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.

A couple newcomers led the shouting in a last hurrah for San Diego.

Area schools were preparing to leave the Southern Section after 47 years and embark on their own, 31 institutions forming the San Diego Section in the next school year.

Clairemont and El Capitan, numbers 30 and 31, ignored usually unsuccessful results for start-up programs.

Clairemont’s Chieftains, in their second year and without a senior class, with students and transfers from Kearny’s and Mission Bay’s enrollment districts, won the Western League track championship and bulldozed through four games in the baseball AA playoffs to another title.

El Capitan’s Vaqueros in Lakeside, sharing with another new school, Granite Hills, students from El Cajon Valley, won the Grossmont League baseball championship, finishing ahead of redoubtable Helix.

CAVERS MISS

San Diego High gained the Southern Section AAA finals in baseball, in which it had been dominant from the beginning of the CIF, but lost in its bid for a record 17^th championship when Whittier scored an 11-1 victory at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles.

Track http://1952-by-any-name-cavemen-cavers-hillers-broke-all-records/and field competition was as steady as usual, although the area was blanked in the state meet in Palo Alto.

Some 1960 highlights, baseball in regular typeface, track in italics:

2/20/60

Righthander John Lippert opened the season by pitching a no-hitter in Helix’ 1-0 victory over visiting Point Loma.

Ray Koenig’s seventh-inning home run provided the victory over the Pointers’ Ronnie Holmes, who allowed only two hits.

2/24/60

Fred Shuey hit a bases-loaded triple and Myron Morper drove in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the seventh inning as San Diego topped Point Loma, 5-4.

3/3/60

Lefthander Ronnie Holmes pitched a no-hitter and Point Loma gave the lefthander more offense than he needed in an 11-0 win over Coronado.

St. Augustine’s Dennis Shields pitched four innings of a 7-1 win over La Jolla and helped himself with three hits, two home runs and four runs batted in.

3/5/60

Darryl Nelson won three events, 120-yard high hurdles (:15.8), high jump (6-1 ½), and broad jump (20-11 ½) and would become a double or triple winner almost every week but Kearny dropped a 72-32 dual meet decision to Lincoln.

Dick Armstrong allowed three hits and drove in four runs as Hoover defeated visiting Alhambra Mark Keppel, 9-2.

Harold Peterson and Steve Simon hit home runs and San Diego erupted for six runs in the sixth inning to defeat guest San Gabriel, 14-9.

3/7/60

Dick Waisman of Mount Miguel and Dave Rebello of University pitched no-hitters and 10 losing teams in the County scored a total of 11 runs.

Waisman punched out Clairemont, 7-0.  Mountain Empire scored a run on a walk, two stolen bases, and an error but was beaten, 9-1.

3/14/60

Crawford’s Norm Marr tripled in a run in the sixth inning and drove in the winning run with a single in a 10-inning, 2-1 victory over Point Loma.

3/18/60

Point Loma’s Ron Steele was second in :49.5 in one of two, 440-yard dash heats in the 37^th Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach. 

Steele’s time in the one-turn race, behind the :49.1 of Long Beach Poly’s Willie Martin, tied for the second fastest ever by an area runner.  San Diego’s Norman Stocks ran :49.3 in 1946 and Coronado’s John Fawcett :49.5 in 1937.
Lincoln’s Lafayette (Mackie) McIntosh was second in 1:58.3 in a large schools 880-yard run.  Point Loma’s Robert Nelson was third in the broad jump at 22-8 ¾.

Kearny’s Darryl Nelson tied for first in the small schools’ high jump at 6 feet, 3 ¼ inches and was second in the broad jump, won by Oceanside’s Rich Lazaro at 21-10 3/4.

3/25/60

A three-way tie in the pole vault was enough for Lincoln to score an upset, 53 2/3-50 1/3 victory over San Diego in the decisive Eastern League dual meet.

Lincoln trailed, 47 1/3-42 2/3, going into the final running event, the 880-yard relay.  Ed Goodman held off the Cavers’ Benny Lewis on the anchor lap for a 1:31.3 victory, but the pole vault had not been completed.

Jim Cransey and Adam Cato of Lincoln and San Diego’s Otis Doxey finally tied for first, each with the same number of misses, and the Hornets claimed 6 of the event’s nine points

Dave Morehead, who would pitch a no-hitter for the Boston Red Sox in 1965, was chased in a five-run San Diego first inning.

The Cavers went on to score two runs in the top of the seventh inning and defeat Hoover, 10-9, in a big Eastern League contest.

3/28/60

Gary (Slats) Maloy allowed five hits and went the distance in Crawford’s 7-6 victory over San Diego, which committed seven errors and fell into a first-place tie with Crawford, each at 3-1 in the East.

The loss was San Diego’s first in 10 games.

El Capitan improved to 9-0 by scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to edge El Cajon Valley, 12-11.

The first-year Vaqueros were led by Danny Kern, who tripled and came home on an error for the winning run.  Kern added a single and double in four times at bat.

NO-HITTER BY CADETS

Jack Vincent and Ed Standon combined to no-hit San Miguel School in Army-Navy’s 14-0 win.

A 55-49 dual meet loss to Helix was San Diego’s third of the season, the most since the 1943 squad posted a 2-3 dual-meet record.

Helix’ Larry Aiken won both hurdles events and tied the 1957 school record of :20.0 by Gale Barsotti in the 180 lows.

4/2/60

San Diego outscored Grossmont, 50-44, with El Cajon Valley third at 38 points to win the large-school division of the sixth annual South Bay relays at Sweetwater.

Lincoln’s 53 points were enough to win the medium schools over Helix (51 1/3) and Point Loma (31 2/3). 

Mission Bay (61), Mar Vista (51), and Kearny (36) were the leading small schools.

Grossmont’s Don Clarke cleared 13-2 ½ in the pole vault, bettering by almost nine inches the record of 12-5 /12 by Escondido’s Bing Howe in 1959.

A San Diego team of Charles Dimry, Thomas Phillips, Emile Wright, and William Dentham raced the 440-yard relay in :42.7.

The Cavers’ time in the infrequently run event was the fastest in County history but was erased, along with other marks, after a survey of the Sweetwater track years later showed the oval was less than 440 yards.

4/8/60

Bill Jones cleared 6-3 ½ in the high jump to break Joe Page’s school record of 6-3, set in 1947, and Grossmont won the big meet in the foothills, 57 ½-46 ½ over Helix.

Don Hamlin :10.3, :22.2 in the 100 and 220-yard dashes, and Dennis Cradit, :51.6, 21-4 ½ in the 440 and broad jump, were double winners for the Foothillers.

Hamlin, Steve Adams, Dick Pray, and Cradit combined to run 1:32.1 to win the 880-yard relay. 

Grossmont improved to 6-0 and Helix slipped to 5-1.

4/11/60

Don Dart of Grossmont pitched a no-hitter in setting down Lincoln, 3-0, on the first day of the 10th annual Lions’ Tournament at Navy Field.

Hoover topped Escondido, 1-0, in eight innings and was the only city school of six to win an Unlimited Division game.

Kearny won its Limited Division opener, 8-3 over Coronado.

4/12/60

Tournament teams played doubleheaders on the second day of the three-day event.

Defending Unlimited Division champion San Diego shut out by El Cajon Valley, 2-0, on opening day, was bounced from the consolation bracket by St. Augustine, 3-2.

4/13/60

Sophomore George Sherrod cuffed Hoover on two hits and Helix won the Lions’ Unlimited Division title, 5-0.

El Centro Central beat Kearny, 7-2, for the Limited championship, while St. Augustine, 2-1 in eight innings over Escondido, and San Dieguito, 7-4 over Coronado, won the respective division consolation titles.

4/15/60

Competitors from San Diego to Yuma, Arizona, converged on Balboa Stadium for the first annual Easter Relays.

Mike Graves of El Cajon Valley cleared 13 feet, 6 ¼ inches in the pole vault for the day’s outstanding mark. 

Graves’ performance allowed the Braves to tie Grossmont at the three-man cumulative height of 37 feet and earn the schools the Dean C.E. Peterson perpetual trophy in honor of the late San Diego State coach.

4/20/60

Bill Froehling hurled a no-hitter as Army-Navy shut down visiting Mountain Empire, 9-0.

4/22/60

San Diego outlasted visiting Hoover, 13-12.  The Cardinals’ Dave Morehead pitched in the first inning, was removed and went to first base and then returned to pitch in the fourth inning.

4/26/60

Jim Thompson’s two-run home run was important in San Diego’s 8-7 win over Crawford, and moved the Cavers closer to the Eastern League title, its 7-1 record three games better than runner-up Hoover (4-4).

4/29/60

Favored Point Loma was shocked by first-year Clairemont, which won the 880-yard relay, the meet’s deciding event, and claimed the Western League dual meet championship, 53-51.
Lanky Jim Godfrey got up for second in the 100-yard dash, won the 220-yard dash in a County-leading :21.7, and anchored the Chiefs to a 1:31.2 victory in the battle of baton exchanges.

Clairemont’s surprising win was especially satisfying for coach Bob Kirchhoff, who had been out of the loop since being let go at Hoover after a stunning football loss to San Diego in 1954.

A City Schools administrator and parent of a Clairemont thinclad had asked the reluctant Kirchhoff to take the coaching reins as a personal favor.

Helix (9-3) walloped El Capitan (10-0), 14-6, in a Metropolitan League battle as Randy Schwartz and Ray Koenig hit home runs.

5/6/60

League finals were held at Camp Pendleton (Southern), El Cajon Valley (Metropolitan), La Jolla (Western), and Balboa Stadium (Eastern).

San Diego, despite losing leading 220-440-and-relay anchorman Benny Lewis to scholastic woes, dominated with 79 1/3 points to runner-up Lincoln’s 51. A Cavers foursome of Thomas Phillips, Emile Wright, Eddie Frost, and Bill Dentham timed 1:29.5 in the 880 relay.

Darryl Nelson set a Western League meet record of 6-3 ½ in the high jump but Clairemont won the team title with 54 5/6 points to Mission Bay’s 43 1/3.

Point Loma’s Ray Alexander ran faster than any city-wide Class C sprint ever with winning times of :10 in the 100 and :18.3 in the 180.

Grossmont, 8-0 in the dual meet season, with wins over Compton Centennial, Helix, and San Diego, outscored Helix, 41-38 for the varsity championship.

El Capitan improved to 12-2 in the Metro League with a 12-3 win over Escondido that included John  Udall’s eighth home run of the year and Al Hinkle’s 5-for-5, three doubles, a triple and single.

Point Loma clinched a tie for first for the Western League crown behind Jerry Jeli’s two-hit pitching and 6-0 win over La Jolla.

5/14/60

Athletes from the Eastern, Western, Metropolitan, Avocado, and Southern leagues met those from the Orange County Sunset, Freeway, and Orange leagues in a Southern California divisional meet in Balboa Stadium.

El Cajon Valley’s Mike Graves, the Southern California pole vault leader at 13-8 ½, dropped down to Class B and cleared the same height, breaking the record of 13-6 ¼ by a Glendale vaulter in 1957.

San Diego led with 7 varsity qualifiers.  Fullerton and Tustin had five each.

5/17/60

Clairemont, runner-up to Point Loma in the Western loop, topped Vista, 6-0, in a first-round, Southern Section AA playoff as Ron Power tripled and hit a two-run homer.

5/20/60

Dave Morehead shut out El Capitan, 9-0, in a surprising Southern Section AAA playoff result.  The Cardinals, in and out all season, rolled with Morehead’s three-hit pitching and stunned the first-year Vaqueros, who were 14-2 in the Metropolitan League.

San Diego outlasted Helix, 10-8, as Steve Simon was 3 for 4 and pitcher Larry Murillo 2 for 3.

Clairemont advanced with an 18-5 win over Torrance Bishop Montgomery in Class AA.

Riverside Ramona ousted the Southern League’s Ramona, 11-8, in Class A.

5/21/60

San Diego qualified five entries in the semifinal divisional meet at Chaffey high in Ontario, led by its relay team, which clocked a season-best 1:28.9.

Kearny’s Darryl Nelson led all high jumpers at 6-4 and San Diego’s Thomas Phillips won a 100-yard dah heat in :10 and was second in his 220 heat.

5/24/60

Clairemont earned a trip to the Southern Section AA finals with a 6-3 victory over Santa Ana Mater Dei at Anaheim.

Bill Black’s three-run homer in the fourth inning broke a 2-2 tie in the Chieftains victory.

San Diego advanced to the AAA quarterfinals with a 6-1 win at Compton as lefthander Larry Murillo and last-inning reliefer Frank Lopez set down the Tarbabes on 3 hits.

About 30 professional scouts descended on San Diego State to watch future major league pitchers Dave Morehead of Hoover and Tommy Sisk of Long Beach Poly.

Sisk and the Jackrabbits turned back the Cardinals, 3-1, on Brian McCall’s two-run home run in the fifth inning.

5/27/60

Clairemont, coached by Ernie Beck,  struck with five runs in the first inning as Mike Smith and Jay Critchley hit back-to-back home runs and lefthander Jerry Haight limited Rosemead Bosco Tech to four hits for six innings in a 9-2 win and surprising Southern Section championship.

San Diego High advanced again behind the two-hit pitching of Larry Murillo and surprised the favored and host Fullerton Indians, 11-2, in the semifinals round.

Murillo allowed two hits and first baseman Jim Thompson drove in four runs with a single, double, and triple.

5/28/60

Thomas Phillips of San Diego ran the 100 in :09.9 for third and Darryl Nelson of Kearny was third with a 6-4 1/2 high jump in the Southern Section finals at Long Beach Veterans’ Stadium.

Phillips and Nelson each qualified for the state meet at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto. 

El Capitan’s Les Cites was fourth in the shot put at 58-2 ¼.

More impressive were some lower division competitors.

Vernie King of San Diego set a Class B broad jump record of 23-10 ¾ and won the 120-yard low hurdles in :12.8. El Cajon Valley’s Mike Graves cleared 14 feet in the pole vault, bettering his record of 13-8 ½, set two weeks before.

Lincoln’s Class B 660-yard relay team of James (Preacher) Johnson, Walter Scott, Ed Goodman and Vernus Ragsdale, won in 1:07.9, off their best of 1:06.3 but also qualifying the group to run in an exhibition 660 at Palo Alto.

Ray DeBolt represented a third new County high school, Granite Hills, located about a mile east of El Cajon Valley, and won the B 660-yard run in 1:23.6.

6/4/60

Lincoln’s B 660-yard speedsters bettered the national high school record of 1:05.9, running 1:05.7 but Los Angeles Freemont won the exhibition race in 1:04.9.

Thomas Phillips of San Diego and Darryl Nelson of Kearny did not place in the 100 or high jump. 

Larry Murillo’s bid for a fourth straight playoff pitching victory and San Diego High’s attempt to win its 17^th championship since 1917 came up short.

Whittier took a 5-0 lead after two innings and cruised to an 11-1 triumph at Los Angeles’ Wrigley Field.

The Cavers, under first-year coach Jerry Dahms, posted an overall record of 23-4 and came much further than expected to this, the last competition of San Diego County teams in the Southern Section.

 

Grossmont was the  champion in baseball.  San Diego High was the champion in track and field…for three days.

San Diego lost a title after a review of film from the 440-yard race in the Southern Section finals revealed that Hal Espy had finished fifth and not fourth, taking away a point from the Cavemen and awarding the team championship to Glendale Hoover, Glendale, and Compton.

The winners tied with 15 points each, edging the stunned Cavers, who had 14 ½.

BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Grossmont, picked below San Diego and La Jolla in early-season City Prep League forecasts and a non-factor in previous races in the Coast League, rode the strong arms of its pitching staff, headed by left-hander Ray Preston, to win the Southern Section title.

Splitting the sports with regular and italics typefaces:

3/5/51

Clyde Wetter, his eye on Hal Norris’ 1950 school record of 58-2 1/2, took the Southern California lead in the 12-pound shot when he reached 56 feet, 4 ¾ inches, in a 66-38, dual meet win over visiting Sweetwater.

3/8/51

San Diego and La Jolla tied for first in the City Prep League Relays in Balboa Stadium, each with 51 ½ points, followed by Grossmont with 45.

All marks were combined. Distances were cumulative.  Teams could enter three in each event and their performances were combined.

An individual record was set when San Diego’s Hal Espy ran the 100-yard dash in :10.0.

3/9/51

San Diego Lions Club announced it was sponsoring a three-day, first annual baseball tournament of sixteen teams, including outside teams Anaheim, Brawley, El Monte, and Norwalk Excelsior.

San Diego and La Jolla were seeded No. 1 and No. 2, followed by Excelsior and El Monte.

Metropolitan League boss Joe Rindone, principal at Chula Vista, announced a double-round robin baseball schedule, highlighted by the annual carnival April 27 at Lane Field. 

John Green was named coach at Sweetwater, replacing Bruce Clarke, called to active duty by the Marine Corps in response to the war in Korea.

Other new Metro coaches included Bob Ganger at Mar Vista and John MacDonald at Oceanside.  Bill Duncan returned at Escondido and Chet DeVore at Chula Vista.  Coronado did not field a team.

3/11/51

Coronado was awaiting the results of its “telegraphic” track meet with Balboa High of the Panama Canal Zone.

3/14/51

Clyde Wetter took the national lead in the shot put at 58 feet, 3/8 inches, as Grossmont outscored Kearny, 73-31.

“A shot putter relies on the wrist snap for great power and distance,” the 5-foot, 8-inch, 180-pound Wetter told Gene Earl of The San Diego Union, “but strong fingers are just as important, to keep the ball from slipping while being released.”

Wetter revealed that part of his exercise regimen is standing several feet from a wall and falling against it with all fingers extended and kept straight to prevent flex.

–San Diego won an early City League dual-meet showdown against La Jolla, 61 2/3-42 1/3.

The Vikings’ Joe Epps and San Diego’s Hal Espy were double winners in the 120-yard high hurdles and 180 low hurdles and 100 and 440-yard races, respectively.

Espy also anchored the Cavers to a 1:32.4 victory in the 880-yard relay and Frank Johnson won the broad jump at 22-6.

–Lincoln Lucero set a Point Loma record of :20.3 in the 180 lows, but Hoover won, 53 1/3-50 2/3.

3/16/51

San Diego and La Jolla made the Lions seeding committee look good by reaching the championship game, the Cavers 22-1 over Oceanside and 6-3 over El Monte. 

La Jolla advanced, 5-4 over Escondido and 3-2 over Grossmont.

Doug Hubacek’s 3-run homer in the last of the seventh inning ousted El Monte and Tom Tomaiko scored on Bill Whitson’s single in the 10^th inning to top Grossmont.

3/17/51

San Diego outscored Long Beach Poly, 32 4/15 to 29, to win the large-school team championship for the third consecutive year in the 30^th Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach.

Newport Harbor won the small schools division with 30 points, followed by Covina (24) and Kearny (21 3/5).

Several running events in the crowded field included two heats.

–Walter (Red) Taylor won his heat in the 100 in :10.2, followed by Hal Espy, who also anchored the San Diego 880-yard relay squad to victory in one of three races.

–Clyde Wetter broke Hal Norris’ meet record (56-3/4) with a 57-9 ¾ effort, almost 7 feet further than Ontario Chaffey’s Don Vick, who would set a national record in 1953.

–John Rushing of Kearny won the 180 lows in :19.7 and La Jolla’s Joe Epps took a heat in the 440 in :52.

–Don Hydrick of Chula won a division of the pole vault at 12-3.

La Jolla’s Bill Whitson was tournament most-valuable player as the Vikings defeated San Diego, 5-3, for the Lions title at Lane Field.

Whitson struck out 10, walked one, allowed five hits, and profited from three double plays.

Kearny won the consolation bracket, 19-0, over St. Augustine in the morning championship at San Diego High.

3/18/51

Because of a San Diego City League ruling that no school could compete or practice during the Easter week, there would be no teams in the upcoming, Pomona 20-30 Club tournament, which San Diego High had won 7 times in the event’s 16-season- history. 

Escondido would be the County’s lone representative.

3/28/51

Oceanside won seven of 12 events and Bob Penrod took the 100 in :10.1 and set a school record of :22 seconds in the 220, but Chula Vista claimed the Metropolitan League dual, 55-49.

3/30/51

John Rushing of Kearny ignored blustery weather and won three events and anchored the relay team to victory in the meet’s final event as the Komets edged Point Loma, 54-49.

The 1:35.4 victory in the two-lap exchange of batons broke a 49-49 tie.  Rushing also won the 100 in :10.4, 180 lows in :20.6, and broad Jump at 21-2 ½.

Bill Whitson struck out 16 and didn’t allow a hit and La Jolla won its CPL opener, 11-0, over Point Loma.

Pointers base runners were by a walk and two errors.

–Charlie Powell hit a 400-foot home run and Eddie Boyle doubled in two runs in the sixth inning as San Diego topped Kearny, 5-4. 

San Diego sophomore Bob Borovicka came on in the sixth and struck out 10 of the 15 batters he faced, allowed three hits and two walks, and tagged out a Kearny runner at the plate for the final out of the game.

4/3/51

Kearny beat La Jolla, 5-4, but the Vikings’ Bill Whitson, in a three-inning relief appearance, faced the minimum 9 batters and struck out 5. 

–Grossmont outscored San Diego, 7-2, in what was inaccurately described as an upset.

Grossmont coach John Hancock’s signature pitcher, Ray Preston, set down the Hillers on seven hits and drove in a run with a third-inning single.

–San Diego’s junior varsity defeated Grossmont’s JV, 22-0.

4/12/51

Grossmont (4-0) was pulling away in the CPL baseball race, routing challenger Kearny (2-2), 14-4. 

Ray Preston, the Foothillers’ pitching ace, moved over to first base and collected four hits, including two home runs, a double and single.

4/14/51

Grossmont walloped La Jolla, 11-0, as Ray Preston struck out 18 and allowed two singles to Vikings shortstop Art Luppino.

The Foothillers finished the first half of the CPL race with a 5-0 record. San Diego was 4-1 and Lions tournament champion La Jolla was 1-4.

–La Jolla’s Joe Epps and Bill Lawrence posted CPL season highs in the Vikings’ 67-37 win over Point Loma.  Epps cleared the 120 high hurdles in :15.0 and Lawrence traversed the mile in 4:46.6.

–John Parker led the way with a 22-6 broad jump and San Diego teammates Alex Hudson and Frank Johnson also spanned at least 22 feet in an 87-16 win over Kearny.

–Kearny high jumper Danny Bain became the first in the City League to clear 6 feet.

4/20/51

Sweetwater claimed the Metropolitan League dual meet championship, 66 ½-37 ½, at Chula Vista.

The Red Devils won 9 of 11 events and John Palhegyi tied a school record of :22.2 in the 220 on the Chula Vista straightaway.

–No score was reported, only that San Diego topped Point Loma for a 5-0 dual meet record.

–Coach Bill Patten’s Cavers had won 22 consecutive dual meets, dating to a 57-47 loss to Grossmont in the opening dual of the 1948 season.

4/20/51

Art Webber of La Jolla no-hit Point Loma, 6-2, overcoming seven bases on balls and four Vikings errors.

4/24/51

Grossmont closed in on the CPL baseball title, 5-0, at San Diego.  The Foothillers were 7-0, Cavemen 5-2.

4/27/51

San Diego, as expected, cruised to the City Prep League team championship with 73 ½ points, followed by Grossmont (34 3/4) and La Jolla (33 ½) before about 1,000 persons in Balboa Stadium.

–Joe Epps of La Jolla was a double winner in the high hurdles (:15.3) and 440 (:52).

–San Diego finished 1-2-3 in the broad jump, led by Alex Hudson’s 21-10 ½.

–Clyde Wetter won the shot put at 57- ¾, but had some competition from San Diego’s dual-sport star Charlie Powell, second at 55-11 ¾, which was better than the 1948 school record of 55-2 1/4 by Bob Van Doren.

–Bernie Nelson, a Class B performer at Hoover, took the area lead in the high jump when he cleared 6-1 13/16.

A crowd of 2,000 attended the Metro League carnival at Lane Field and saw San Dieguito, Oceanside, and Sweetwater emerge as winners.  . 

–Teams played three innings each.  Mar Vista, Escondido, and Chula Vista were losers.

–Sweetwater’s Dick Walker pitched two hitless innings, and struck out five as the Red Devils beat Chula Vista, 1-0 in the final three innings.

–San Dieguito, borrowed from the Southern Prep League, was a 4-0 winner over Mar Vista and Oceanside beat Escondido, 4-3

4/28/51

Postponed twice, the Metropolitan loop trials at Chula Vista were dominated by Sweetwater with 17 qualifiers, followed by Escondido, 12, and Chula Vista, 9.

–The weather again was cold and blustery but did not hinder Mar Vista hurdler John Poole, who ran :15.3 in the 120 highs.  Dave Binney of Chula Vista recorded a 4:45.6 mile.

4/30/51

San Dieguito ran away with the Southern Prep League title with 103 ½ points, but Bob Knapp of Army-Navy set the only meet record with a 49-foot shot put.

5/1/51

Sweetwater won five events and scored 56 ½ points to win the Metropolitan championship.  Chula Vista was second with 31 ½, followed by Escondido, 29.

Sweetwater’s Jim Seebold won the 440 in :53.4 and was second in the 100.  Teammate Ted Granger was first in the 180 low hurdles (:21) and second to Mar Vista’s John Poole, who won the high hurdles in :15.3.

Oceanside’s Bob Penrod doubled in the sprints with a :10.4 100 and :22.4 220.

No meet records were broken but Sweetwater set a school record with its 1:34.4 victory in the 880 relay and Chula Vista’s Don Hydrick cleared 12-5 1/8 in the pole vault.

5/4/51

Ray Preston pitched a 3-1 victory over La Jolla as Grossmont (8-0) clinched the CPL title..

San Diego dropped a 10-inning, 4-3 decision to Hoover on Dick Pomeroy’s single after the Hillers’ Carl Lutz tied the score in the ninth with a two-run home run.

5/5/51

John Parker broad jumped 23-9½ to take the state lead and break Bob Logan’s 1938 school record of 23-6 3/4 as San Diego High led with 11 qualifiers at the Huntington Beach divisional meet.

Three-hundred athletes competed from San Diego’s three leagues, City, Metro, and Southern Prep, along with qualifiers from the Orange and Sunset circuits.

Hal Espy doubled with wins in the 100 (:10) and 440 (:51.9).  Haldon Grey and Walter Taylor were disqualified for false starts in the 100 and the relay team was bumped for a lane violation. Grey recovered to win his heat in :22 in the 220.

–Oceanside’s Bob Penrod won a 220 heat in:22.1 and John Rushing of Kearny doubled in the Class B hurdles with times of :09.1 in the 70-yard highs and :13.1 in 120 lows.

–Forty-eight of the 108 San Diego County entries from league finals qualified to move on to the divisional semifinals at Ontario Chaffey.

5/8/51

Ray Preston struck out 19 batters and didn’t allow a hit in a 21-0 rout of Point Loma.  The Foothillers were 9-1 in league play, San Diego 7-3.

–This was the 35^th and final season the Cavers played home games in Balboa Stadium. They would move to the upper practice field north of the Stadium in 1952.

–Chula Vista shut out Sweetwater, 8-0, as Chuck Phinney pitched a no-hitter.  Escondido claimed the Metro championship with a 5-2 record.

5/12/51

Twenty-two athletes from San Diego’s 3 leagues qualified in semifinals at Chaffey.

San Diego led with six advancers in three events.  Hal Espy won his heat in the 440 in :50.4, off the school record of :49.3 by Norman Stocks in 1946 but unofficially the fifth fastest in area history.

More significant was Clyde Wetter’s losing his first competition of the season, beaten by the Cavers’ Charlie Powell, who had turned in his baseball uniform only four days earlier.

Powell’s winning toss was 56-3 to Wetter’s 56 feet.

5/19/51

San Diego thought it had won the team championship with 15 ½ points.  Glendale Hoover, Glendale, and Compton had 15 each.

The Cavers scored their points early and held on.

John Parker won the  broad jump at 23-3, followed by Compton’s Rollin Garrison, 23-2 ¼, and Parker’s teammates, Frank Johnson, third at 22-1 ¾ and Alex Hudson, tied for fourth at 22-1. When Espy was awarded fourth in the 440 more than half the meet remained.

–Wetter won the shot put with a school-record 58-4 7/8 and Powell was runner-up with 57-9 ¼.

–Others included Joe Epps of La Jolla, fourth in the 120 high hurdles; Bob Penrod of Oceanside 4^th in the 220, and Don Hydrick, Chula Vista, tied for fifth in the pole vault vault at 12 feet.

–Kearny’s John Rushing tied the Class B record of :08.9 in the 70 hurdles and won the 120 lows in :13.2.

Grossmont opened the Southern Section playoffs with a 5-2 win at Santa Ana.  Ray Preston stopped the Saints on 3 hits and 14 strikeouts to improve his record to 8-0.  Preston also singled, doubled twice, and hit a home run.

5/23/51

Grossmont won its semifinal playoff versus visiting El Monte, 9-4, as Preston allowed five hits and struck out seven and his battery mate, Bob Rand, and Bill Harris homered.

5/25/51

Escondido, having beaten Wildomar Elsinore and Holtville, was three outs away from the Southern Section minor division crown, leading 6-4, but bowed to Bonita, 7-6, at Fullerton.

5/26/51

Clyde Wetter was second to Leon Patterson of Taft with a best of 57-8 ½ to Patterson’s 59-2 ½ in the state meet in Berkeley.  Charlie Powell was fourth in the shot put at 54-7 ½ and John Parker fifth in the broad jump at 21-4 1/4.

5/26/51

Ray Preston (10-0) struck out 16 and allowed 2 hits as Grossmont won the Southern Section major division, 5-0, over Compton, before about 1,000 persons at Lane Field. 

Preston, finishing his season with a 10-0 record, beat future major leaguer Benny Daniels, who struck out eight and walked eight.

The Foothillers’ Bill Harris, 2 for 3, and sophomore Ernie Merk, 2 for 4, backed Preston.

STRIKES AND SPIKES

San Diego sprinter Hal Espy entered the Air Force after graduation and then enrolled at Idaho State, where he became a national collegiate boxing champion…Point Loma’s coach was Bennie Edens, later one of the County’s all-time winningest football mentors…Metropolitan League principals, at a meeting at Coronado, announced that ticket prices for football and basketball in the 1951-52 school year, would be increased to 80 cents for adults, while students still would pay 30 cents…Jim Hunt was an all-around contributor at Hoover, scoring in the high jump, 880-yard run, and hurdles…his son, Thom, was one of the nation’s top milers a generation later at Patrick Henry…shot putter Clyde Wetter was one of five brothers and two sisters of a La Mesa family whose father was a grocery store butcher…Ray Preston and Bob Rand were all-Southern California first-team selections….

Next month, on Feb. 14 [2017], will mark the seventh year since we undertook a challenge.

I wanted to write the history of San Diego County high school football.

That’s where my career started and where it will end.

Well, I didn’t write the history (that is almost infinite), but I gave it a shot.

I attempted to write a narrative about each season. More than 100.

I just counted.

The number includes all seasons from 1914 forward.  I combined the years 1891 to 1913.

Almost all of the narratives are broken into short subjects, vignettes and photographs (pictures mostly from rustic and ragged microfilm at several Southern California sources).

Some years, like 1955, include multiple entries and, starting in 2013, football was covered on a week-to-week basis.

Most seasons usually required an average of about 2,000 words, although there are some with less and many with more.

My superstar writing friend Dave Kindred told me, “It wouldn’t sell and it would be too long,” when I suggested to David that maybe I’d write a book about this parochial subject.

He was right on both counts. But thanks to Henrik Jonson, my cyber guru, we put together a web site:  Partletonsports.com.

Partleton was the name on my father’s birth certificate when he was born in Barbados, “Little England” as it was known.

Dad changed his last name to Smith after he entered the United States following service in the Canadian army in World War I.

I asked him often why he hadn’t been more inventive. He could have changed his name to Jones.

I’m going to continue looking for nuggets of information in football, basketball, track and field, and probably baseball.

It’s a labor of love and in retirement you have to have interests.  I’ve got season tickets to San Diego State basketball and I catch a prep football or basketball game every week.

That and trying to keep Susie happy and watching our 4 grandsons grow up.