1969 Baseball: Cardinals and Colts Battled for CIF Royalty

A road map would have been easy to follow in the first nine years of the San Diego Section: Start at 44th Street and El Cajon Boulevard and travel about 1.5 miles East and Southeast to 55th and Trojan Avenue.

The Hoover Cardinals and Crawford Colts, neighbors in the East San Diego enclave eventually known as City Heights, won seven of the first nine championships. Hoover claimed  its third this season, defeating four-time winner Crawford in the  championship game.

Hoover, which began in 1930 and had a history of success punctuated by a campus field named after major league baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ted Williams, was the figurative older sibling but Crawford, whose doors opened for the first time in 1957, challenged from its surging population base.

The Colts flexed their muscles in the decade, winning 13 additional titles in football, basketball, golf, gymnastics, swimming, and tennis.

4/16/69

Ted Schultz had two hits and Vista defeated Escondido, coached by Ted’s older brother Gary, 6-2.  Art Warren hit a three-run home run for the Panthers.

—El Cajon Valley catcher Tom DeHart was hit in the mouth in the seventh inning and left the game.  The pitch reportedly dislodged several teeth and cut DeHart’s lip and gum. The Braves topped El Capitan, 9-2.

4/18/69

Future major leaguer Terry Forster allowed four hits, struck out eight, and scored the winning run on an error in the top of the eighth inning to win a duel from Monte Vista’s Paul Loop, 1-0.

Castle Park’s Hector Cebreros struck out 15, walked three, and faced only 23 batters in pitching a no-hitter in a 9-0 win over Coronado.

–Randy Fleetwood’s three-run home run separated Hoover from Morse, 5-3, and allowed the defending Eastern League champion (9-1) to open a 1 1/2-game lead over Crawford (7-2), which was blanked by San Diego, whose Mike Hanson gave up five hits in the 2-0 victory.

–Gary Thomasson had four hits in four times at bat as Oceanside downed Orange Glen, 6-3. Thomasson’s future included almost nine seasons in the major leagues, seven with the San Francisco Giants as an outfielder-first baseman.

–Sam Hinds protected La Jolla’s Western League lead, shutting out Kearny, 1-0, on two hits, while David Blackwell kept Madison a half-game behind, pitching and doubling in two runs in the top of the seventh inning to top University, 3-2.

4/19/69

USC and UCLA teams this weekend were noted for  graduates from San Diego schools.

Pat Roark and Neal Ball of Hoover, Frank Alfano of Crawford, Cal Meier of Grossmont, and Brent Strom of San Diego High were in the lineup for USC.  Mike Reinbach of Granite Hills, Chris Chambliss of Oceanside, Bob Petretta of Crawford, and Jake Molina of Clairemont started for UCLA.

4/22/69

Hilltop’s Mike Likens scored the game’s first run in the second inning and silenced Sweetwater’s powerful lineup, allowing five hits in a 2-0 victory.  The loss was the Red Devils second in 17 games and the Lancers improved to 10-5.

—Mickey Aguirre hit a two-run home run and Rod Boone struck out nine as Crawford overcame a 3-0 Hoover lead to cut a game off the Cardinals’ Eastern League lead, 5-3.

–El Cajon Valley (5-1-1) led the Grossmont League after Brian Applegate’s three-run home run set down Santana, 4-2.  El Capitan, Granite Hills, and Mount Miguel had 5-2 league records.

4/25/69

El Cajon Valley (Grossmont), Madison (Western), and Escondido (Avocado) protected league leads.

Speedy Chase scored on a passed ball and Brian Applegate singled in Chuck Klein in a two-run third inning in the Braves’ 2-1 win over Granite Hills.

—Escondido turned back Oceanside for the Cougars seventh straight win.

—Madison’s Dave Blackwell blanked Point Loma, 3-0, to keep the Warhawks a game ahead of Clairemont.

4/28/69

John D’Aquisto blanked Hoover on two hits and first-inning home runs by Tony DeSanti and Jack Mannix resulted in five runs as the Saints cruised to a 9-0 win that knocked Hoover (9-3) out of a first-place tie with Crawford (9-2) in the Eastern League.

4/29/69

Marian’s Phil Bajo hurled a no-hitter and the Crusaders’ 4-0, Paloma League victory marked the second time this season that Army-Navy had gone hitless.

—Terry Lindsey’s three-run home run in the seventh inning was the difference in Clairemont’s 7-6 win over University.

–Madison (6-2) stayed a game in front of Claremont in the Western after Mike Cohen’s three-run home run and five runs batted in, which needed as Kearny scored five times in the seventh inning before coming up short, 9-7.

5/3/69

Steve Archambault came on in relief in the third inning and allowed one hit, retiring 14 of the 16 batters he faced, enabling Escondido (9-1) retain its two-game Avocado League lead with a 7-1 win over San Dieguito.

–Orange Glen (5-5) blanked Poway (1-9) behind the one-hit pitching on Walt Mack.

–“I like that fence,” said Warren Keagy of the five-foot barrier at Castle Park.  The Sweetwater coach, whose team defeated the Trojans, 3-1, after Carl Sims and Bob Kramer went deep.

–Chula Vista beat Mar Vista, 12-3, behind sophomore hurler Bob Tagye, who gave up three hits and singled, tripled, and homered.

–Sophomore Ken Bretsch of Bonita Vista allowed three hits and hit a two-run home run in a 3-0 win over Coronado.

–Granite Hills amassed 19 base hits in a 16-5 rout of Grossmont, which couldn’t stop Dennis Gillette and Dan Schuldies, who each had four runs batted in; Dan Ritter, who drove in three runs, and Tim Doerr, who had four hits in five at-bats.

–Hoover scored eight runs in fifth inning, profiting from seven walks that included four hit-batters, and outlasted Patrick Henry, 11-10, despite being out hit, 16-5.

5/6/69

Jim Dillahunt’s run-scoring double led Helix to a 2-1 victory over Santana, whose Terry Forster allowed only three hits and struck out 13.

Mickey Robinson was 3 for 4 and Oceanside (8-3) bombed Carlsbad, 15-4, allowing the Pirates to pick up a half game on Escondido (9-1), which couldn’t play Poway because of wet grounds.

5/9/69

“He tries to throw a perfect pitch every time,” El  Cajon Valley coach Harry Elliott said of Dan Corder, who pitched a 4-1 victory over El Capitan that advanced the Grossmont League leaders to a 9-3 record.

“Sometimes he tries to be too fine,” Elliott noted of his ace to Mike Sund of the Evening Tribune.  “He works the corners a lot and if the umpires aren’t calling the close ones for him he gets pretty temperamental.  Then I have go out there and try to settle him down.”

5/13/69

Preston McCracken, six weeks before a member of a San Diego junior hockey team playing a tournament in Minneapolis, stunned Crawford (12-4) with a no-hitter in a 3-0 victory that kept the Cardinals (12-5) in the Eastern League race.

“I took the uniform away from him a couple months ago, because he couldn’t devote enough time to baseball to help us,” said Cardinals coach Jerry Bartow told Mike Sund.

“I love both sports and both were suffering…but the opportunity to go back east for the hockey finals was something I couldn’t pass up,” said McCracken.  “I’m just grateful that coach Bartow gave me a chance to come back.”

–Terry Forester had been forced wear a corset to support a cranky back,  but the 6-foot, 3-inch, 190 pounder made El Capitan feel the pain with a no-hitter in Santana’s 5-0 victory.

5/16/69

Madison (9-3) clinched the Western League championship, 8-2 over University, with which the Warhawks shared the title in 1968.  Madison had four, two-run innings to support Dave Blackwell’s seven-hit pitching.

–Ed Evilsizor’s two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Kearny (6-6) a 3-2 win over La Jolla (5-7).

STANDINGS

Not all scheduled games were reported or played.  Ties are half-game won, half-game lost.

EASTERN LEAGUE

WESTERN LEAGUE

GROSSMONT LEAGUE

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

AVOCADO LEAGUE

SOUTHERN PREP

FREE LANCE

5/17/59

A published report had said that El Cajon Valley and Helix would replay an earlier tie game at the hour of 9 a.m., but the game apparently was called off.   CIF bosses made no mention why when they revealed pairings later in the day for first-round playoff games.

El Cajon Valley became the league  winner with a 10-3-1 record and .750 won-loss percentage, while El Capitan was 10-4, .714.

5/20/69

SAN DIEGO SECTION PLAYOFFS

FIRST ROUND

Sweetwater 7, San Dieguito (16-7-2) 4, 10 innings, @San Diego State. 

Relief pitcher Bill Oxidine’s three-run home run, which cleared a 402-foot sign in left centerfield in the third extra inning, was part of a four-run rally that finally separated the Red Devils from their tough Avocado League opponent.

Three Sweetwater errors had allowed the Mustangs to take a 4-3 advantage in the top of the 10^th.  The Red Devils scored in the bottom of the sixth for a 3-3 tie.

Crawford 8, Castle Park (13-10) 2, @Hoover.

Rod Boone went the distance for the Colts in one of his last appearances.  Boone, who struck out seven, will miss a couple postseason all-star games because he will soon report to the Fairbanks Goldpanners team in Alaska.

Hoover 3, Clairemont (13-10-2) 1, @Mesa College.

Floyd McCracken pitched a five-hitter and Randy Fleetwood singled in two runs in the first inning.

Oceanside 3, El Cajon Valley (16-9-1) 1, @Grossmont College.

Two El Cajon Valley  errors put runners on the bases in the seventh inning and led to Allen Soto’s two-run double that boosted the four-hit pitching of Rob Bressi.

Escondido 2, Granite Hills (14-9) 1, @Palomar College.

Madison 6, Chula Vista (13-10) 4, @Helix.

San Diego 11, San Miguel School (10-6-1) 6, @Madison.

El Capitan 10, Marion (13-8-1), 7, @Mar Vista.

5/23/69

QUARTERFINALS

Hoover 7, Oceanside (15-7-1) 4, @Mesa College.                                                                      

“He’s going to be the best hitter we’ve ever had round here,” Hoover coach Jerry Bartow said to Mike Sund of the Evening Tribune of sophomore Stan DeKoven, whose two-run single in the sixth inning was the essential hit in the Cardinals’ 7-4 victory.

DeKoven hit .440 after being called up from the junior varsity three weeks before the end of the regular season.

Bartow used 17 players. Three finished in the positions at which they started the game.

Crawford 12, El Capitan (12-9) 0, @Helix High.

Crawford erupted for  19 hits, including home runs by Dan Gonzalez and Mike Coronado, who had four hits.  Pitcher Rod Boone was three for three and gave up two hits in six innings. The Colts’ Dave Hoppe and Rick Lee also had three hits.

Escondido 2, Madison (15-9) 0, @Cal Western University.

Joe Reyes, No. 2 in the pitching rotation of Cougars coach Chuck Leaf, gagged Madison, giving up two hits and picking off the Warhawks’ two base runners.

Sweetwater 9, San Diego (14-10) 0, @San Diego State.

The second time was not the charm for San Diego, which had dropped a nonleague, 5-1 decision to the Red Devils 10 days before.

5/27/69

SEMIFINALS

Hoover 3, Sweetwater (23-4) 2, @Mesa College.

The Cardinals’ Charlie Johnson singled to right field with one out in the top of the seventh inning and advanced to second base after pitcher Bill Oxidine threw wildly on a pickoff attempt.

Hoover’s Dale Roland struck out on a wild pitch, allowing an advance to third by Singleton, who scored the winning run on John Helfrick’s single between third base and shortstop.

Normally a first baseman or outfielder, Bo Martinez was a surprise pitching choice by coach Jerry Bartow.  Martinez gave up nine hits and was in and out of trouble, but refused to be pushed over the cliff.

Crawford 2, Escondido (20-5) 0, @San Diego State.

Crawford went with Rod Boone for the third straight playoff and the 6-foot, 3-inch righthander needed only 74 pitches to stop the Cougars on six hits. The Colts scored on three walks and a single by Dan Gonzalez and double by Mickey Aguirre that scored Bruce Altschuler and Gonzalez.

5/29/69

CHAMPIONSHIP

Hoover (19-6) 5, Crawford (20-6) 4, @Beeson Field.

Preston McCracken shut out Crawford on three hits and drove in Hoover’s last two runs with a single in the sixth inning.

As written by Bill Center in The San Diego Union, “McCracken, who threw a no-hitter at Crawford three weeks ago, retired the first nine Colts he faced until Mike Tice’s single in the fifth inning.”

Crawford’s Rod Boone, pitching his fourth consecutive playoff game and second in three days, was almost as effective, allowing only two hits, both in the bottom of the sixth.

Bo Martinez tagged up and scored from third after Wes Daw lined out to leftfield in the fourth inning and Ray Garcia, moving with Daw’s catch, scored on a wild throw from the outfield.

“Pres (sic) wants to be a pitcher,” Hoover coach Jerry Bartow said of the 5-foot, 9-inch McCracken.  “When he wasn’t in shape I said, ‘Prove it to me.’ Well, he’s proved it to me.”

Boone, the younger brother of Bob Boone, the star of Crawford teams earlier in the decade, elicited rare praise from coach Bill Sandback: “He has the greatest desire of any player I‘ve ever coached.”

Attendance for the game on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot diamond was estimated at close to 1,000.