1990 Baseball: It’s season of Foothillers, Marauders, and Eagles

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

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

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

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

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

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

UGLY SCENE

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

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

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

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

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

“LITTLE KIDS”

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

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

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

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

 5/4/90

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

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

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

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

5/11/90

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

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

Jeff Meyers of Carlsbad drove in 47 runs in 1988.

5/14/90

DREADED ADMINISTRATIVE GLITCH

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

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

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

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

GLITCH, MARK II

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

5/15/90

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

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

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

5/18/90

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS

EASTERN LEAGUE

                   League                                                                                                                  Overall

CENTRAL LEAGUE

                       League                           Overall

WESTERN LEAGUE

                          League                                Overall

HARBOR LEAGUE

                          League                                Overall

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

                          League                                Overall

AVOCADO LEAGUE

                          League                               Overall

GROSSMONT 3-A

                             League                             Overall

GROSSMONT 2-A

                              League                            Overall

PALOMAR

                               League*                           Overall

*Incomplete.

PLAYOFFS

3-A

FIRST ROUND

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

QUARTERFINALS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mira Mesa 5, Mt. Carmel (22-8) 0, @USD.

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

CHAMPIONSHIP

Mira Mesa (22-8) 8, Monte Vista (20-12) 1, @USD.

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

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

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

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

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

2-A

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

QUARTERFINALS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEMIFINALS

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

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

CHAMPIONSHIP

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

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

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

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

1-A

QUARTERFINALS

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

The Bishop’s 1, @4 Holtville 5.

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

Borrego Springs 5, @2 Julian 12.

SEMIFINALS

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

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

Midway Baptist 8, Holtville 4, @Mar Vista

CHAMPIONSHIP

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

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

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