The Cavers were out of sorts.

San Diego High finished with an 18-8 record, its poorest since the 17-10 of 1950, and the Cavers lost four games in a row down the stretch to fall out of City Prep League and playoff contention.

According to Don King’s Caver Conquest, the athletic history of the school, the streak was the longest since the 1928  team lost six in a row.

The ’28 squad, the second of legendary coach Dewey (Mike) Morrow’s career, rebounded to post a 22-8-1 record and win the CIF Southern Section championship, 3-0, over El Monte.

The Hoover era of basketball, baseball, and track and field domination continued as the Cardinals dethroned San Diego in the City Prep League baseball race and advanced to the Southern California playoff quarterfinals.

3/2/56

After dropping its opener, 5-3 to a Sweetwater team it defeated, 30-2, in 1955, the San Diego High Cavers struck for 23 hits and beat Helix, 19-5.

Jim Gilchrist had four hits and Willie West three hits, including a home run.

3/7/56

Lefthander Allan Raitt, righthander Victor Graham, and righthander Joe Barca combined to pitch a no-hitter in La Jolla’s 8-1 win over Fallbrook.

The Warriors run came when a stratagem reversed on Vikings coach Ed Sanclemente.

Sanclemente removed Raitt and positioned Raitt at first base and had first baseman Victor Graham pitch to Jim Gooch, who walked, forcing in a run.

Graham got Pete Andrews on strikes to end the inning, with Raitt returning to pitch and Graham to first.  Barca pitched the last inning.

Larry Elliot wasn’t sure but Fulton Vickery, his Hoover coach, knew Elliot could play anywhere.3/14/56

Hoover, still waiting for basketballers Larry Elliot, Walt Baranski, and Steve Evans to get their baseball legs, was drilled by Helix, 10-2.

—Ron Palermo had three hits for the Highlanders and Duane (Rudy) Rudzinski and Ron Svalstad two each.

—John Asakawa and George Hook each hit home runs and Lincoln won at Mar Vista, 14-3.

3/16/56

Lefthander Bob Imlay gave up one hit and Point Loma silenced St. Augustine, 8-1.  Brad Griffith and Ron Miller combined on a seven-hitter and Lincoln beat Chula Vista, 7-1.

3/17/56

Plans were announced for the sixth annual Lions Club tournament, 16 teams in the Unlimited Division and 8 in Limited.

Games would be played at Kearny, Point Loma, San Diego High, Golden Hill and University Heights playgrounds, and Navy Field, on which championships would be contested.

Outsiders included Santa Monica, Inglewood Morningside, Inglewood, and Hawthorne from the Bay League in Los Angeles.

3/19/56

Clyde Crockett gave up 10 runs and 10 hits but teammate George Graham had four hits including a triple and home run and Crockett survived and won,19-10, at Vista.

3/21/56

Deron Johnson’s one-hit pitching and John Harmon’s home run and five runs batted in propelled San Diego to a 13-0 win over Chula Vista.

Johnson did not walk anyone, struck out nine, and faced 28 batters, one over the minimum for nine innings.

—Hoover broke a four-game losing streak as Larry Elliot had three hits in a 9-1 win over Sweetwater.

—Benny Corrales tripled in two runs and pitched San Dieguito past La Jolla, 9-6.

3/23/56

San Diego, leading, 13-8, scored 12 runs in the seventh inning for a 25-9 victory at Oceanside.

—Nine days after a 10-2 loss, Hoover reversed the defeat with a 4-3 win over Helix behind the pitching of Larry Elliot and Paul Richter.

—Ralph Myatt hurled a one-hitter and Kearny won at Escondido, 6-1.

3/27/56

UNLIMITED DIVISION

San Diego teams were 2-2 against teams from the Los Angeles-area Bay League on opening day of the Lions Tournament.

Inglewood’s Sentinels rode two home runs by John Horn and outlasted Sweetwater, 6-5.  A 360-foot, three-run home run by Mike Lillard was instrumental in Santa Monica’s 8-4 win over Mission Bay.

La Jolla improved to an 11-2 record with a 7-1 win over Inglewood Morningside, and Kearny topped Hawthorne, 6-3. Point Loma scored a mild upset over Helix, 3-2.

Defending champion Hoover improved to 8-5 but was extended by first-year El Cajon Valley.  The Cardinals’ Steve Evans gave up three hits and outdueled Jim Portlock, 2-0.

Phil (Moon) Rico of San Diego set down Grossmont, 9-0, on three hits.

3/28/56

Defending Unlimited Division champion Hoover was knocked out in the morning quarterfinals by Santa Monica, 4-2, but the Vikings fell in the semifinals to Kearny, which scored a run in the fifth inning and two in the sixth to win, 3-2.

—Deron Johnson outpitched Victor Graham and San Diego advanced over La Jolla, 6-4, in the morning and rubber-armed Phil Rico, on no rest, pitched another shutout, allowing three hits in a 5-0, semifinal win over Inglewood.

—Kearny’s John Nunez did not allow a hit for 4 1/3 innings and had a one-hitter into the sixth, but San Diego, behind Deron Johnson, who allowed four hits, capitalized on six Komets errors and won its fourth title in six years, 8-1.

Johnson had two of the Cavers’ four hits and was 2-0 in the tournament.  Same as Phil Rico, who was declared the event’s most-valuable player.

—Helix defeated big brother Grossmont, 4-3, for the consolation championship.

LIMITED DIVISION

Defending champion San Dieguito bombed Ramona, 15-4, in the first game of the three-round bracket. Escondido also moved on, defeating Thermal Coachella, 5-0.

—Escondido dethroned San Dieguito with a 3-2 victory the following afternoon, which followed a 2-0 win over El Centro Central in the morning semifinals.

—San Dieguito had outscored St. Augustine, 7-3, in the morning to gain a shot at another championship.

—Thermal Coachella won the consolation title, 11-0 over Oceanside.

4/2/56

City Prep and Metropolitan teams opened league play.

Catcher Duane (Rudy) Rudzinski made four putouts at home plate, stopping Sweetwater runners from scoring in Helix’ 11-inning, 4-2 victory.

—El Cajon  Valley’s Bobby Contreras, all of 130 pounds in full gear, put on the heavy tools and played catcher with starter Al Hall idled by the flu.

Contreras homered and was behind the plate 11 innings as Jim Portlock stopped Grossmont on five hits, 2-1.

—Three walks, a Kearny error, and singles by Jim Gilchrist, Deron Johnson, John Harmon, Pete Gumina, and Jerry Whitworth resulted in eight runs in the sixth inning to give San Diego a come-from-behind, 8-4 victory.

4/6/56

A first-inning single by Eddie Sada was all that Point Loma could manage as lefthander Larry Elliot struck out 12 and pitched Hoover to a 5-0 CPL victory.

—La Jolla committed seven errors for the second game in a row and San Diego took advantage and won, 7-3, behind sophomore Dick Floberg, relieved by Deron Johnson in the seventh inning.

—Bill Collins’ three-hit pitching and Bob Perrin’s three runs batted in was enough for Chula Vista to top Grossmont, 5-1.

4/10/56

La Jolla cut errors to one and Victor Graham held Hoover to three hits but the Cardinals scratched out a 1-0 victory.

Larry Elliot’s triple scored Alex Cremidan with the game’s only run in the fourth inning.

—Brad Griffith’s seven-hit pitching was enough as Lincoln defeated Kearny, 5-2.

–Mar Vista, cruising and needing only three outs, saw visiting St. Augustine erupt for eight runs in the seventh inning for a 10-8 Saints win.

4/11/56

Ernie Miller and Ron Svalstad hit back-to-back homers in the first inning, and Bob Schulz added another in the fourth, and Bill Westphal pitched a three-hitter as Helix whipped Grossmont, 10-1.

—Deron Johnson homered and struck out six and San Diego beat Mission Bay, 7-2.

4/16/56

Larry Elliot hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning and relieved Steve Evans in the seventh to close out a 3-0 Hoover victory over El Cajon Valley.

4/18/56

Sophomore Bobby Jordan’s one-hit pitching stymied Grossmont in a 6-1 Sweetwater victory and Lincoln (3-0) was knocked from the unbeaten ranks in the CPL after the battery of Victor and George Graham propelled La Jolla to a 2-1 win.

4/19/56

San Diego struck for 17 runs and 23 hits and bombed visiting Lincoln, 17-0.  St. Augustine jumped on Chula Vista, 10-0.

4/27/56

A six-run ninth inning brought El Cajon Valley a 10-9 triumph over Helix and knocked the loser out of a tie for the Metropolitan League lead with Sweetwater.

The Red Devils were idle in league play but stepped out and struggled to a 5-5, 11-inning deadlock with St, Augustine, the game called by a time limitation.

5/1/56

Bob Lasoya of Mission Bay authored the season’s first no-hitter, blanking host Lincoln, 3-0, striking out seven and allowing two runners on walks.

—Bob Imlay stifled Hoover, giving up one-hit in an 11-0      victory for Point Loma.  Another 11-0 game favored San Diego and winning pitcher Phil Rico over La Jolla.

5/4/56

Mission Bay’s Leroy Brandt outdueled Deron Johnson and the Buccaneers (3-6) defeated San Diego (7-1), 5-4 in 10 innings.

The loss ended a 14-game winning streak for the Cavers and set up a City Prep League showdown the following week with 7-1 Hoover.

—The Cardinals caught the Cavers in the standings as Steve Evans held La Jolla to two hits in a 12-0 victory.

—Grossmont’s defending champion turned spoilers and damaged visiting Sweetwater’s Metropolitan League hopes with an 8-1 victory.

The Red Devils fell a game behind league-leading Helix as the Foothillers’ Earl Carlton set down the Red Devils on six hits.

5/8/56

Hoover collected all its runs and seven hits in the final three innings to beat San Diego, 6-2.

Deron Johnson’s home run in the first inning staked Phil Rico to a 2-0 lead and Rico had a perfect game until Larry Elliot led off the fifth inning with a ground-rule double over the Cavers’ right field fence.

Elliot struck out 13 and permitted only one hit after Johnson’s home run.

—Mission Bay’s Bob Lasoya missed a second consecutive no-hitter in a 5-2 win over St. Augustine.  The Saints’ Ed Downey had a first-inning single.

—A ground ball which bounced off a third baseman’s leg and through the gate on a fence at Sweetwater helped the Red Devils beat Helix, 4-1, and tie for the Metro lead.

5/11/56

Bob Imlay pitched Point Loma into second place in the CPL, giving up four hits and shutting out San Diego, 8-0.

The Cavers were shut out for the first time at home.

Lennie Serrano homered, singled and tripled, and stole home with the final run in the seventh inning.

—Ron Palermo and Dave Olson each had three hits and Helix defeated El Cajon Valley, 7-2, and climbed back into a first-place tie with idle Sweetwater in the Metropolitan League.

5/15/56

Lefthander Larry Elliot’s no-hitter earned Hoover at least a tie for the CPL championship, 8-1, over Kearny, but that was just part of the story.

Elliott struck out the side in the first four innings and had fanned 13 in a row before the Komets’ Hugh McMillan made contact in the fifth inning.

The only other Kearny batter in the seven-inning game to hit the ball was Chuck Cartmill, who popped out in the sixth.

Elliott struck out 19 and walked 10, including four in the third inning to force in the Komets’ run.

—Bob Lasoya got the nod Point Loma’s Bob Imlay, 4-3, in 11 innings for the Bucs’ fourth CPL win in a row and fifth overall.

Fred Matteson singled home Larry Brindley for the winning run.

—San Diego continued to stumble, losing its fourth in a row at Lincoln, 6-1.  George Hook’s three-run home run in the second inning led the way for the Hornets.

—Helix outlasted last-place Grossmont, 7-6, in 10 innings to take first place in the Metro League.  Ron Palermo’s sacrifice fly scored Ernie Miller with the winning run.

—San Dieguito clinched the Avocado League championship, 9-0 over Vista and Ramona won a Southern Prep League game with visiting San Miguel School, 23-6.

5/18/56

Hoover and Helix claimed league championships, the Cardinals 7-1 over Lincoln behind Steve Evans’ two-hitter, and the Highlanders 8-4 over Chula Vista.

—Kearny prevented Point Loma from clinching second in the CPL, 2-1 in 12 innings.

John Nunez replaced Ralph Myatt in the first inning and went the rest of the way for the Komets.

—Escondido snapped San Dieguito’s eight-game winning streak in the Avocado League, 4-3.

5/19/56

Willie West slammed a bases-loaded home run in the sixth inning and San Diego ended its losing streak with a 5-4 win at Hoover.

Phil Rico, with relief from Deron Johnson in the seventh inning, got the win over the Cardinals’ Larry Elliot.

5/21/56

Sweetwater won a Metropolitan League playoff, 4-2 over Chula Vista after the teams had tied with 7-5 records and second place behind Helix’ 9-3.

—Sweetwater’s opponent in the playoffs became Point Loma, which tied at 8-4 with San Diego behind Hoover’s 10-2 in the CPL.

Hilbert Crosthwaite, Point Loma athletic director and president of the CPL, conducted a poll in which league bosses chose the Pointers over the Cavers for the postseason berth.

5/22/56

Sophomore Bobby Jordan lined a pinch hit single in the ninth inning to deprive Point Loma’s Bob Imlay of a perfect game after the lefthander set down the first 26 batters.

Imlay told Jerry Magee of The San Diego Union that the pitch Jordan hit, on a 2-2 count, was the only curve ball Imlay threw during the game.

Imlay had two hits including a single that drove in the Pointers’ first run.

Point Loma won, 2-0, to advance to the second-round against Newport Beach Newport Harbor.

—Helix beat visiting Anaheim, 6-3, to earn a second-round game against Hoover, which had a first-round bye.

—San Dieguito won a wild game at home, 8-7, against El Centro Central, which hit five home runs off Mustangs pitcher Richie Salbato, two of them when the Spartans scored three times to take a 7-4 lead in the top of the 11^th inning.

Greg Arnett’s bases-loaded single scored two runs in the bottom of the 11^th.  Chuck Salbato followed with a double to tie the score and George Seckington’s bunt scored the winning run.

Richie Salbato struck out 18 batters but was relieved by Chuck Salbato in the 11th.

5/25/56

Hoover, having to move from its home diamond to San Diego State, beat the Highlanders, 8-6.

Larry Elliot doubled in one run, Alex Cremidan two, and Lynn Rowland pinch hit a triple for 3 more in a six-run Hoover fourth inning.

Elliot walked nine batters, threw 31 pitches in one inning and 151 for eight innings before coach Fulton Vickery brought in Steve Evans after Elliot walked the first two batters in the eighth.

Elliot’s 13 strikeouts gave him 60 in the last 28 innings.   The CIF had deemed the Hoover field not suitable for a playoff game because of the short, 197-foot distance to the right field fence.

—Point Loma was informed by the CIF that its win at Sweetwater was within 15 miles of the Pointers’ campus and thus a home game when considering the site for its second-round game.

The peninsula squad hit the road north and host Newport Beach Newport Harbor claimed a 3-2 victory

—San Dieguito, on the strength of two double steals, which resulted in an eighth-inning run and the winning run in the tenth, moved on after a 5-4 victory at Tustin.

5/28/56

Host Ontario Chaffey struck for a run in the second inning and three in the third, enough for Harold (Hal) Reniff’s 18^th victory in his last 20 decisions.

Reniff, who struck out five of the six last batters he faced, stopped Hoover, 4-3.

6/1/56

Puente atoned for its loss to Grossmont in the 1955 championship with a 13-1 rout of San Dieguito in the small schools’ final at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot’s Beeson Field.

Right-hander Jerry Dawson allowed the Mustangs four hits and accounted for five runs, two on home runs from opposite sides of the plate, and another on an infield out.

Dawson’s homers each cleared the wall at the 353-foot sign in left centerfield.

 

Another outstanding San Diego High team (27-4) was unexpectedly bounced from the playoffs but Grossmont won a Southern Section championship, joining the similarly successful 1951 squad.

Only one team from each league was invited to the playoffs, so Hoover was a non-participant despite a record that was a reported 24-4.

San Diego junior Deron Johnson was Southern California player of the year.  Johnson batted .466 in 118 at-bats and compiled a 14-2 pitching record.

Johnson was the fourth Cavers player to win the honor, preceded by Floyd Robinson (1953), Andy Stagnaro (1948), and Gene Richardson (1946).

San Diego second baseman Jim Gilchrist also made the all-CIF team and pitcher Kent Haws was 4-0 in City Prep League play with an 0.21 earned-run average.

3/2/55

Chula Vista pushed over a run in the top of the ninth to edge Point Loma, 4-3. Bob Franklin relieved Raymond (Teeny) Gurule after the Pointers tied the score with three runs in the eighth.

3/4/55

Staffed with several members of the 1954 Post 492 national champion American Legion squad, Hoover still had to scrap to a 2-1 victory at Chula Vista.

Joel Mogy, with relief from Joe Cottrell in the eighth inning, out-pitched the Spartans’ Bob Franklin. Mogy and Cottrell allowed two hits.

Ron Miller, Vince Kilpela, and Brad Griffith teamed to pitch Lincoln to a no-hit, 8-0 win at Mar Vista.

3/5/55

Dick Daugherty and Tim Carroll were the Mission Bay battery in the first game of a double header at San Dieguito and Bob Lasoya and Mel Rizzo in the second game.

The Buccaneers won both ends, 4-3, and 10-6.

3/8/55

Home team Point Loma probably could live with a 12-11 loss to Escondido, but Mission Bay, a double winner three days before, couldn’t sustain, taking a 21-1 licking from Grossmont.

3/11/55

Deron Johnson and Joe Banks each drove in four runs and hit three-run homers and Johnson and Phil Rico held visiting Alhambra Mark Keppel to three hits in a 12-4 San Diego win.

3/12/55

Hoover scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to win a Saturday morning game with El Centro Central, 3-2, and blanked Alhambra Mark Keppel, 3-0, in a nine-inning afternoon contest.

Meanwhile, Ontario Chaffey topped San Diego in the morning in eight innings, 4-3, but lost to La Jolla in the p.m. nightcap, 8-2.

3/15/55

Hoover improved to 6-0 in a rematch, 14-2 victory over Chula Vista. The Cardinals’ Ron Wilkins homered and pitched through the eighth inning, when all involved agreed to call it a day, citing cold weather.

John Bates hit a home run and scattered six hits and Helix socked Lincoln’s ace, Vince Kilpela, 8-3, with a six-run fourth inning.

3/17/55

Hoover stood at 9-0 before a weekend trip to Long Beach after a 10-0 win over Sweetwater, propelled by Jim Galasso’s three hits and the two-hit pitching of Larry Elliot and Dick Meza.

San Diego’s Kent Haws shut out guest Helix, 10-0, on two hits, and Lincoln lost at Grossmont, 8-5.

3/18/55

Intersectionals had become popular. Hoover dropped the first of a three-game swing in the North to Long Beach Wilson, 7-5, on the Long Beach City College diamond.

Lefthander Joel Mogy was hit with a pair of three-run homers in the seven-inning loss.

Jim Gilchrist homered and was 4 for 4, sophomore John Harmon was 3 for 4, and centerfielder Pete Gumina doubled and was singled out for nifty defensive play as San Diego topped visiting Lynwood, 4-0.

LIONS ROAR

A press luncheon at the San Diego Club was hosted by the San Diego Lions Club, which announced a 24-team field for the fifth annual event April 4-6.

Sixteen teams, with San Diego as defending champion, will take part in the Unlimited Division, minus defending CIF champion Fullerton, whose Spring Vacation is one week later than San Diego area schools’.

Mar Vista will defend the Limited Division championship in an eight-team bracket, after Ramona and Fallbrook compete in a “play-in” contest.

Hawthorne, Santa Monica, Trona, Inglewood, Inglewood Morningside, and Banning, teams traveling more than 75 miles, will be housed at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot.

3/19/55

Hoover defeated Long Beach Poly, 10-5, in the morning and Long Beach Jordan, 7-6, in the afternoon in seven-inning games to run its record to 11-1.

—Kearny won at San Bernardino, 3-0, in the morning and lost in the afternoon, 8-1, at Colton in a pair of nine-inning jousts.

3/21/55

Joe Banks’ three-run home run started a San Diego onslaught in a 13-0 win over Sweetwater, as part of a South Bay invasion by the Cavers.  San Diego had beaten Sweetwater in February, 30-2.  That’s not a misprint.

3/22/55

Joe Banks doubled home Jim Gilchrist and Deron Johnson in a three-run 10^th inning as San Diego  edged Chula Vista, 5-2 and upped its record to 9-1.

3/23/55

Lincoln’s Brad Griffith hurled a two-hit shutout and the Hornets blanked host Sweetwater, 3-0.

3/29/55

Hoover, with many of the 1954 Post 492 squad, which won the national American Legion championship, fired the first shot in the City Prep League opener.

The Cardinals’ Billy Capps homered and Joel Mogy out- pitched Deron Johnson as Hoover capitalized on four San Diego errors and won, 7-1.

—Grossmont erupted for 12 runs in the first inning and beat its historically most important rival, Sweetwater, 15-5.

—Helix rolled Mar Vista, 21-0; the Highlanders’ Jim Bates stopped the Mariners on one hit.

—Lincoln’s Vince Kilpela won a 2-1 duel from Point Loma’s Bob Imlay.

4/2/55

Point Loma evened its CPL record at 1-1, edging La Jolla in a tension-filled 11 innings, 5-4.

After three hours and 35 minutes, Point Loma catcher Jim Lunsford, taking advantage of what an Evening Tribune reporter said was “relief hurler Dave Jordan’s (slow) windup and the encroaching darkness to swipe home like the proverbial thief in the night.”

Lunsford’s theft came after starter Jack Cravens walked Lunsford, who was replaced by Jordan. Lunsford advanced on a wild pitch and to third on Joe Welch’s sacrifice.

Cravens battled his way out of a jam in the eighth inning when the Pointers loaded the bases with no outs. Vikings coach Jim Bass brought in an outfielder as an extra infielder to successfully thwart a potential squeeze play.

—Joe Banks had three hits and Jim Gilchrist and Joe Dini homered in San Diego’s 11-1 win over Kearny.

Bob Mendoza tripled in two runs and scored the deciding run on a botched relay in Lincoln’s 11-10, seven-inning win over visiting Grossmont.

4/4/55

San Diego was the three-time defending champion, but Hoover was the Unlimited Division favorite in the fifth annual Lions Tournament.

The Cavers blanked Escondido in their opening game and Hoover slugged Sweetwater, 9-1. Second-year Lincoln, lying in the weeds, surprised Inglewood Morningside, 2-1.

San Diego’s Kent Haws gagged Escondido on one hit and Hoover’s Dick Meza struck out 13.

The most compelling game was Lincoln-Morningside, which went eight innings and almost into darkness at Navy Field.

Lincoln lefthander Vince Kilpela allowed four singles and struck out 18.

Morningside led, 1-0, when the Hornets’ Bob Mendoza singled and came all the way home when the ball got past the rightfielder.

Lincoln broke the deadlock when pinch hitter George Hook opened the eighth with a walk, gave way to pinch runner Ron Miller, who was sacrificed to second base by Doyle Seely.                                                          Miller scored when Mendoza drove a pitch to deep right centerfield.

Kearny won a marathon, three-hour, 25-minute, 9-8 decision over Inglewood after leading, 8-2.

El Centro Central’s Matt Haughan allowed one hit and beat Ramona, 4-2, in a Limited Division contrast.

4/5/5

San Diego nipped Kearny, 4-3, but lost to Lincoln, 4-3, and Hoover slammed Santa Monica, 14-1 and Hawthorne, 7-2.

Kent Haws gave up a two-run single to Jerry Stryker, but the San Diego pitcher, who relieved Phil Rico in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded, got Tommy Gonzalez on a short fly-out and Butch Flaming and Bud Romero to end the game.

San Diego coach Les Cassie saved his ace, Deron Johnson for the afternoon semifinal at Navy Field against Lincoln, 8-5 quarterfinals winner over Point Loma.

Lincoln’s victory over the Cavers, by far its most significant in the school’s two-year history, came with a knotty problem for coach George Pearson.

San Diego rallied for three runs in the sixth inning, chasing starter Brad Griffith and forcing Pearson to call on his ace lefthander, Vince Kilpela.

Kilpela put out the fire and got through a difficult seventh that landed the Hornets in the Unlimited final against Hoover.

Lions pitchers, by rule, could work a maximum of 16 innings in the tournament.

That meant Kilpela was eligible for only three more innings in the finale at Lane Field.

Pearson had a decision to make: Start Kilpela and hope the cavalry can hold the fort beginning in the fourth inning, or start Griffith or Ron Miller, and bring on Kilpela to protect a possible lead.

4/6/55

Lincoln coach Pearson started right hander Miller, who gave up five runs in two innings. Griffith allowed four more, although two were unearned.

Hoover won, 9-3, and Kilpela pitched only one inning.

The game was shortened from seven to five innings so the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Seals could start their Pacific Coast League contest with minimal delay of the scheduled 8:15 p.m. first pitch.

Hoover coach Bill Matthie had a rested starter, Larry Elliot, a lefthander who struck out nine and walked six. The Cardinals’ Gene Leek hit a three-run home run over the 360-foot sign in right field in the top of the second.

Kilpela was named the tournament’s most-valuable player.

4/15/55

Grossmont pounded Helix, 11-1, behind Earl Carlton’s home run and six-hit pitching and battery mate Al Hall’s five hits—three singles, double, and home run.

—Lincoln was surprisingly leading the CPL with a 3-0 record (Hoover and Sn Diego were 3-1) after Brad Griffith’s four-hitter set down Kearny, 6-2.

Leroy Dotson’s single scored Percy Campbell for a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning and George Hook’s two-run homer in the sixth was enough for the win.

—Deron Johnson was 3 for 4 with four runs batted in and Jim Gilchrist was 3 for 6 as San Diego beat Mission Bay. 21-2.

4/19/55

Gene Leek hit two home runs and Tommy Rinks and Parker Olsen hit back-to-back home runs as Hoover slugged Lincoln and lefthander Vince Kilpela, 9-0, on the Hoover field.

—Grossmont took a two-game lead in the Metropolitan League with an 18-0 win over Mar Vista, while Helix beat Chula Vista, 6-4, to tie the Spartans for second place.

4/22/55

Art Thomson gave up one hit and struck out 15, and the Ramona offense did the rest in a 27-0 win over San Miguel School.

—Grossmont moved to 6-0 and clinched a tie for the Metropolitan League title with two games remaining.

—The Foothillers beat Sweetwater, 7-1, behind Skip Fenn’s three-hit pitching.

—Rudy Rudzinski tripled to drive in three runs in Helix’ four-run eighth inning that was the difference in a 5-4 win over Mar Vista.

4/29/55

Chula Vista pitcher Bill Collins outlasted Chester Carlton and Skip Fenn and the Spartans stayed alive in the Metropolitan circuit with a 7-6 victory over Grossmont.

The Foothillers were 6-1 and Chula Vista was 5-2, tied with Helix after the day’s action.

—John Poplis scattered five hits and Mar Vista won its first league game, 8-5, over Sweetwater.

—Deron Johnson hit an opposite field home run beyond the press box that looks down on the Hoover grandstand and baseball field as the Cavers topped the Cardinals and moved into first place in the CPL, each with a 5-0 record.

Kent Haws, the Cavers’ No. 3 pitcher at the start of the season, blanked the Redbirds on four hits.

5/2/55

Hoover recovered from its loss to San Diego by punishing neophyte Mission Bay, 26-6, after opening with a 13-run salvo in the first inning and firing another of eight runs in the eighth.

Gene Leek hit a grand slam home run in the first inning, big blow of the Cardinals’ 21 hits. Larry Elliot allowed three hits and struck out 18 and held the Buccaneers scoreless until they scored three each in the eighth and ninth innings.

5/5/55

Mel Bratley homered and Dick Williams allowed two hits in Grossmont’s 14-0 win over Mar Vista.

—George Van Es hit a three-run homer and pitched San Dieguito to an 11-3, Avocado League win over Oceanside.

—Deron Johnson gave up two hits, struck out 15, did not walk a batter, and won a 1-0 duel against La Jolla’s Jack Cravens as San Diego pushed across a run in the ninth inning.

The Cavers’ Dave Conger reached base on an error and Steve Allen pinch ran. John Harmon’s double scored Allen from first.

San Diego (8-1) maintained a one-game, City Prep League lead over Hoover, which beat Point Loma, 3-0.

5/15/55

Point Loma took a first-inning, 4-0 lead over visiting San Diego and kept the Cavers at a distance until San Diego scored a run in the eighth inning and three in the ninth to tie.

The Cavers manufactured three runs in the 11^th inning to win, 7-4.

The rally include a bunt hit, fielder’s choice, sacrifice bunt, catcher’s error for one run, a sacrifice fly for another run, a base on balls, and Joe Dini’s double, which scored John Harmon.

—Dave Jordan’s one-hitter was enough for La Jolla to handcuff Lincoln, 3-0.

—Grossmont (10-1) locked  the Metropolitan League title with an 8-2 win over Chula Vista (8-3) at Grossmont.

Dick Williams, Allen Hall, and Jerry Barrows each hit home runs for the Foothillers.

—Brown Military had 14 hits, but took more advantage of 13 Julian errors in a 29-6 victory in the mountain community.

5/19/55

San Diego won its second straight CPL title and third in the six-year history of the league with a 2-1, 10-inning victory over visiting Lincoln.

Deron Johnson’s double with one out in the 10^th scored Don Leslie from second base and gave the Cavers a league record of 11-1, all 11 wins coming after an opening-game, 7-1 loss to Hoover.

Hoover finished second at 10-2. Lincoln, which lost three of its last four, was third at 6-6, followed by La Jolla and Point Loma, each 5-7; Kearny, 4-8, and Mission Bay, 1-11.

Lincoln’s Vince Kilpela and the Cavers’ Kent Haws battled into the 10^th, when Haws walked Kilpela to start the inning and was relieved by Johnson, who retired the side.

Johnson (6-1) was credited with the victory, but the league’s winningest pitcher was Hoover’s Larry Elliot (7-0).

—Elliot relieved Joel Mogy in a 5-5 game in the top of the sixth inning. The Cardinals scored 13 runs in the bottom of the sixth for an 18-5 victory over Kearny.

5/20/55

Grossmont, which toiled in the City Prep League from 1951-54 and won the CIF Southern Section championship in ’51, was back home in the Metropolitan loop and a 11-1 success.

Coach John Hancock’s Foothillers drubbed Helix, 11-2, in the final league game to finish two games ahead of Chula Vista (9-3). Helix was 6-6 and Mar Vista and Sweetwater, each 2-10, brought up the rear.

5/25/55

Hoover’s baseball season was over, but many of the Cardinals already were preparing for the opening of the American Legion Post 492 season.

Meanwhile, Post 6, winner of national championships with largely San Diego High players in 1938 and ’41, was resuming competition after several years’ absence.

Legion qualification was for players age 13-19.

5/27/55

Deron Johnson struck out 16, allowed 4 singles, and tripled and singled in three runs as San Diego stunned Baldwin Park, 13-0, in a second-round playoff (the Cavers received a first-round bye) at Beeson Field on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot base.

Jim Gilchrist doubled twice and had four hits. John Harmon and Dave Conger each had a single and double and combined for five runs batted in.

The Braves did not advance a runner past second base.

Grossmont hurdler Skip Fenn struck out 16 and his teammates lashed Oceanside pitching for 18 hits in a 21-2 Foothillers’ small schools, semifinals playoff romp.  Grossmont was scheduled to play Army-Navy in the first round, but the cadets declined to participate, forfeiting.

Allen Hall homered twice and Gary Freymiller doubled and homered, positioning the La Mesans for a championship game against Puente, which topped Thermal Coachella Valley, 6-3, in the other semifinal.

6/2/55

The usually reliable San Diego defense betrayed the Cavers with seven errors that led to four unearned runs and a stunning, 7-3 loss to the 22-6 Fullerton Indians, who shocked the Cavers in the 1954 playoffs.

The game was played at La Palma Park in Anaheim, two miles South of the Fullerton campus.

The Cavers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Jim Gilchrist’s home run.  They broke a tie in the fifth to lead, 3-2, when Deron Johnson’s third consecutive double scored Gilchrist.

Johnson replaced Kent Haws on the mound in the sixth inning and was the victim of two unearned runs that gave the Indians a 6-3 lead.

Fullerton, which lost to Los Angeles Loyola in the 1954 finals, would bow again in the finals, losing in 14 innings, 6-5, to Montebello.

6/3/55

Gary Freymiller doubled and tripled and drove in four runs, and Skip Fenn pitched Grossmont to an 8-2 championship game victory over Puente.

Fenn struck out 11, giving him 105 in his last 81 innings and an overall record of 14-2.

Coach John Hancock was at the helm when the Foothillers won the Southern Section title in 1951.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.