scored 66 points to Long Beach’s 46 2/5 and Hoover’s 18 3/5.

Broken down into dual meets, the Hillers defeated Poly, 68-46, and Hoover, 72-30.

Willis’s wins were :09.9 in the 100-yard dash, :23.0 in the 220, 21 feet, 11 inches, in the broad jump, and the 880-yard relay, which the Hillers were first in 1:32.5.

Ed Emerson added to the San Diego total with a 4:45 mile.

4/24/42

Hoover won the city diamond series, 4-3. when Gene Gesler came on in relief of Hoover starter Bob Stevenson and handcuffed San Diego, allowing one run and two hits in the final six innings.

San Diego outhit the Cardinals, 10-8, and led, 2-1, into the seventh inning.

The Hillers’ Don Le Grande, with four hits in four times at bat, had given his team the lead with a second-inning home run.

Hoover put together two walks, two hits, and a San Diego error to score three runs in the seventh.

5/1/42

Bill Bailey was moving to San Diego High to become head football coach but not before his Point Loma squad claimed the Metropolitan League championship.

The Pointers’ 18-hit attack overwhelmed Grossmont, 15-5.  Eddie Correia homered and Edgar Woods had three hits.

Escondido’s 6-3 win over La Jolla clinched second place for the Cougars.

San Diego wrapped an 8-0 dual meet season with a 69 1/2-34 ½ victory at Hoover.

Glenn Willis ran the 100 in :09.9, 220 in :22.5, won the broad jump at 21 feet, and participated in the relay team’s 1:32.8 win.

5/2/42

Evan Stover set a school and Metropolitan League meet record of :51 in the 440 and ran a leg on the winning (1:35.2) relay as Point Loma scored 43 1/3 points to win the team championship in Balboa Stadium.

Stover’s mark bettered the :51.9 by Coronado’s Colin Guillmette in 1941.  Guillmette dropped down to Class B for this meet and set a 660-yard run record of 1:27.

San Diego State’s track, usually the site, was unavailable.  The host Aztecs had a track meet with Santa Barbara State.

Sweetwater was second with 24 1/6, followed by La Jolla, 18 1/6, Coronado, 17, Grossmont, 13 1/3. Escondido, 13, and Oceanside, 5.

5/8/42

Road team Hoover defeated Long Beach Wilson, 4-3, on relief pitcher Clark Higgins’ two-run home run in the eighth inning of the CIF semifinals playoff.

Higgins took over for starter Gus Gesler in the third inning and shut out the Bruins for the final six innings.

The Cardinals had received a bye in the first round into the round of four of the eight-team CIF postseason. Long Beach Poly defeated Santa Barbara in the other semifinal, 16-9.

5/9/42

San Diego dominated the Southern Section divisional meet in Balboa Stadium with 67 points.

Glenn Willis ran a :09.8 100, :22 flat 220, won the broad jump at 21-8, and anchored a 1:31.6 relay victory.

Evan Stover of Point Loma won the 440 in :51.3. Athletes from San Diego, Hoover, the Metropolitan League, and Imperial Valley loop took part.

5/15/42

Hoover, playing at home, scored five runs in the eighth inning, breaking a 3-3 tie and giving the Cardinals an 8-3 victory over Long Beach Poly for the CIF championship.

Roy Engle, a Hoover football and baseball star from 1933-36, coached the Cardinals to their 12^th consecutive victory.

Bob Haddock tripled and scored on an error in the first inning and pitcher Bob Stevenson added a home run in the second.

The Cardinals scored another run in the third, but Poly’s Don Richardson drove in two runs in the fifth inning and tied the game with a home run in the seventh.

Ray Boone and Don Parker each singled in two runs and Bob Haddock singled in another in Hoover’s, clinching five-run seventh.

5/16/42

The CIF team championship came down to the final event and San Diego ran its best race of the year to nose out host Glendale for the title, 25 points to 23. Glendale Hoover was third with 15 ½.

Don Smalley, Jack Cawley, Ed Pohl, and Glenn Willis teamed to win the 880-yard relay in 1:29.6 to break a tie with the Dynamiters at 20 points each. 

Smalley won the 100 in :10, with Willis second, and Willis won the 220 in :22.3, with Smalley fourth.  Ed Pohl was first in the 220-yard low hurdles in :24.6.

Point Loma’s Evan Stover was third in the 440.

ALL-CIF

Hoover’s Ray Boone and Bob Stevenson were first-team selections, with Bill (Skippy) Long and Bob Haddock on the second team. Don Le Grande and Bob Usher of San Diego made the second team and Sam Rosenthal the third.

STRIKES AND SPIKES

CIF boss Seth Van Patten, facing lack of interest and emerging war-time travel restrictions, put together an eight-team playoff, beginning with quarterfinals, that included Hoover, Long Beach Poly, Long Beach Wilson, Santa Barbara, El Monte, Redondo Beach Redondo Union, Azusa Citrus, and Pasadena…Evan Stover, third in the CIF 440, held Point Loma’s school record until Ron Steele ran :49.5 in 1960…there was no state track meet this year and would not be another until 1946… Point Loma, with 13 points, won the Southern Section Class C track championship…one month and a day after the baseball title game  Hoover coach Roy Engle and San Diego State basketball coach Morris Gross were commissioned in the naval reserve and left for Annapolis for training prior to joining the navy’s physical development program…Gross went in as a Lieutenant, Engle as an ensign… San Diego coach John Brose, 9-5 this season, held the position until Mike Morrow returned from the Navy for the 1945-46 school year…Glenn Willis scored an astounding 191 points in 14 meets the most since Fred Montpelier had a similar total in 1932…Don Smalley had 141¾ and Ed Pohl 133¼, according to Hillers statistician Kearney Johnson.…

San Diego High, under second-year baseball coach Les Cassie, enjoyed its greatest success in a sport the Cavemen had dominated almost since the CIF Southern Section was formed in 1913.

It won 35 games!

And lost only two, a stunning won-loss percentage of .946!

The historically powerful squads located on the beautiful campus at the South entrance to Balboa Park have been known by many mascot names, such as Hilltoppers, Hillers, Hillmen, Cavemen, and Cavers, but most appropriately as Winners.

They claimed the school’s 16^th and final CIF Southern Section championship this season. Those championships, from 1917-52, were as many as the combined total of the 13 other Southern California championship teams.

Cassie had been coach at San Diego Junior College when the legendary Mike Morrow, coach of 15 of those titles, retired after the 1950 season.  Cassie and Morrow swapped jobs, with Morrow moving on the SDJC.

Several games and victories were unreported in local newspapers and seven were against non-high school or military teams.

The Hillers were hardly a two man team, but Bob Borovicka’s and Bob Thorpe’s names appeared in virtually every line score or game story.

Borovicka posted a 15-1 record, 177 strikeouts in 143 innings, a 1.75  earned-run average, and hit 10 home runs and drove in 48.  Thorpe was 14-1 with 158 strikeouts in 133 innings and a 1.70 E.R,A.

The Cavers’ first six victories:

7, USS El Dorado 1.
10, Sweetwater 1.
9 USS Bradford 1.
12, USS Bradford 10.
12, Oceanside 5.
12, Sweetwater 0.

Much of the information above was from Caver Conquest, the definitive history of San Diego High athletics by Don King.

3/1/52

San Diego recorded its seventh straight nonleague victory, defeating visiting Norwalk Excelsior, 12-1, at Golden Hill playground.

Bob Borovika restricted the Pilots to five hits and struck out 13.  Bob Thorpe tripled and singled and Jim Harper singled twice.

3/4/52

San Diego visited and defeated Chula Vista, 3-2, on Rudy Venzor’s ninth-inning home run.

—Art Weber and Walter Fleak not only combined to no-hit St. Augustine, but La Jolla also crushed the Saints, 21-0.

—Hoover’s Wally Keogh and Roy Dezonia combined to no-hit Brown Military, 10-0.

3/6/52

Bob Borovicka struck out 11 and homered as San Diego topped the visiting Naval team TraPac, 6-3.

–Chula Vista profited from three hits, four errors, and five walks, and scored all its runs in the third inning of an 8-7 win over La Jolla.

3/15/52

San Diego scored 10 runs in the last two innings and beat visiting Grossmont, 20-0.

–Tom Tomaiko’s three-run home run in the first inning was enough for La Jolla to top Helix, 4-1.

3/17/52

Rain or wet grounds postponed several games, but San Diego improved to 2-0 in the CPL,  squeezing in an 8-4 victory at home over Helix behind Bob Borovicka’s pitching and 380-foot home run.

3/21/52

Mar Vista, Sweetwater, and Chula Vista, each playing three innings, defeated San Dieguito, Oceanside, and Escondido by a combined score of 13-5 in the Metropolitan League carnival.

Some 2,500 persons attended the soiree at Lane Field.  Play of the game was an inside-the-park home run by Bob Goodbody of Escondido.

—Bob Thorpe allowed two hits and struck out 15 and Rudy Venzor and Bob Borovicka hit home runs good for five runs in the Cavemen’s 11-2 rout of La Jolla.

The victory, matching teams with 2-0 records, put the Cavers into undisputed first place in the CPL.

—Kearny and Hoover kept pace, the Komets blanking Helix, 4-0, and Hoover topping Grossmont, 11-5.

3/25/52

San Diego improved to 15-0 with a 20-3 rout of Hoover.  Bob Borovicka, and Richie Johnson each hit three-run home runs and Eddie Boyle added a bases-empty home run.

—Ernie Merk’s two-run single with the bases loaded in the last of the ninth inning pulled out a 6-5 victory for upstart Helix over Grossmont.

 3/27/52

San Diego opened the second annual Lions Club tournament on its home diamond with a 7-4 win over Chula Vista.

First baseman Billy Adams and pitcher Bob Thorpe, moved to the outfield, led the Cavemen’s attack. Adams contributed a three-run triple and singled twice and Thorpe had three hits.

–Frank Powell allowed two hits, struck out 13, and pitched Hoover to a 4-0 win over Brawley at Hoover.

–Tom Tomaiko hit two home runs and La Jolla edged St. Augustine, 6-5, on the Vikings’ diamond.

3/28/52

Al Pearson outdueled Jack Osborne and El Monte defeated Kearny, 2-1, in a Lions quarterfinals game at University Heights playground.

The 5-foot, 5-inch Pearson was best known as “Albie” Pearson and for nine seasons in the major leagues and a .270 career average

–Phil Heubach singled in two runs in the top of the seventh inning in Hoover’s 3-1 win over La Jolla at San Diego High.

–Helix committed seven errors ands dropped an 8-6 decision to Fullerton at Hoover.

–The Cavemen clobbered Point Loma, 19-3, at Hoover for a 17-0 record.  Catcher Jim Harper started the onslaught with a grand slam home run in the second inning.

3/29/52

San Diego, which five days before unloaded on Hoover, 20-3, got a stronger test from the Cardinals in the Lions championship before about 200 persons at Lane Field.

San Diego won the rematch, 6-2, scoring all its runs in the third inning.  The Cavemen eliminated Fullerton, 4-2, in a morning semifinal, while Hoover was getting past El Monte, 4-3.

Hoover hit the ball hard against Bob Thorpe and Rick  Flore–centerfielder Dave Moss collected 10 fly ball putouts–but couldn’t put enough hits together.

Shorttstop Richie Johnson, who scored the Cavers’ first run, was named the tournament’s outstanding player.

4/1/52

Three City Prep League teams scored a combined 36 runs.

La Jolla won its third straight, 12-3, over Kearny as Tom Tomaiko homered and doubled twice and Dick Corrick and Eddie Olsen contributed two hits, and the Vikings drove Kearny ace Jack Osborne from the mound.

—Strange line scores:

Point Loma committed six errors and mustered only five hits but beat Grossmont, 13-7.  Grossmont had eight hits and  five errors.

—Hoover’s Boice Brooks set Helix down on two hits and doubled in a run in the Cardinals’ 11-1 triumph.

—Fred Armer was 3 for 4 and drove in three runs with a third-inning home run and Chula Vista was a rude host to Escondido 7-1, in the Metropolitan League’s feature game.

4/2/52

The Metropolitan loop stuck it to city foes when Chula Vista beat Hoover, 4-1, behind Bob West’s two-run double and Sweetwater outlasted St. Augustine, 8-6.

4/3/52

Rain, which fell more than 18 inches in the 1951-52 calendar year, took a holiday, but unseasonable fog made a surreal afternoon presence in Encinitas, where Chula Vista moved into first place in the Metropolitan League with a 7-4 victory over San Dieguito in a game that was called after six innings.

Chula Vista’s Al Aleman maneuvered through the shroud and found third base with a third-inning, three-run triple,  key hit in the game.

—The winning Spartans (3-0) got a boost when Greasy Bob Ganger’s Mar Vista Mariners surprised unbeaten Sweetwater, 3-2

—Oceanside, up the road a few miles, escaped the fog when it went inland to Escondido and took an 8-3 loss.

Escondido first baseman Stan Nichols went 4 for 4 and Cougars pitcher Ray Garcia scattered four hits.

4/4/52

San Diego High, 19-0 and cruising, visited the Linda  Vista-residing Kearny Komets and were surprised, 6-2, as Jack Osborne held the Cavemen to four hits.

“Big” Osborne, as described by writer Gene Earl, struck out 10, tripled twice and singled, pinning Bob Borovicka with his first loss of the season.

Borovicka homered but so did Danny Baker and Dick Bates for the Komets, who also were backed by strong defensive play from Ollie Harris and Joe McNamara.

The Cavers dropped to 5-1 in the CPL. Kearny improved to 2-1.

—After a one-year hiatus, CPL schools were back in the Pomona 20-30 Club tournament, which began in 1933 and which San Diego High had won seven times.

San Diego, Kearny, Grossmont, La Jolla, and Point Loma represented the “Border Town”, an unflattering cognomen often used by sportswriters north of the County line.

Chula Vista and Escondido of the Metropolitan League also were in the 32-team field.

4/7/52

San Diego teams were 4-3 in the first round of the Pomona tournament. Games were official after five innings.

John Harper doubled in two runs in a five-run first inning as San Diego knocked defending champion Santa Ana into the consolation bracket, 5-2.

La Jolla defeated Blythe Palo Verde Valley, 7-4.  Kearny, boosted by a Dick Bates home run, topped Lynwood, 6-3.  Grossmont erupted for six runs in the second inning and outscored Bonita, 10-7.

Downey muzzled Chula Vista.  Santa Barbara beat Point Loma, and Pomona topped Escondido, 7-3.

4/8/52

An odd and infuriating moment in the seventh inning that had Kearny coach Jim Bass talking to himself or anyone who would listen led to Kearny’s 4-1 loss in 11 innings to Norwalk Excelsior.

As the home team, a Kearny score would have won the game.

Tied, 1-1, the Komets’ Chuck Taylor slugged a drive that went over the centerfielder’s head, but a young fan suddenly ran on the field and pocketed the ball.

Officials ruled Taylor’s drive a triple and sent the Komets’ player back to third base, where Taylor died as an outfield fly  ended the inning.

—Bob Borovicka struck out 11 batters in and drove in the tie-breaking run in San Diego’s 4-1 win over South Pasadena.

—Gene Rosen of Fullerton pitched a no-hitter and eliminated La Jolla, 2-1.  Newport Beach Newport Harbor defeated Grossmont, 5-2.

—Point Loma and Escondido moved in the consolation bracket, the Pointers beating Chula Vista, 7-4, and Escondido sending Covina home, 2-1.

4/9/52

San Diego won a doubleheader in the quarter and semifinals, 10-0 over Fullerton and 5-2 over Azusa Citrus to gain the championship round against Ontario Chaffey.

Bob Thorpe won the morning game with a no-hit pitching performance and added a triple and two-run single.

Bob Borovicka beat Citrus, allowing two hits and striking out seven.

—Darkness called the Point Loma-Bonita consolation contest after 12 innings and a 3-3 tie.  The game was to resume the next day in sudden death.

–Anaheim removed Escondido, 10-4 in the consolation quarterfinals. Point Loma advanced to the consolation semifinals with a 4-1 win over Antelope Valley.

4/10/52

Heavy rain washed out play and the three San Diego teams remaining would have to wait until April 12 as tournament officials decided not to play on April 11 Good Friday.

4/12/52

Bob Thorpe struck out 15 Ontario Chaffey batters and scattered five hits over nine innings as San Diego defeated the Tigers, 10-1, for its eighth championship in the 17 years in which the event was played and the final years the Cavers participated.

Thorpe would have had a shutout, but leading, 8-0, the Cavers opted for a double play, allowing a Chaffey runner to score from third base.

Jim Harper hit a three-run home run that followed a walk to Eddie Boyle and single by Rudy Venzor.

—Point Loma made it a clean sweep for San Diego by beating Santa Ana, 11-1,  for the consolation championship after defeating Bonita, 14-4, in a morning contest.

 

4/15/52

San Diego’s Bob Thorpe singled twice and doubled and one-hit Hoover, 4-1, allowing only pitcher Bob Schaubel’s first-inning single.

—Tom Tomaiko stole home in the 12^th inning with what proved to be the winning run in La Jolla’s 7-5 win at Point Loma.

—Helix erupted against big brother Grossmont, 15-1, as former Foothiller Noel Mickelsen allowed three hits.

—Chula Vista mustered only three hits but six Sweetwater errors propelled the Spartans to a 5-2 Metropolitan League win.

—Erwin Hedstrom had three hits, including a triple and home run, and Jim Oxley homered and drove in four runs in Oceanside’s 13-2 win over San Dieguito.

—Escondido got up early and made a 40-mile jog to Imperial Beach for a morning game and 6-4 loss to Mar vista.

4/17/52

Point Loma’s Bitty Martin lost a 1-0 duel at San Diego when he wild-pitched in the game’s only run in the eighth inning.

San Diego’s Bob Borovicka stopped the Pointers on two hits and collected the Cavers’ only two hits.

San Diego stayed one game in front of the CPL pack after Kearny, an earlier winner over the Cavemen, dropped  a 6-4 decision to visiting Hoover.

4/22/52

La Jolla, 0-2 at the start of the CPL season, won its seventh straight, 14-2, at Helix and moved to within a half-game of league-leading San Diego.

Eddie Olsen, Dick Corrick, Tom Tomaiko, and Bernie Elms each had two hits, buttressed by Art Weber, who scattered eight hits over nine innings and homered.

—Chuck Taylor singled twice and doubled, and Jack Osborne struck out 10 and allowed five hits as Kearny won at Point Loma, 5-3.

—Hoover took batting practice, with 15 hits in a six-inning, 10-0 win over St. Augustine.

—Kenny Agular stopped Ramona on two hits and the Fallbrook enjoyed a 14-0 romp over the visiting Bulldogs.

—Chula Vista  hammered Oceanside, 12-4, as Lavon Baker homered and drove in three runs; the RBI matched by Bob Souza, who singled twice.

4/26/52

San Diego had to battle before moving past first-year Helix, 6-5, on the Highlanders’ diamond.

Dave Moss singed twice and knocked in two runs and Bob Thorpe got the nod over Noel Mickelsen.

4/30/52

La Jolla won its sixth straight and moved to 8-2 in the City Prep League as Art Weber outpitched Bob Thorpe and the Vikings crept to within a half game of the Hillers (9-2) with a 2-0 victory at La Jolla.

Eddie Olsen’s single and a San Diego error resulted in runs in the sixth and eighth innings against the Cavers’ Bob Thorpe, who allowed only two hits.  Art Weber went the distance for the Vikings, giving up four hits.

5/3/52

Kearny (6-3) clung to championship hopes in the CPL with a 10-3 victory over La Jolla (8-3), on the Komets’ diamond. Danny Baker and Chuck Taylor each hit two-run home runs. San Diego (9-2) was idle.

5/5/52

San Diego (10-2) finally clinched the CPL title with a ninth-inning, come-from-behind, 7-6 win over Kearny (6-4).  La Jolla (9-3) clinched second place, 9-8 over Hoover.

Kearny scored two runs in the top of the ninth at San Diego to take a 5-3 lead.

Scott Armitage singled in Rudy Venzor with the winning run in the Cavers’ rally, which started with a home run over the centerfield fence by Bob Borovicka, leading off  the bottom half of the inning.

Bob Thorpe’s double and singles by Venzor and Eddie Boyle preceded Armitage’s clutch safety.

Kearny still had two games to play and won out to finish 8-4, followed by Hoover (6-6), Helix and Point Loma each 4-8, and Grossmont (1-11).

MIGHTY FALL

Grossmont, which lost several future stars, including pitcher Noel Mickelsen and catcher Ernie Merk, as enrollment boundaries favored Helix when the La Mesa school opened in September.

How significant were those player losses? Grossmont had won the CIF major championship in 1951.

5/14/52

The four-way tie for first place in the Metropolitan League necessitated two rounds of postseason games to determine the league’s representative in the CIF Minor Division playoffs.

Oceanside defeated Chula Vista, 6-5, on only four hits but aided by seven Chula Vista errors. Sweetwater collected 14 hits and eliminated Mar Vista, 8-5.

5/15/52

Sweetwater won the Metro playoffs, 11-3 over Oceanside at Vista. Officially there were four co-champions.

Warming up before the CIF Southern Section playoffs, San Diego walloped Miramar Naval Station, 22-2, as Bob Borovicka struck out 16 batters and had six hits in seven times at bat.

Borovicka’s day included the cycle and half of another:  two singles, two doubles, a triple, and home run.

5/22/52

San Diego took a 10-0 lead in the first four innings and beat Fullerton for the third time, 13-3, in the playoff quarterfinals.

Bob Borovicka contributed his usual three hits, two triples and a single, and Bob Thorpe scattered six hits over nine innings and struck out 11.

5/23/52

The Hillers defeated 22-2 Ontario Chaffey, their semifinals opponent, 3-2, for the second time when Tigers pitcher Arlen Downs walked San Diego’s Dave Moss with the bases loaded in the eleventh inning.

Pitcher Bob Borovicka, who scored the winning run, scattered 10 hits and shut out the Tigers the final six innings before a crowd of 300 at Lane Field.

5/25/52

Sweetwater took a 3-2 lead into the ninth inning but Thermal Coachella rallied for three runs and a 5-3 victory.  Don Bailey had three hits for the Red Devils.

5/31/52

Eddie Boyle’s two-run home run in the seventh inning broke open a tight game and gave San Diego a 6-3 lead in the championship at Santa Barbara.

Rudy Venzor and Scott Armitage each had three hits in a 17-hit attack and the Cavers pulled away to a 10-3 victory.

Bob Thorpe went the distance for the victory.

 

The typically good baseball played in the area was augmented by another stable of outstanding players.

Pro teams signed dozens  and several made it to the big leagues:

Dave Duncan and Eddie Herrmann were the first two of the eventual five catchers from Crawford to reach the top.  Others included Lincoln’s Lou Marone. St. Augustine’s Bob Spence, Madison’s Al Fitzmorris, Clairemont’s Kenny Henderson, Hoover’s Frank Jerry DaVanon and  Helix’ Ron Slocum.

A few would be back for the 1964 season, including Crawford sophomore third baseman  Bob Boone, who became a catcher in 1971, played, managed, administered, and was working well into the first quarter of the 21st century.

San Diego’s Bob Cluck reached the AAA level and then retired to go into scouting and was a pitching coach for 10 years in the majors.

Despite all of that city talent, Helix and El Capitan met in the playoff finals, below.

ALMOST HISTORY MAKING

San Diego High took little solace when it was pointed out that the Cavemen’s 23-4 shellacking  by Hoover was not the most one-sided ever sustained by the legendary program.

But almost.

According to Don King’s Caver Conquest, the athletic history of the school, there was one defeat even more stunning.  Santa Ana High, the Cavers’ oldest rival, won the final game of the year on May 6, 1905, 21-1.

The Hilltoppers, as they were known, were coached by Lawrence Carr, Sr.

Fast forward 58 years for a remarkable coincidence.  Carr’s son, Lawrence Carr,  Jr., was in his ninth year as principal at San Diego High.

2/27/63

Morse’s first game ever was a 6-4 victory at Mar Vista, the Tigers scoring two runs in the top of the seventh inning.

Jim Woodard and Bart Miller combined to pitch a two-hitter and Chula Vista blanked visiting Monte Vista, 2-0.

2/28/63

Freshman Steve Christopher of St. Augustine hurled a one-hit, 1-0 triumph over Helix at Golden Hill Playground and scored the winning run in the sixth inning on a single by Don Carlos Stafford.

Two Clairemont runners stole home in the seventh inning, forcing extra innings, and the Chieftains scored two more in the ninth to win at Oceanside, 4-2.

3/2/63

Inglewood Morningside was the visitor when Crawford’s Dave Duncan singled home Eddie Herrmann in the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory.

Grossmont’s Bob Wilson hit two home runs, but those were all the hits allowed by La Jolla’s John Fink, aided by John Jenkins’ home run in a nine-inning, 3-2 win.

Al Fitzmorris allowed three hits and Madison blanked Morse, 1-0, in a battle of first-year schools.

3/6/63

Dave Duncan launched a 370-foot home run that cleared a 30-foot-high fence in left field at El Capitan and Crawford won, 6-1, in a rematch of the 1962 championship game.

Another Dave Duncan singled in El Capitan’s only run in the fifth inning.

Four Kearny pitchers held Hoover to five hits in the Komets’ 5-0 win.

3/7/63

Daro Quiring struck out 19 batters and his single scored the winning run in Poway’s 2-1 win over El Cajon Valley.

3/8/63

San Diego’s Bob Cluck outdueled Lincoln’s Lou Marone, 5-4.

The Cavers led, 5-1, in the sixth inning before the Hornets scored three runs, two on Bob Rands’ triple, but Cluck then struck out the side and did the same thing in the seventh.

Herb Palmtag’s, eighth-inning, two-run home run, a 360-foot drive which landed in some eucalyptus trees in right field, broke up a pitching duel between the Pointers’ Russ (Hush) Puppe and host Kearny’s John Fletcher.

Palmtag’s shot was the difference as the Pointers won the Western League opener, 3-1.

3/9/63

Home runs by Bill (Sledge) Homik and Frank Jerry DaVanon knocked in three runs each and Hoover beat St. Augustine, 8-4, in an Eastern League opening game.

“Balls were bouncing all over the football seats at the Hoover stadium, whose ‘Pony League-sized’ baseball field is 200 feet down the right field line and stretches to 380 in center,” wrote Larry Littlefield of The San Diego Union.

The Saints’ Paul Toumainen also homered and the Saints’ Bob Spence hit three ground-rule doubles.

Clairemont’s Jim Estes came within one out of a no-hitter, spoiled by Mike Chase’s single in Vista’s 7-0 loss. Crawford blanked Morse, 9-0, as Ron Dargo hurled a one-hitter.

Jim Woodard’s pitched a two-hitter as Chula Vista edged Coronado, 1-0.

Don Parish and Joe Stetser, who reported late after the basketball playoffs, combined to stop Helix on four hits in Hilltop’s 1-0 win.

Mount Miguel’s Jim Canaris pitched a two-hit, 5-0 shutout against Sweetwater.

3/13/63

Daro Quiring allowed one hit and Poway edged University, 1-0, in a Palomar League opener.

Dave Duncan’s three-run home run gave El Capitan a cushion in a 5-3 win over Granite Hills in a Grossmont League so-called “lid-lifter.”

Lincoln’s John Carroll stopped La Jolla on two hits, 3-0.

3/14/63

Madison, with many students and players who originally attended Clairemont, defeated the big brother Chieftains, 2-0, behind Al Fitzmorris’ two-hit pitching.

Lincoln’s Bob Rands hit a home run and, with help from reliefer Lou Marone, was the winning pitcher, 5-4 over Sweetwater.

3/16/63

Hilltop patiently took the generous offerings of visiting Escondido pitchers, coaxing 14 bases on balls and serving notice with a Metropolitan League-opening, 12-2 win.

The Lancers also profited from a seven-run third inning, highlighted by Dave Braswell’s grand-slam home run.

University’s Dave Timms pitched the season’s first no-hitter and struck out 13, including the last six, in blanking San Dieguito, 2-0.

Richard Romero hit a pair of home runs as Clairemont topped Point Loma, 4-2.

3/20/63

Four games, including three in the Eastern League, required extra innings and nine of 18 were decided by one run.

Hoover beat San Diego, 5-3, in 10 innings and took the Eastern League lead with a 3-0 record.  St. Augustine beat Morse, 4-1, in 10 innings on Bob Ahearn’s three-run home run and Crawford edged Lincoln, 2-1, in eight.

3/23/62

Clairemont’s Jim Estes retired 17 batters in a row during a one-hit, 6-0 victory over Kearny. The gem was Estes’ second of the season.

Point Loma scored two runs in the 10^th inning without a base hit and topped Mission Bay, 4-2.

Bill (Sledge) Homik, John Petersen, and Frank Jerry DaVanon each homered as Hoover stayed in front in the Eastern League, 5-0 over Morse.

Dave Braswell’s two home runs produced all of Hilltop’s runs in a 5-1 win at Mar Vista.

3/27/63

Hoover (5-0) beat visiting Crawford, 8-3, to take a two-game lead over the Colts (3-2) and San Diego (3-2) in the Eastern League.

John Peterson and Lloyd Jacobsen each homered for the Cardinals, while James Murphy and Loren Dantzler went deep for San Diego as the Cavers beat St. Augustine, 9-2, behind Bob Cluck’s five-hit pitching.

No-hitters were posted by sophomore Paul Gerard of Marian and Henry Hyde of Rancho del Campo.

Gerard struck out 12 in a 12-0 win over San Diego Military and Hyde struck out 15 Julian batters in an 8-0 victory.

Bruce Bovee and Jeff Moler hit home runs and Bovee pitched Clairemont to a 7-1 victory over La Jolla.

Bob Simmons’ two-out single in the 10^th inning was the difference in a 2-1 pitching duel between Helix’ Simmons and Grossmont’s Bernie Linn.

3/30/63

Mike Oddy’s five-hit pitching and Dan Hauser’s run-scoring single in the seventh inning gave Oceanside a 1-0 victory over University in a battle of Avocado League leaders.

Runs, hits and errors for Marian, 26-19-5. For San Miguel School, 4-3-19.

Doug Kennedy’s seventh-inning home run pushed San Diego past Lincoln, 8-7.  Lou Marone went the distance for the Hornets and homered.

Paul Toumainen allowed one hit and St. Augustine tightened the Eastern League race, 3-0 over front-running Hoover.

Mission Bay’s Lynn Sparks struck out 16 La Jolla batters in the Buccaneers’ 1-0 victory.

4/3/63

Jerry Montiel pitched Escondido past Hilltop and into first place in the Metropolitan League, 4-3.

Hoover lost its second straight Eastern League game, 8-5, to Lincoln, which scored all its runs in the last two innings.

The Cardinals stayed ahead in the Eastern because Crawford fell to the one-hit pitching of Bob Ahearn and a 6-1 defeat to St. Augustine and San Diego was upset by last place and winless Morse, 7-6.

Bobby Falar homered and Point Loma beat Western League-leading Clairemont, 6-1, knocking the Chieftains into a first-place tie with Kearny, which rode Al Shufeldt’s three-run home run in the first inning to a 4-3 victory over La Jolla.

WHO’S ON FIRST?

Reports that Mount Miguel had been invited to a tournament in Hawaii were denied/confirmed by several parties.

San Diego Section honcho Don Clarkson said he received a telegram from island coordinators saying they had heard nothing of a tournament or the proposed trip by Mount Miguel.

“The thing is dead,” said Clarkson, who pointed out that the Matadors likely wouldn’t have received permission from the CIF for the trip and also were scheduled to play in the upcoming Lions tournament.

Melvin Grant, principal of the school near Lemon Grove, said that the “Air Force”, had agreed to fly the team.

“We haven’t heard from them,” added Grant of the military institution.

4/6/63

Faced with the prospect of having to share the Eastern League lead with San Diego, Hoover erupted for 21 hits and routed the Cavers, 23-4, in a game called after five innings by darkness.

Every Cardinals player hit safely.  Ten players drew bases on balls and the Cavers committed five errors.

The Cardinals stood atop the East with a 6-2 record.  San Diego fell to 4-4.

St. Augustine improved to 5-3 with a 3-0 win over Morse, behind Paul Toumainen’s three-hitter and a home run, double, and single, in three times at bat by Bob Spence.

Lincoln got a three-run homer in the seventh inning from Carl Sandstrom and evened its record at 4-4 with a 5-4 win over Crawford, the defending San Diego Section champion, which fell to 4-4.

Pickford of Army-Navy no-hit Fallbrook, 2-1, and Lee of San Miguel one-hit La Jolla Country Day, 3-2.

Chula Vista’s Bart Miller allowed a hit with two out in the seventh inning in a 2-0 win over Helix.  Zinniger of San Dieguito pitched a one-hit, 7-0 triumph over Avocado League-leading Oceanside.

LIONS TOURNAMENT

4/9/63

Freshman Bernard Linn struck out 24 batters and gave up one hit in 10 innings, but Point Loma, seeking its third consecutive championship, won in 12 innings, 1-0, on an error, two walks and a hit batsman in first-round play in the 13^th annual event.

Dale Twombley’s grand-slam home run was one of nine consecutive hits by Hoover in a 10-run fifth inning and 18-5 win over Mission Bay.

Rich Papike’s home run augmented the one-hit pitching of Rick McGriffin, who struck out 11 in Monte Vista’s 4-0 win over Vista.

San Diego eliminated Point Loma in the quarterfinals, 8-1.

Lincoln’s Lou Marone outdueled Hoover’s Lloyd Hutchinson, 1-0, and the Hornets topped San Diego, 7-3, later in the day to gain the Unlimited Division championship game against Kearny, which beat Crawford, 4-1, and El Capitan, 5-4.

Monte Vista, which brought a 2-9 record into the tournament, stopped Poway, 10-3, and Madison, 10-5, to reach the Limited Division final against University, 8-1 winner over Morse and 5-1 over La Jolla.

4/11/63

Unseeded Lincoln, in its first Lions final, and Kearny, a finalist in 1951 and 1954, met on the tournament’s long-standing site, Navy Field.

The Hornets (12-5) outslugged the Komets, 10-7, and Monte Vista beat University, 7-4.

Lincoln’s John Carroll, who relieved Lou Marone, restricted the Komets to one run over the last four innings.  Carroll won his third tournament game and was named the event’s outstanding player.

After tying the score in the fourth, Lincoln added four more runs in the fifth on an error, walk, double by Marone (now playing first base) and single by Tommy Osaki.

MAJORING IN MAJORS

Lefthander Jon Majors worked five innings in relief to assure the Limited Division title in Majors’ third successful appearance in three days for the Monarchs.

Monte Vista (6-9) was tied for last place in the Grossmont League entering the tournament.

Escondido and El Cajon Valley won consolation championships in the Unlimited and Limited, respectively.

4/17/63

University’s Dave Timms hurled his second no-hitter in a 10-0 victory over Vista.  Timms struck out five, walked one, and allowed one other Panther reached base on an error.

Point Loma’s Russ (Hush) Puppe pitched a no-hitter in a 3-0 win over Mission Bay.

Clairemont’s Jim Estes hurled his second shutout against Kearny, 4-0, limiting the Komets to three hits, as the Chieftains broke a first-place tie with Kearny in the Western League.

Hoover stayed two games ahead in the East with a 5-1 win over Morse and San Diego forged a three-way tie for second with Lincoln and St. Augustine.

The Cavers’ Bobby Alexander collected two doubles and a single in a 10-2 win over Crawford and Lincoln’s Lou Marone struck out 11 and outdueled the Saints’ Bob Ahearn, 2-1.

4/20/63

Ken Walling of El Capitan struck out eight and did not allow a ball out of the infield as the Vaqueros turned Walling’s perfect game into a 4-0 victory over Granite Hills.

Walling was aided by strong support.  Third baseman Jeff Serrano handled seven chances without an error.

Walling improved to 7-2 and El Capitan to 11-5, moving the Vaqueros into a tie with Helix for first place in the Grossmont.

Helix did not lose but its game with Monte Vista was suspended by darkness after 11 innings and a 1-1 tie, denying a brilliant performance by the Monarchs’ Jon Majors.

Majors, who struck out 17, did not allow a hit for 9 2/3 innings and staked himself to a 1-0 lead in the top of the 10th with a run-scoring single, but Helix’ Ron Slocum’s single in the bottom of the 10^th tied the score.

Bob Cluck allowed three hits and stopped St. Augustine, 3-0, leaving Lincoln tied for second place in the Eastern with San Diego, each 6-4, behind Hoover’s 8-2.

4/24/63

San Diego ended Lincoln’s eight-game win streak, 4-3, as Bob Cluck scattered five hits to put the Cavers one game behind Hoover, 6-5 loser to St. Augustine.

4/27/63

Rain intruded to sideline several teams, including Helix, but El Capitan played on, with a six-run rally in the eighth inning and 7-1 win over Monte Vista and took a half-game lead in the Grossmont circuit.

Bob Cluck, with an assist from Tony Pisciotta in the seventh inning, pitched surging San Diego past Morse, 6-0, moving the Cavers into second place in the Eastern.

5/1/63

Loren Dantzler deprived Pat Harrison of a potential, grand slam home run in the last of the seventh inning and San Diego earned a tie for first place.

The San Diego outfielder raced to his right and snared Harrison’s drive and then tumbled over the line of high hurdles which serve as Hoover’s leftfield fence.

Dantzler’s catch saved the Cavers’ 5-2 win and left hander Bob Cluck, who struggled in the final inning after holding the Cardinals to two scratch hits in the first six innings.

The visiting Cavers moved into a tie with Hoover in a game that took two-and-a-half hours and included 14, count ‘em, 14, rhubarbs between rival coaches Jerry Dahms and Jerry Bartow and the umpires.

Lincoln had 24 of the game’s 38 hits and beat Crawford, 17-10, behind home runs by Bob Rands, John Carroll, and Lou Marone, who each also pitched.

Ken Walling completed his week with 20 1/3 innings pitched and one run allowed.  The El Capitan ace earned a 4-0 victory over Helix to maintain first place in the foothill loop and raised his record to 10-2.

5/4/63

Bob Cluck and Phil Warren pitched San Diego to an 8-6 win over Crawford, whose battery included future major league stars sophomore Bob Boone and Dave Duncan. Cavers Froebel Brigham and Rob Ortman had five hits and five runs batted in between them.

5/8/63

Poway defeated Ramona, 4-0, as Daro Quiring hurled a no-hitter.

El Capitan wrapped the Grossmont League championship, 7-3, over El Cajon Valley, and Oceanside claimed a tie for the Avocado loop title, 4-1, over Vista.

5/11/63

Bob Cluck’s one-hitter stopped St. Augustine, 1-0, the Cavers scoring in the sixth inning after a walk to Doug Kennedy, bunt single by Bobby Alexander, double steal, and James Murphy’s high bouncing shot to shortstop, which prevented a possible play at home plate.

Bill (Sledge) Homik socked two home runs and Jimmy Doyle hit a grand slam as Hoover beat Crawford, 12-8. Madison’s Al Fitzmorris shut out Point Loma for the second time, 2-0, as the Pointers’ Russ Puppe suffered his first league loss in two seasons.

STANDINGS AT A GLANCE

San Diego and Hoover tied for the Eastern League championship but Hoover was declared No. 1 for the purpose of postseason pairings.

Hoover and San Diego had 11-4 records.  Lincoln, 17-7 overall but 9-7 in the East, missed the playoffs. El Capitan (10-1) finished two games ahead of Helix (8-3).

Oceanside (10-3) edged University (9-3) for the Avocado League crown, Clairemont was the Western League winner at 10-5, with Point Loma 9-6.

Poway ran the table in the Palomar League with a 12-0 record that outpaced Carlsbad (8-3).  Marian also was unbeaten, winning the Southern loop at 8-0.

PLAYOFFS

2-AA

FIRST ROUND

San Diego (15-7) 0, @El Capitan 1. 

Bob Cluck (12-4), who won seven straight Eastern League games to pitch San Diego into the Eastern co-championship, matched Ken Walling (13-2) except for the third inning.

The Vaqueros scored after three bases on balls and Bob Conen slapped a single into right field for the game’s only run. Walling kept the Cavers at bay, giving up only a triple by Froebel Brigham and bunt single by Arnold Murillo.

Point Loma (12-11) 0, @Escondido 2.

Jerry Montiel’s two-hitter augmented by Dave Sirbu’s two-run triple got Escondido the nod over the Pointers’ Russ Puppe and Jay Morgner.

Chula Vista (14-9) 7, @Clairemont 8.

Mike Anderson hit two home runs, including a two-run shot in the fifth inning to bring Clairemont from behind.  Bill Peterson added a solo shot for the Chieftains.

Helix 6, @ Hoover (15-7) 0.

Bob Simmons hurled Helix’ third shutout in a row, holding the Cardinals’ lineup of six .300 batters, to three hits, and was supported by Ed Carmichael’s three-run homer in a five-run second inning.

SEMIFINALS

2-A

Escondido (17-9) 0, @Helix 1.

Dick DiMeo’s first home run of the season, a 350-foot shot and the first hit out of the Helix park all season, decided the pitching duel between Escondido’s Jerry Montiel and sophomore Dave Elstrom and Bob Simmons.

El Capitan 5, @Clairemont (15-10) 3.

Ken Walling gave up a two-run homer to Bill Casey in a three-run first inning, which was halted when Kenny Henderson was picked off second base.  Walling then rang up eight straight scoreless innings and El Capitan advanced on only three hits, aided by five Chieftain errors.

1-A

Marian (12-8) 2, @Oceanside 7.

The Pirates’ Bob Aurin pitched a five-hitter, interrupted  by Bill Youmans’ two-run home run.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Helix (15-11) 4, El Capitan (19-6) 2, @Beeson Field.

Helix, a well-beaten runner-up to El Capitan in the Grossmont League, rolled again with its ace, Bob Simmons, who stretched Highlander pitchers’ scoreless streak to 36 1/3 innings before the Vaqueros scored a pair of runs in the sixth inning.

The usually light-hitting Scots raked El Capitan ace Ken Walling, pitching his third game in a week, for 11 hits.  Helix scored three runs in the fourth inning on hits by Bob Brown, Simmons, Dave McGregor, and Ed Carmichael.

1-A

Oceanside (16-9) 0, @Poway (19-2) 3.

Daro Quiring (13-0) set down the Pirates on one hit. Poway scored all its runs in the first inning on a wild pitch and three consecutive walks, plus a base hit.

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

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

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

3/2/62

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

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

3/9/62

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

3/13/62

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

3/14/62

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

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

3/16/62

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

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

3/23/62

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

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

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

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

3/26/62

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

3/30/62

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

4/4/62

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

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

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

4/6/62

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

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

4/10/62

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

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

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

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

4/16/62

LIONS TOURNAMENT

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

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

4/17/62

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

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

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

4/18/62

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

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

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

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

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

5/1/62

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

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

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

5/4/62

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

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

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

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

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

5/8/62

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

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

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

5/10/62
PLAYOFFS

2-A

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

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

REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS

EASTERN LEAGUE

                                      LEAGUE                                                                        OVERALL                                            

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

WESTERN LEAGUE

                                      LEAGUE                                                                         OVERALL

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

GROSSMONT LEAGUE

                                       LEAGUE                                                                          OVERALL

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

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

                                             LEAGUE                                                                           OVERALL                                          

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

PALOMAR LEAGUE

                                             LEAGUE                                                                       OVERALL

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

AVOCADO LEAGUE

                                             LEAGUE                                                                      OVERALL

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

 GBL:m Games behind leader.

5/15/62

FIRST ROUND

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEMIFINALS        

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

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

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

Crawford 3, Escondido (14-10) 1. 

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

CHAMPIONSHIP

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

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

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

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

1-A

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

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

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