San Diego High, which would have had four entries plus its relay team, opted not to participate in the 26th state meet at Visalia High, a 300-mile jaunt from the Border city.

The Hilltoppers were nosed out of the Southern Section championship (below) but would have been one of the  teams vying for the championship and had won the title as recently as 1938.

Instead, many of the Hilltoppers, Hoover Cardinals  and some  Metro athletes competed in the Amateur Athletic Union meet of the Southern California region in Balboa Stadium.

Finances were cited as the reason for not going to the state meet as the city, state, and nation still were feeling effects of the Great Depression.

Money was tight.

3/3/40

San Diego High coach Ed Ruffa and the 138 candidates for positions on the Class A, B, and C teams anxiously awaited the annual Interclass Meet scheduled over the next two days.

Rain and the midget auto racing season forced a delay.  The midgets, usually occupying the stadium calendar until early February since 1937, would leave the dirt oval in need of a resurfacing to accommodate the thinclads.

3/5/40

Resurfacing and repair of the track did not take place, nor did the interclass meet.  A peevish coach Ed Ruffa told Charles Byrne of The San Diego Union that the Hillers may have to wait until competing in the Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach March 16.

3/6/40

Hoover shot putter George Brown, whose son George III would be a third-place medalist in the 1967 state meet and with a career best of 64 feet, 3 ½ inches for Granite Hills, set a school record of 50-1¼ in the Cardinals’ interclass meet.

Brown bettered the mark of 49-8 by Phil Krutzsch in 1937.

3/8/40

Sebastian Arguello won the 120-yard low hurdles, was third in the 440, and first with a throw of 47-5 in the shot put as Sweetwater opened Metropolitan League competition and winning the 880-yard relay in 1:38 for a 56-48 win over Point Loma.

—Escondido won the 880 relay to come from behind and edge Oceanside, 53-51, and Grossmont topped Coronado, 64 1/3-39 2/3, in other Metro openers.

3/14/40

La Jolla’s Don Latham won the Class B 660-yard race in 1:28.9 in the Vikings’ dual meet with Coronado, breaking a Metro League record of 1:30.3 by a Sweetwater runner in 1936.

3/15/40

Hoover defeated Point Loma, 82-22, in a nonleague meet in which the Cardinals’ best performers were held out because they were scheduled to participate in the Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach the next day.

—Sweetwater set a school record of 1:37 in an 880 relay that was the difference in a 53-51 win over Oceanside. Grossmont topped Escondido, 62-42.

3/16/40

Bill Rainey won the hop, step, and jump at 42 feet, 9 inches, and San Diego High won the 880-yard relay in 1:32.2 in the Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach High. Ollie Fletcher was one of 12 high jumpers who cleared 6 feet.  Coronado’s Minoru Hatada won the minor division broad jump at 20-1 ½.

Compton won the major division team title with 28 points to 23 ½ for San Diego.  Hoover had 8 1/2.

3/29/40

David James etched his name in Grossmont lore when he scored 16 ¼ points, the maximum possible, in the Foothillers’ 64-40 win over Sweetwater.

James won the 120 low hurdles in :14.2, the broad jump at 21-1, the 70-yard highs in :09.8, and anchored coach Jack Mashin’s Foothillers, 3-0 in league competition, to a 1:36.2 victory in the 880 relay.

4/1/40

The San Diego Relays were delayed another week because of the soggy Balboa Stadium track.

4/5/40

Long Beach Poly won the team title in the third annual San Diego Relays in Balboa Stadium with 47 points, followed by Hoover with 39 and San Diego, 21.

Hoover, led by the school record, 51-foot, 11 ½-inch toss by George Brown, set a meet record of 139-4 7/8 in the three-man shot put aggregate.  Ted Jacobs and Forrest Brown (no relation) were George Brown’s wingmen.

Don Smalley replaced an ailing Lou Barrera and teamed with Ed Pohl, Bob Klicka and Bob Estavillo to win the 440 relay in 44.2 and 880 relay in 1:32.5.

—Chuck Beckwith of San Dieguito covered the 100 and 220 in :10.1 and :22.9 and the Mustangs defeated Fallbrook, 82-22.

—David James won three events, 70-yard high hurdles (09.7), 120-yard lows (:13.5), and broad jump (21-3 ¾) and Grossmont (4-0) moved closer to the Metro League dual-meet title with a 70-34 win over Point Loma.

4/9/41

The second annual City Schools relays in Balboa Stadium included one team of Hoover and La Jolla and another of San Diego and Point Loma.

The competitors engaged in a 22-event carnival with point totals in aggregate in each running and field event. Hoover-La Jolla won, 88-85.

Highlight was the final event, in which eight athletes put on football uniforms and carried the ball in a 440-yard relay.

Hoover’s Jim Morgan anchored his team to victory after San Diego anchorman Bob Estavillo juggled a handoff.

Best individual marks were the 12-5 pole vault by Hoover’s Rodney Cole and the 12-3 by the Cardinals’ Bob O’Keefe.

4/12/40

San Diego scored a surprisingly easy, 75 ½-46 ½ dual-meet showdown victory over Hoover, the Hillers winning 10 of the 14 events and tying for first in two others.

Bob Estavillo raced to :10.1 and :22.2 victories in the 100 and 220 and anchored a 1:31 win in the 880 relay.  Bill Rainey broad jumped 22-1 and hopped, stepped, and jumped 44-7.

Rainey set a school record in the second event and bettered the meet record of 43-2 1/2 in 1938 by Hoover’s Bob Beckus.

Rodney Cole of Hoover and Calvin Gibson of San Diego each cleared 12-5 in the pole vault to better the meet record of 11-10 1/3 by Elmer Siegel of Hoover in 1933.

Hoover’s other victories were George Brown’s 49-3/4 shot put and Frank Huennekens’ 2:02.2 880.   Jack Kaiser cleared 5-11 in the high jump to tie Doug Merrill of San Diego.

—Marcus Alonzo of Sweetwater won the 100-yard race in :10.4 but lost a 220 for the first time this season, to Fritz Sanderson of Coronado, in :23.2.  Alonzo caught and passed Sanderson on the anchor leg of the 880-yard relay, giving Sweetwater a 54-50 victory.

—George (Pard) Graves broad jumped 21-6 and won the 100 (:10.4) and 220 (:24) in Point Loma’s 81-23 defeat of La Jolla.

—Grossmont edged Oceanside, 55-49, when the Pirates forfeited the 880 relay after their leadoff man false started twice and was disqualified. Ray Whitcomb broad jumped 21-9 and David James ran :13.4 in the120-yard low hurdles, both Foothillers school records.

4/20/40

San Diego won all but two events and beat Long Beach Poly, 81 2/3-40 1/3, to clinch the Coast League championship.

Lou Barrera won the 100 in :10 and tied teammate Bob Estavillo in a :22.6 220 and ran the leadoff leg of the Hilltoppers’ 1:30.0 victory in the 880 relay.

Alex Krooskos of San Diego doubled, 48-3 in the shot put and 130-6 in the discus.  Al Salmon won the mile in 4:37.1 and Calvin Gibson pole vaulted 12-7.

4/26/40

San Diego won a telegraphic meet with Tucson High of Arizona, 64-49, after results were tabulated this week.  Grossmont (6-0) clinched the Metro League dual championship, 60-44, over La Jolla.

4/30/41

Coast League Class B and C finals will be May 3 at Hoover, while Varsity athletes in the three-school alignment of Hoover, San Diego, and Long Beach Poly, will meet May 4 at Poly.

—Instead of champions in each class, points would be combined in all classes, winner-take-all.

5/2/40

Three meet records were set in Class A as San Dieguito ran away with the team championship in the Southern League finals at Ramona.

Chuck Beckwith of San Dieguito reportedly set a record of :10.2 in the 100-yard dash, won the 220 in :24 and ran a leg for the Mustangs’ record-setting 880-yard relay (1:36.5).

The Mustangs scored 96 points to runner-up Vista’s 23, but the Panthers dominated Class B with 80 points to San Dieguito’s 33 ½ and Class C, 60 to the Mustangs’ 36.

—About 260 athletes from the seven city and suburban schools, a.k.a. Metropolitan League, would hear the starter’s pistol at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow with preliminary events at San Diego State that will lead to finals in running and Class A field events at 1:30 p.m.

Dual meet champion Grossmont led with 55 entries in the 3 classes.  Point Loma and Escondido were next with 47 each.

5/3/40

COAST LEAGUE FINALS, @LONG BEACH POLY

San Diego outscored Long Beach Poly, 85 1/6-46, but the Jackrabbits were declared Coast League champions by the combined A, B, and C score of 139 ½-132. Hoover trailed in Class A with 20 5/6 and had a combined 95 ½.

San Diego’s team of Lou Barrera, Bob Klicka, Ed Pohl, and Bob Estavillo won the 880-yard relay in 1:30.6 to give San Diego a 132-131 ½ lead, but the discus had not been completed and Poly throwers finished 1-2 for eight winning points.

Bill Rainey was a double winner for the Hilltoppers with a 21-10 ¾ broad jump and 43-foot hop, step, and jump.  Al Salmon won the mile in 4:39.8, Bob Klicka the 440 in :51.9, and Lou Barrera the 220 in :22.2.

Hoover shotputter George Brown was first with a throw of 49-7 for Hoover’s only outright win.  Three San Diego (2) and Hoover (1) pole vaulters tied at 11 feet, 6 inches.

—Grossmont’s David James won a hurdles race, the broad jump, tied for second in the high jump, and anchored the Foothillers to victory in the 880-yard relay.

James scored 12 3/4 of the champion La Mesans’ 30 1/8 points that clinched the Metropolitan League team title at San Diego State. Oceanside was second with 28 ½.  Sweetwater was third with 28.

5/7/40

What was described as the Group V SCIF qualifying meet, better known as the CIF Divisional, will bring together athletes from the Metropolitan, Imperial Valley, and Southern leagues, plus San Diego and Hoover from the Coast, May 11 at San Diego State.

San Diego High was expected to compete for the Southern California Class A title and the B squad of Hoover, coached by Lawrence Carr, will have 13 entries in the Divisional.

One of the favored Cardinals, Frank Huennekens in the 660, was the 1939 Southern California champion in the Class C 660.

5/11/40

CIF DIVISIONAL, @SAN DIEGO STATE

San Diego High qualified eight entries in nine events at the Group V Divisional at San Diego State and Calvin Gibson finished an impressive day for the Hilltoppers by clearing 12 feet, 7 1/8 inches in the pole vault.

Gibson’s was at least one of the top three marks in Southern California, as was the 1:30.5 time in the 880 relay, completed by Hilltoppers Lou Barrera, Bob Klicka, Ed Pohl, and Bob Estavillo.

Barrera won the 100-yard dash in :10.1 and 220 in :22.2.  Bill Rainey was first in the broad jump at 22 feet, ½ inch, and hop, step, and jump at 44-5 ¼.

Hoover’s Jim Morgan surprised with a :51.9 victory in the 440 and George Brown led shot putters at 50 feet, 2 inches.  Most impressive was the Cardinals’ Frank Huenneken’s 1:24.6, one-tenth second off the CIF Class B 660 record.

CIF honcho Seth Van Patten was to compare the best marks from the five divisionals to determine which nine entries would be invited to next week’s finals.

5/18/40

SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS, @LOS ANGELES COLISEUM

San Diego scored in seven of 13 events and was leading in the race for the team championship until the final inch of the 880-yard relay.

Compton won with 21 ½ points to the Hillers’ 19 1/3.  Santa Monica was third with 18.

Bob Smyser of the Los Angeles Times captured the moment in the meet’s final race, which began under threatening skies after rain begin to fall minutes earlier in the Class C relay:

“The baton-passing event was a real thriller.  Compton and San Diego kept together until the anchor lap, when the Hillers’ Bob Estavillo spurted six yards away from Jim Jenkins.  Jenkins, however, slowly closed the gap.  He was a couple yards behind as they hit the stretch.

“Estavillo held on gamely and it appeared that he was going to stay in front.  But with 10 yards to go the Tarbabe ace bundled himself together and blasted across the line a scant inch ahead of his foe.”

Perhaps with some theater, Jenkins collapsed at the end of the race and was carried off the track, according to the Times’ report.

The Hillers’ foursome of Lou Barrera, Bob Klicka, Ed Pohl, and Estavillo were timed in a school record, 1:29.5, same clocking for winning Compton.

Had San Diego won the relay it would have finished with 21 1/3 points and Compton with 20 ½.

Barrera was fourth in the 100 and third in the 220, won by Huntington Beach’s Eddie Morris in :09.9 and :21.6.

Ed Pohl was third in the 220 low hurdles, won by Jack Shoup of Long Beach Jordan in :24.4.  Al Salmon was second in the mile, won by Gil Webb of Redlands in 4:31.  Calvin Gibson cleared 12 feet to tie for fifth in the pole vault behind the winning 13-0 by Paul Corwin of Burbank.

Bill Rainey was third at 21-11 ½ in the broad jump, won by Jack Shoup at 22-8 ¾, but Rainey was unplaced in the hop, and jump, won by Laughner of Long Beach Wilson at 45-11 ½.

Rainey’s best jump during the season was 44-7 ½, which would have been good for third place.

CARR’S CARDINALS

Coach Lawrence Carr’s Class B team ran away with the team title, scoring 27 ½ points to runner-up Glendale’s 18, and Long Beach Wilson’s 13.

Frank Huennekens, who won the Class C 660 in 1939, was first in 1:25.2. Ray Richards won the 1320 in 3:17.6.  Jack Kaiser was first in the high jump at 5 feet, 11 inches.

The Cardinals’ Chuck Blackburn was third to a winning :10.1 100 and third to a winning :22.6 220.  Rodney Cole tied for second in the pole vault at 11-9.  Ted Jacobs was third in the shot put at 50-5 1/8.

Hoover was third in the 660 relay, in which Long Beach Wilson set a record of 1:07.4, breaking the mark of 1:07.6 by Los Angeles Garfield in 1934.

San Diego High gave Southern Section commissioner Seth Van Patten the figurative middle-finger salute when the Hillers were denied permission to play Delano High of the Central Section for a mythical state championship.

After being told San Diego would meet Long Beach Wilson in a one-game Southern Section playoff, San Diego players voted not to participate, fold the season, and to accept gold baseballs commemorating their Pomona 2030 Rotary Club and Coast League titles.

The Hillers (13-1) won the Coast and the Pomona tournaments, and were favorites for a Southern Section championship but were going to stiff a watered-down, one-game version of the postseason if allowed to play the Northern California champion.

3 GAMES IN NORTH

A three-game series would be played the week of May 24 or June 1. The host Tigers guaranteed expenses and offered to use a Southern California umpire, according to Charles Byrne of The San Diego Union.

Van Patten, perhaps with a push from Harry Moore,  the principal at Long Beach Wilson and the Southern Section’s representative to the state CIF, said no to the Hilltoppers.    Moore wanted Mike Morrow’s San Diego club to play Moore’s Bruins for the playoff-shortened championship.

The Hilltoppers had beaten Wilson, 7-5, and 9-4, and weren’t interested in another joust.  San Diego’s only loss was a meaningless, final regular-season game, 12-7, to Long Beach Poly, which San Diego had beaten, 12-3, and 23-6.

News articles seemed incomplete, but the CIF record book declared Wilson champion.  San Diego had not forfeited, but “withdrew”.

Discretion was the better part of valor.  The Hillers had defeated East Technical of Cleveland in a two-game, unsanctioned series for the national championship in 1921 and were barred from the 1922 playoffs by Van Patten.

3/2/40

Hoover’s 12-1 victory at Sweetwater was called because of rain in the fifth inning.

—Grossmont’s 10-1 lead over Point Loma at Collier Park in Ocean Beach, was official when rain halted play in the fifth inning.

3/5/40

Hoover’s three hits were enough to defeat visiting Escondido, 5-4, in a seven-inning nonleague game was notable for the many walks and wild pitches by Cougars pitchers.

3/7/40

Fred Matson, who would  later be declared ineligible because he had signed an agreement to report to a Brooklyn Dodgers farm team after the sesson,  pitched a no-hitter as Hoover blanked the USS Melville team, 5-0, at Navy Field.  Doug Donnan homered and singled for the Cardinals.

3/9/40

San Diego scored a run in the 10^th inning on a fielder’s choice to win at Escondido, 1-0.   Bill Williams, who coaxed a walk from Bill Kern at the start of the 10^th, scored the game’s only run.

San Diego’s Duane Pillette gave up a second-inning single to Joe Reyes and was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 10^th, with John Beck finishing the shutout.

Escondido’s Bill Kern did not give up a hit until Alex Le Grand’s single in the seventh.

The teams combined for a total of two hits.

3/11/40

Escondido, which had been a power since the Metropolitan League was formed in 1933, had trouble with San Diego and Hoover of the Coast League.

Doug Donnan and Fred Matson combined to give up six hits and visiting Hoover shut out the Cougars in a nine-inning, non-league contest, 7-0.

3/13/40

Point Loma, making its season debut, fell to a 15-hit attack by host Hoover, which won, 17-5.

3/16/40

George Usher’s double in the bottom of the seventh inning scored Alex Le Grand with the winning run in San Diego’s 5-4 win over Escondido.

3/22/40

San Diego defeated Redondo Beach Redondo, 4-1, and Long Beach Poly, 12-3, on the first day of the Pomona 20-30 Rotary Club tournament, joining Escondido, which defeated Pomona, 4-2, and South Pasadena, 10-5, in the semifinals.

—Pomona had surprised Hoover, 2-1, in nine innings in the third round.  Riverside Sherman Institute eliminated Grossmont, 10-1.  Sweetwater and Point Loma also were scheduled to participate.

3/23/40

Duane Pillette pitched San Diego to a 7-4 victory over Escondido and the Hilltoppers’ fourth tournament championship since 1933 (they had to return the title from that first-year event because two brothers played in a meaningless semi-pro game) and the third over the Cougars.

The Hillers, trailing, 1-0, scored four runs in the fourth inning and single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh of the nine-inning finale.

San Diego had advanced to the championship with a 2-0 victory over Monrovia and Escondido qualified with a 6-1 win over Azusa Citrus, behind Winston Patterson’s two-hit pitching.

3/28/40

La Jolla, which did not field a team in 1939, made its Metropolitan League return a 10-5 success against visiting Point Loma.

Centerfielder John Bambalere doubled twice and drove in six runs for the Vikings, while pitcher Ned Haskell scattered six Pointers hits over nine innings.

3/29/40

Relief pitcher Tom Schoneman’s successful bunt in the ninth inning scored Tom Finney from third base and delivered a 5-4 victory for Escondido at Sweetwater.

Schoneman’s five innings of scoreless relief overcame the effort of sophomore Tom Anson, who went the distance for the Red Devils.

—Grossmont scored without a hit in the 10^th inning in a 7-6 victory over visiting Oceanside:  Hit by pitch, walk, and outfield error by the Pirates.

3/30/40

Hoover swept a doubleheader during a Northern trip to Covina, 6-4, and 8-5.

Jim Moore and Babe Belasco each homered for the Cardinals in support of Doug Donnan’s four-hit pitching in the opener.  Bob Stevenson homered and tripled and combined with Moore to hold the Colts to six hits in the nightcap.

4/2/40

Hoover traveled by cars to National City, stepped into interleague action and won a 12-1 contest at Sweetwater that was called because of rain in the fifth inning. The Cardinals needed only seven hits and capitalized on three host errors.

4/4/40

Ken Finney and George Petersen each had three hits and Ted Schoneman struck out 13 and allowed six hits as Escondido hammered visiting La Jolla, which committed nine errors in the 20-0 defeat.

4/6/40

Hoover’s Doug Donnan and Bob Stevenson walked 12 batters and San Diego had 12 hits and won the Coast League opener, 13-5, at Balboa Stadium.

Hoover, which had posted an 18-1 record (probably counting unofficial scrimmages) fell out contention when the Hilltoppers scored six runs in the fourth inning for a 10-3 lead.

Sam Rosenthal homered, Bill Williams doubled and tripled, and Tom Ortiz contributed four consecutive singles to back Duane Pillette, who went the distance despite giving up 10 hits.

4/9/40

Bill Kern and Willard Patterson combined on a four-hitter and Joe Reyes was 3 for 3, with a double and two singles, as Escondido blanked Oceanside, their seaside rival from 20 miles away, 6-0.

4/10/40

Pete Galindo had three hits and Ted Schoneman and Willard Patterson weathered several storms as Escondido overcame an early, 3-0 lead by Grossmont to win their third straight Metropolitan League game against no defeats, 19-12, both teams collecting a total of 33 hits.

4/12/40

San Diego raked 23 hits, scoring runs in every inning but the fourth and seventh, and rolled to a 23-6 victory at Long Beach Poly.  The offensive outburst was not a Hillers record, not even close.

There had been more explosive outbursts several times in their history, which included victories of 29-10 over Santa Monica in 1917; 31-5 over Orange in 1928, and 31-5 over Fullerton in 1930, according to Don King’s Caver Conquest.

Bob O’Dell, Johnny Ritchey, and Bert Marshall homered and Dick Roxborough and Marshall allowed 11 hits but kept the Jackrabbits at a distance.

—Don Shinn drove in six runs with a home run and double and Sweetwater collected 17 hits in a 17-3 win over La Jolla.

4/16/40

A six-run third inning and Bill Kern’s two hit pitching were enough in Escondido’s 7-1 victory at Oceanside.

4/19/40

Sophomore Bob Stevenson, with help from Doug Donnan in the seventh inning, stopped visiting Long Beach Poly, 4-3, to set up a rematch with San Diego, which beat the Cardinals, 13-5, 13 days before.

—Escondido claimed the Metropolitan League championship, shaking off coach Bill Bailey’s Point Loma Pointers, 10-4, after the teams were tied, 2-2, at the end of five innings.

—Singles by Howard Deckstader and Wendell Wilson backed the three-hit, 12-strikeout pitching by Tom Anson in Sweetwater’s 1-0 victory over rival Grossmont.

4/20/40

Third baseman Jack Maupin and pitcher Duane Pillette watched from the sidelines as San Diego whipped Long Beach Wilson, 9-4.

Hilltoppers coach Mike Morrow suspended the pair after it was revealed they had been involved in a dustup at the Hoover-Long Beach Poly game the day before.

4/25/40

Oceanside gave Metro League champ Escondido a battle, sending the game into the 10^th inning, tied, 2-2, but the Pirates collapsed under the weight of three errors and four Cougars hits for a 7-2 loss.

—Point Loma scored on a wild pitch in the ninth inning to defeat Sweetwater on the Collier Park diamond in Ocean Beach.   Shortstop Ollie Mathis took to the mound for the Pointers and held the Red Devils to three hits.

4/26/40

Duane Pillette was wild high, outside and low, walking three batters and hitting five others, but Pillette gave up only three hits and San Diego clinched the Coast League championship, 3-0, at Hoover.

—Grossmont closed out Metro League play with a 2-1 win over La Jolla. Cliff Blankenship led off the 10^th inning with a double and attempted to steal third base.  The La Jolla catcher threw wildly and Blankenship scored.

5/1/40

Escondido, champion of the Metropolitan League, will not participate in the upcoming Southern Section playoffs.

In making the announcement, Coach Charlie McEuen declared that several squad members soon would be turning out for spring football drills and that the players, as a team, voted not to continue.

By coincidence (?) McEuen also was head football coach.  His team was 5-3-1 and a 3-2-1 third in league play behind Point Loma and Coronado in 1939.

The spring-football-over-baseball-playoffs decision would have no impact on the Cougars’ 1940 football season.  They were 4-3-2 overall and 3-2-1 and fourth in the Metro behind Coronado, Sweetwater, and Point Loma.

5/2/40

HARDBALL HARDWARE

A couple hours before a 12-7 loss to Long Beach Poly ended a 13-game winning streak and undefeated season for San Diego High, Hilltoppers players and coach Mike Morrow received trophies and baubles.

Representatives of the Pomona Rotary 20-30 Club presented the Pacific Coast League Hollywood Stars’ perpetual trophy, which would stay with the Hilltoppers, acknowledgement of their winning the Pomona tournament three times.

They also retired the (San Diego) Carnation Ice Cream trophy, emblematic of their three Pomona championships.

Coach Mike Morrow was awarded a trophy as the tournament’s winningest coach.  Fifteen players received medals and Bobby Williams was given a gold baseball as an all-tournament selection.

—Hoover sophomore Ray Boone received a gold baseball from the Pomona officials after making all-tournament and players from Escondido, runner-up to the Hillers, were to be honored later in the day.

5/4/40

Hoover’s Bob Stevenson and Doug Donnan cuffed visiting San Bernardino on three hits in a 2-0 victory, one day after Grossmont had beaten ‘Berdoo, 10-9.

5/9/40

Hoover coach Wofford (Wos) Caldwell couldn’t enjoy a 9-7 win at Long Beach Poly that clinched second place in the Coast League, even as the Cardinals rallied with three runs in the eighth inning.

Leaning over to pick up a ball during infield practice, Caldwell was struck in the face by a thrown ball. Taken to a local hospital, Caldwell was diagnosed with a broken jaw, which could require surgery.

Caldwell returned and was on hand for part of the game before returning to San Diego.

Doug Donnan hit two home runs for the Cardinals and Art Spahr had four hits, including a home run.

(Caldwell was later diagnosed to have sustained a crack cheekbone, with no surgery planned).

Having won the Coast League and the Pomona 2030 Rotary Club championships, San Diego bailed on the so-called playoffs (see narrative above).

 

San Diego Section entries totaled only a combined 10 points in the state meet, but they set one individual state meet record and provided some excellence not seen on the scoreboard.

Clairemont’s Dale Fleet set a state meet record of 8:53.8 in the two-mile run and broke Tim Danielson’s County record of 8:55.7.  Helix’ Ed Mendoza was fifth in the two-mile and third all-time in 9:00.8.

San Diego’s 440 relay team of Melvin Jones, Clark Neal, Charles Fenderson and Elijah Turner was fourth in :41.5 and tied Lincoln’s 1968 record.  The 4:12.3 for fourth in the mile by Claremont’s David Harper was the sixth fastest ever.

Greg Gorsuch of Castle Park equaled a career best of 6-8 in the high jump although finishing sixth and Vista’s Ken Parrot long jumped 23-5 for a personal topper.

Shot putter Greg Norfleet of Morse improved from a regular-season best of 56-4 by qualifying 12^th in the trials at 57-1/4 and improving to ninth in the finals at 58-8 ¾.

My favorite was Lincoln’s Donald Tyler, who couldn’t get a call in pre-meet dope sheets but came to compete in a loaded 440.  Tyler, who won the San Diego section championship in :48.7, then surprised by advancing in the trials with a career best :48 flat.

Tyler was eighth in the finals but he tied the San Diego Section record of :47.3 and he had the same time as the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh-place finishers. I wonder if the film review of close finishes included a good look at this sizzler.

Not many medals, but  outstanding marks.

4/30/71

Greg Gorsuch cleared 6 feet, 8 inches, Steve See 6-6, and Bob Simas, 6-5 ¼, in the high jump, in the same meet, as Castle Park whipped Hilltop, 78-40, in the Metro League.

“Greg just ticked the bar at 6-9,” said Trojans coach Gray Elliott, “and he must have cleared 6-8 by three inches.”

Gorsuch also won the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.8.

—Patrick Henry won the Eastern League dual meet, 68-50, but Lincoln’s Donald Tyler ran the 220 in :21.4 on the Henry straightaway for the day’s best mark.

5/3/71

Patrick Henry defeated Clairemont, 76-42, ending a streak of 15 consecutive dual meet victories for the Chieftains, who had not been beaten since losing to Helix in the opening dual of the 1970 season.

Scott Hurst’s 1:57.9 victory in the 880, marked the first time he had gotten under two minutes this season and beat the Chiefs’ favored Randy McFarlane and David Harper.

5/7/71

EASTERN LEAGUE TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

The all-weather track at the stadium meant that running events would go but heavy rain made the jumping pits resemble swimming pools, so field events were postponed.

Lincoln led with 13 qualifiers with Donald Tyler’s :49.4 in the 440 pacing the Hornets.  Morse sophomore James Milton (:22) edged Tyler (:22.1) in the 220.

Dual meet champion San Diego had 4 qualifiers, “but we got all our key guys in,” said Cavers coach Martin Pedigo.

GROSSMONT LEAGUE TRIALS, @El Capitan

El Capitan, dual-meet titlist Mount Miguel, and Granite Hills each qualified 17.

Wind  was such that a :19.4 by Mount Miguel’s Milton Johnson in the 180-yard low hurdles was disallowed a meet record.

Discus throwers, led by the 172-4 of Monte Vista’s Les Frank, took advantage of the eight m.p.h. breeze.  El Capitan’s Jim Fulcher was second at 170-10.

5/11/71

WESTERN LEAGUE TRIALS, @MISSION BAY

Rory Trup, who won the San Diego Section 880-yard run in 1:55.3, with a best of 1:55.1, in 1970, ran the fastest 440 of the day, :50.2. Point Loma’s John Willson won the second heat in :50.3.

Kearny led with 14 qualifiers.  Clairemont had 12, Mission Bay and Madison nine each.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE TRIALS, @CHULA VISTA

Greg Gorsuch of Castle Park won hurdles heats in :15.3 and :20.4 and took a rest from the high jump, in which all competitors were advanced to the finals.

5/14/71

EASTERN LEAGUE, @BALBOA STADIUM

San Diego scorched a :41.8 in the opening 440 relay andwent on to win the team championship with 57 points to Lincoln’s 49, Patrick Henry’s 39, and Crawford’s 38.

San Diego’s Melvin Jones won the 100-yard dash in 09.8 and teammate Elijah Turner the 220 in :21.8.  Morse’s Greg Norfleet had a season-best 56-4 in the shot put. Donald Tyler of Lincoln ran :48.7 in the 440.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE, @CHULA VISTA

The winning high jump height was 6-4 ¾.  But the winner was not the favored Greg Gorsuch as unheralded Dave Stigen of Chula Vista out jumped Castle Park’s Steve See and Gorsuch, who was third, and their teammate Bob Simas.

Gorsuch interrupted his jumping to take part in the 440 relay.  The bar was at 6-6 when Gorsuch returned to the high jump.

According to Logan Gray Elliott, Gorsuch’s coach, his ace cleared 6-9…after the competition.

Gorsuch affected the high jump flop but Stigen used the vintage Western roll.

Castle Park won the team title with 52 points.  Hilltop was second with 31.

WESTERN LEAGUE, @MISSION BAY

Kearny’s Mike (Barney) Person cleared the 120 high hurdles in what was described as a wind-legal :14.4, bettering the :14.7 of Clairemont’s Steve Spiewak in 1970.

John Willson of Point Loma tied he 440 record of :49.7 by Clairemont’s Larry Godfrey in 1962.

Kim Downs of Kearny surprised the field, including defending champion Rory Trup of Mission Bay, with Downs’ 1:54.5 880, 13^th fastest in County history, but short of Bob Hose’s league-record 1:52.1 in 1964.

Kearny also surprised Clairemont, 44 points to 43, and won the team championship.

GROSSMONT LEAGUE, @EL CAPITAN

Mount Miguel (47 points) won a battle with Helix (45 1/2), El Capitan (45 ½), and Monte Vista (45) for the team championship.

Rick Schultz of Helix set a pole vault record of 14 feet, 8 ½ inches. Jim Cochran of El Cajon Valley and Schultz each had cleared 14-7 ¼, Cochran in 1968, Schultz in 1970.

AVOCADO LEAGUE, @ESCONDIDO

Vista’s Stan Leonard ran 1:56.4 in the 880 to break the 1965 record of 1:56.8 by Oceanside’s Brett Rowlett.

The 440 time of :49.5 by John Davenport of Escondido erased the :50 by Coronado’s Scott Knox in 1961 and was the fastest-ever  by a runner from a North County school.

5/21/71

SAN DIEGO SECTION TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Wesley Babcock of Lincoln tied the meet record of :14.2 in the 120-yard high hurdles, won his heat in the 180 lows :19.5, and anchored Lincoln’s mile relay, which ran 3:24.3 and qualified.

The inspired Babcock cited divine providence after the Hornets entered the race not one, but two regulars short.  “It was a miracle,” he intoned.

Lincoln was third in its heat as Winston Sharp substituted for ill Willard Nickleberry and Donald Tyler could not run the long relay because he was in the 440 relay, plus the 220 and 440 and a CIF rule prohibited substitutions of relay personnel unless of injury or illness.

Babcock was timed in :49.5 for his leg, although one observer had him in :48.9.

San Diego was dominant in each relay, winning its heats in :41.9 and 3:19.5, respectively. Melvin Jones won a 100 heat in :09.7.

Three top pole vaulters did not qualify.

Helix’ Rick Schultz’ pole snapped and he was slowed by a pulled muscle. Glen Gunderson of Poway (13-11 ¼) was out with a back injury, and Monte Vista’s Max Gabaldon (14-4) could not find his step and was slowed by back problems.

Lincoln and Vista each qualified nine for the finals.  San Diego, Patrick Henry, Escondido, Oceanside, and Clairemont had eight each.

5/27/71

SAN DIEGO SECTION FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

A see-saw battle for the team championship went to San Diego, with 31 ½ points to Lincoln’s 30.  Clairemont followed with 28 in the closest team race since Granite Hills edged Lincoln, 26-23 in 1965.

The team race came down to the mile relay, last event.  Without Willard Nickleberry and Donald Tyler, Lincoln was fifth in 3:24.3.  San Diego won in 3:19.4 and also edged Lincoln in the short relay in :42.2, same time as for the Hornets.

David Harper and Dale Fleet kept Clairemont in the running.

Harper ran the mile in a season-best 4:12.4, beating teammate Rick Lord, who ran 4:18.8. and Fleet outran Helix’ Ed Mendoza in the two mile, 9:02 to 9:10.4.

Castle Park’s Greg Gorsuch flopped 6 feet, 6 inches, in the high jump and Chula Vista’s Dave Stigen, using the Western roll technique, also cleared 6-6, but Gorsuch won on fewer misses.

Stan Leonard of Vista won a competitive 880-yard run in 1:54.2, ahead of Mission Bay’s Kim Downs (1:54.3) and Rory Trup (1:54.4), Helix’ Bob Bishop (1:54.5), and Patrick Henry’s Scott Hurst (1:55.3).

6/5/71

53^RD STATE TRACK TRIALS, @UCLA

FIRST 3 IN EACH HEAT, TOP 12 IN FIELD EVENTS QUALIFIED

EVENT	NAME	SCHOOL	RESULTS	PLACE
100	James Milton	Morse	:09.8	3rd
	Melvin Jones	San Diego	:09.9	9th
220	Milton		:21.5	4th
	Elijah Turner	San Diego	:21.8	5th
440	Donald Tyler	Lincoln	:48.0	3rd
	John  Davenport	Escondido	—-	9th
880	Kim Downs	Mission Bay	1:55.3	4th
	Stan Leonard	Vista	1:55.7	6th
Mile	David Harper	Clairemont	4:14.0	2nd
	Mark Novak	Clairemont	4:19.8	6th
120HH	Barney Person	Kearny	—-	6th
	Wesley Babcock	Lincoln	—-	Scratched
180LH	David Watson	Crawford	:19.5	6th
	Bill Haynie		:19.6	7th
440 Relay		San Diego	:42.1	3rd
		Lincoln	:42.3	4th
Mile Relay		Patrick Henry	3:18.9	3rd
		San Diego	—	Scratched
High Jump	Greg Gorsuch	Castle Park	6-6	3rd
	Dave Stigen	Chula Vista	6-4	—-
Long Jump	Ken Parrot	Vista	23-0	T-6th
	David Crouch	Crawford	22-11	10th
Shot Put	Greg Norfleet	Morse	57-1/4	12th
	Kurt Nelson	Madison	50-6	—
Pole Vault	Steve Field	Escondido	No Height
	Francisco Zepeda	San Diego	Scratched
Discus	Jim Fulcher	El Capitan	155-11	—
	Les Frank	Monte Vista	148-1	—

6/6/71

53^RD STATE TRACK FINALS, @UCLA

EVENT	NAME	SCHOOL	RESULTS	PLACE
100	Milton		—-	7th
440	Tyler		:47.3	8th
Mile	Harper		4:12.3	4th
Two-Mile	Dale Fleet	Clairemont	8:53.8	1st
	Ed Mendoza	Helix	9:00.8	5th
440 Relay		San Diego	:41.5	4th
Mile Relay		Patrick Henry	—-	8th
High Jump	Gorsuch		6-8	6th
Long Jump	Parrot		23-5	7th
	Crouch		22-11 ¾	8th
Shot Put	Norfleet		58-8 3/4	9th

 

A stunning Eastern League wipeout saw Crawford, Patrick Henry, and St. Augustine knocked out of the playoffs by the quarterfinals round.

No team from the that circuit had failed to advance to the semifinals in the San Diego Section’s first 10 seasons, 1961-70, and had won 8 of 10 championships.

Kearny, from the Western League, emerged this season and teams from that sector of the city would win 6 of the next 10.

TOPSY TURVY SEASON

The Komets, who lost five in a row in the middle of the season and got into the playoffs with the second poorest (12-10) record of the 16 qualifiers, defeated Clairemont in an extra-innings finale, in which they gave up a 6-0 lead.

“We never do anything the easy way,” said coach Jack Taylor, who pointed out that “four of those five losses were by one run.” The Komets won 10 of their last 11.

4/30/71

Two errors were all that prevented Granite Hills’ Dale Hansen from pitching the season’s first perfect game.  Hansen settled for a 2-0, no-hit victory over Helix on the Highlanders’ diamond.

—Said Clairemont coach Ernie Beck: “The way things are going, 10-8 might be good enough to win it and, despite the way we’ve been playing, we’re 8-7.”

Beck may have been reading tea leaves as he assessed the Western League race after the Chieftains dropped an eight-inning, 7-6 decision at home to Kearny, which won on Jesse Martinez’ single and Ed Schoen’s double.

5/4/71

Ernie Beck had tried several remedies for his Clairemont team after four losses in five games and then gave the ball to Jim Lyons and told to him leave his first base glove in the dugout and pitch against Mission Bay.

The Chieftains (9-7) shut out the Buccaneers, 5-0.  “He doesn’t have great stuff, but he throws strikes,” Beck said of Lyons to Bill Finley of the Evening Tribune. “Besides, he has as much moxie as anyone we have.”

Lyons, who hadn’t started all season, gave up four hits and walked one.

—On a day when Chula Vista’s 2-0 win over Mar Vista moved the Spartans closer to their first Metropolitan League championship since 1968, Hilltop coach Don Helton was bullish on his 8-5 Lancers.

“If we can get to the playoffs, our chances are as good as anyone’s,” said Helton after a nine-inning, 5-4 win over Bonita Vista. “Since all four rounds (of the playoffs) are played the same week, the name of the game is pitching and we think are pitchers are as good as anyone’s.”

Greg Wilkes and Hunter Likins combined to outpitch Bonita Vista ace Ken Bretsch, when Max Stewart singled in pinch runner Rick Hintz in the bottom of the 10^th inning.

—Roger Perdomo went 3 for 4 and raised his Grossmont League batting average to .579 as Granite Hills beat Monte Vista, 7-1.

5/5/71

Hoover usually battled for first place but today it battled to get out of seventh in the Eastern League.  The Cardinals, 3-12 in the East and 6-13 overall, defeated Morse, 9-6, for its second win in four games since a 10-game losing streak.

The win moved the Cardinals to within a half-game of sixth place Morse. They overcame four errors but a six-run first inning, highlighted by Alan Grant’s grand slam home run, gave them a cushion.

5/7/71

Rain washed away a three-run sixth inning and 5-3 Santana lead against El Cajon Valley, which received a gift, 3-2 victory that tightened the Grossmont League race as Granite Hills and Mount Miguel each picked up a game on the league-leading Sultans.

—“Just what we needed,” groused St. Augustine coach Bill Whittaker.  “Here we are with two sore-armed pitchers and it rains.  That means an extra game next week.  I may have to pitch against Patrick Henry myself.”

—Crawford, trailing St. Augustine by one game in the Eastern League, had a 5-1 lead against Hoover wiped out by the rain.

—Bob Tagye, Chula Vista’s 6-foot, 6-inch Metropolitan League basketball player of the year, pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Terry Zankiewitz in the Spartans’ 6-0 win over Marian that gave coach Bob Kennedy’s team (13-1) a two-game lead over Bonita Vista with two remaining.

Tagye has an 8-0 league record and 9-1 overall.  He’s hitting .468 and has struck out only seven times in 67 at bats.  “I’ll tell you one thing,” said Kennedy.  “He has my vote for player of the year.”

George Milke struck out 11 Chula Vista batters but the Marian defense committed eight errors.

5/11/71

Jim Lyons continued to strengthen coach Ernie Beck’s Clairemont (10-7) pitching staff, stopping La Jolla (9-7) on seven singles, 4-2, in his second start of the year. Big hit was Mike Young’s three-run, 275-foot home run down the third-base line.

5/12/71

San Diego’s Mike Antos, a 6-foot, 4-inch, 240-pounder, made his third appearance in a week, pitching 5 2/3 innings in relief as the Cavers (10-7) continued to harbor playoff hopes with a 7-6 win over Patrick Henry (10-6).

Antos had gone 10 innings in a 4-3 loss to Crawford, and eight in a win over St. Augustine.

—Kearny (11-6) clinched a tie for the Western League championship, winning its sixth game in a row, 10-2 over La Jolla (9-8).

5/14/71

Western League teams played 42 league games and couldn’t determine a champion; Kearny, Clairemont, and Point Loma finished in a flat-footed tie, each with an 11-7 record.

CIF bosses awarded Kearny the loop’s No. 1 playoff seed, followed by Clairemont and Point Loma, because the Komets had advantages over the Pointers and Chiefs in their season series.

—Crawford and St. Augustine tied for first in the Eastern League with 14-4 records, but the Saints would go into the playoffs as the No. 1 team after two wins in three games against the Colts.

—Santana and Grossmont, each with a 9-5 record, tied for the Grossmont League championship.

FINAL STANDINGS

EASTERN LEAGUE

                                   LEAGUE                                                                         OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	PCT.	GBL	WON	LOST	PCT.
Crawford	14	4	.778	—	20	5	.800
St. Augustine	14	4	.778	—	17	5	.778
Patrick Henry	11	7	.611	3	14	8	.636
San Diego	11	7	.611	3	12	11	.522
Morse	6	12	.333	8	7	15	.318
Hoover	4	14	.222	10	7	15	.318
Lincoln	3	15	.167	11	4	18	.182

WESTERN LEAGUE

                                 LEAGUE                                                                           OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	PCT.	GBL	WON	LOST	PCT.
Clairemont	11	7	.611	—	15	8	.652
Point Loma	11	7	.611	—	15	9	.625
Kearny	11	7	.611	—	12	10	.522
Madison	9	9	.500	2	11	11	.500
La Jolla	9	9	.500	2	10	12	.455
Mission Bay	7	11	.389	4	11	14	.440
University	5	13	.278	6	7	17	.292

GROSSMONT LEAGUE

                                 LEAGUE                                                                            OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	PCT.	GBL	WON	LOST	PCT.
Grossmont	9	5	.643	—	11	8	.579
Santana	9	5	.643	—	13	9	.591
Helix	8	6	.571	1	13	10	.565
Mount Miguel	8	6	.571	1	13	10	.565
Granite Hills	8	6	.571	1	11	11	.500
El Capitan	7	7	.500	2	10	12	.455
El Cajon Valley	5	9	.357	4	8	14	.364
Monte Vista	2	12	.167	7	3	20	.130

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

                             LEAGUE                                                                                      OVERALL

TEAM	WON	LOST	PCT.	GBL	WON	LOST	PCT.
Chula Vista	15	1	.938	—	18	4	.818
Bonita Vista	12	5	.706	3	18	5	.783
Mar Vista	10	6	.625	5	11	10	.524
Hilltop	9	7	.563	6	15	10	.600
Sweetwater	9	7	.563	6	14	11	.560
Coronado	6	9	.400	8 ½	9	13	.409
Castle Park	6	10	.375	9	8	14	.364
Marian	2	13	.167	12 ½	2	19	.095
Montgomery	2	14	.125	13	2	15	.118

AVOCADO LEAGUE

                             LEAGUE                                                                               OVERALL       

TEAM	WON	LOST	PCT.	GBL	WON	LOST	PCT.
Escondido	15	1	.938	—	17	4	.810
Carlsbad	11	5	.688	4	15	6	.714
Poway	11	5	.688	4	16	5	.762
Fallbrook	10	6	.625	5	14	6	.700
San Dieguito	7	9	.438	8	9	11	.450
Oceanside	6	10	.375	9	9	13	.409
Vista	5	11	.313	10	5	11	.313
San Marcos	4	12	.333	11	6	14	.300
Orange Glen	3	13	.188	12	6	15	.286

5/18/71

SAN DIEGO SECTION PLAYOFFS

1-A CHAMPIONSHIP

San Diego Military assured itself as the most successful team in the San Diego Section with a 5-4 win over Ramona at Palomar College.

The Cadets improved their record to 15-0-1, cashing five Bulldogs errors into five runs for their second straight title game win over Ramona (12-6).

2-A PLAYOFFS

FIRST ROUND

Crawford (20-6) 2, @Poway 3, 10 innings.

“They’re a pretty good ball club, but I think there are a couple teams up here (in the North County) as good as Crawford,” said Poway coach Jim Christ after Mark Leszcynski doubled home Joe Cameron with the winning run in the third extra inning.

Hilltop (15-11) 2, @Chula Vista 7.

Bob Tagye, arguably the Spartans’ only reliable pitcher, went five innings as coach Bob Kennedy eyed the possibility of four games in five days.  “If we make it to the playoffs he’ll either have pitched the allowable 16 innings or have a sore arm,” said Kennedy.

Patrick Henry (14-9) 5, @Kearny, 11.

Rick Nelson and Jerry Waldvogel each had three hits and the Komets scored in every inning but the second, had 12 hits against 4 pitchers, and won their seventh game in the last eight.

Carlsbad 2, @Grossmont (11-9) 1.

Bob Hecklinger’s winning one-hit pitching was the source of a scoring dispute.   Grossmont’s Larry Olson drove a ground ball between third base and shortstop. The Lancers’ third baseman fielded the ball and threw wildly to first base.

The Carlsbad scorekeeper ruled error, but the official scorebook was Grossmont’s, as the Foothillers were the home team, and their scorer called base hit.

“The ball was a hit,” Grossmont coach Terry Love told Bill Center of The San Diego Union. “I’m not robbing the boy. There was just no way they could throw Olson out on the play.”

Bonita Vista 8, @Santana (13-10) 3.

The Barons’ Ed Larkins stopped the defending champion Sultans on three hits.

Point Loma 6, @Escondido (17-5) 4.

Four Pointers sat this one out after running afoul of school honchos, but they scored three runs in the fourth and fifth innings to oust the favored Cougars.

Mar Vista (11-12), 4, @Clairemont 13.

Mount Miguel (13-11) 2, St. Augustine 3, @North Park Recreation Center.

5/19/71

QUARTERFINALS

St. Augustine (18-6) 3, Clairemont 4, @Mesa College.

Clairemont coach Ernie Beck turned to centerfielder Mike Agosto, who had not pitched all season, and Agosto kept the Saints at a distance, holding their big four of Charlie Flower (.387), Pat Tormey (.360), Rod Spence (.470), and Frankie George (.507) to one hit in 12 times at bat.

The Saints’ loss, following earlier defeats of Patrick Henry and Crawford, made for an Eastern League wipeout, no team advancing to the semifinals for the first time in the San Diego Section’s 11 seasons.

Bonita Vista (19-6) 0, Point Loma 1, @Southwestern College.

Kearny 4, Carlsbad (16-7) 3, @Grossmont College.

Poway 9, Chula Vista (19-5) 2, @San Diego State.

5/21/71

SEMIFINALS

Clairemont 8, Point Loma (17-10) 7, 10 innings, @Hoover.

Larry Eller’ suicide squeeze on an 0-2 count scored Craig Skoglund and Mike McMorran singled in Bill Goddard for an 8-6 lead in the top of the 10^th.

Craig Settles homered twice for Point Loma and P.J. Cole connected in the bottom of the 10^th before Goddard got the last out with the bases loaded.

The game originally was scheduled at San Diego State.

Kearny 4, Poway (18-6) 1, @Mesa College.

Kearny bunched four hits, including Jesse Martinez’ triple and two infield hits to score all its runs in the fourth inning.

5/22/71

CHAMPIONSHIP

Kearny (16-10) 9, Clairemont (18-9) 8, eight innings, @Hoover.

Artis Matthews looping line drive to right field in the fourth inning scored three runs and Ed Shoen’s triple in the fifth scored two more.

Jesse Martinez’ two-run single in the 10^th inning followed by a run-scoring hit by Shoen meant a 9-6 lead that proved to be enough, although Clairemont scored twice in the bottom of the eighth and had come back and tied at 6-6 after trailing, 6-0, in the fifth inning.

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San Diego High’s defending state championship team had the splendid miler, Al Heredia, but it was a quiet season overall in the militarily vital Coastal zone. The young men of the area undoubtedly were aware of the war clouds in Europe that would lead to World War II.

3/16/39

Oceanside won the 880-yard relay in 1:36.2 and the five points secured a 55-49, Metropolitan League victory at Escondido.

Jerry Williams of the losing Cougars set school records of 6 feet in the high jump and 21-1½ in the broad jump.

3/18/39

Defending champion San Diego was sixth with 9 1/2 points in team scoring in the Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach High.

Al Heredia was a winner in 4:49.1 in the mile. Chuck Hertzog was fourth in the broad jump at 21 feet, 1 inch.  Jim Brewer was fourth in the 880 and the Hilltoppers were third in the 880-yard relay, won by Com[ton in 1:32.5.

Compton won the large school championship with 33 points. Garden Grove won the small schools title with 20 points. Coronado was third with 17, Grossmont fourth with 16, and Vista tied for ninth with 3.

Eddie Morris of Huntington Beach, on  his home track, ran :09.7 in the 100-yard dash and :21.0 in the 220.

3/31/39

Chuck Hartzog broad jumped 22 feet, 2 ½ inches for the best mark in San Diego’s 90-32 Coast League dual meet rout of the host Alhambra Moors.

Robert Estavillo was a triple winner in :10.2 and :23.6 in the 100 and 220-yard dashes and anchored the 880-yard relay team to a 1:33 victory. Al Heredia won the mile in 4:49 for the Hilltoppers.

—Don Hayden won three events, 70-yard high hurdles (:10.1), high jump (5-feet-6), and pole vault (10-feet-8) at Vista swept a triangular meet with San Jacinto’ and Wildomar Elsinore.

The Panthers got the best of the two teams called Tigers, 67 points to 37 for San Jacinto and 27 for Elsinore and also swept classes B and C.

—Ramona scored 29 points, Fallbrook 25, and Mountain Empire 23 in a Southern Prep League triangular at Ramona.

Marr, Wise, and Elliott, the only Mountain Empire entries, won 4 events.  Marr won the 100 (:10.8) and 220 (:24.8), Wise the 440 (:55.6), and Elliott the high jump (5-3).

4/10/39

Don Harden won three events and Vista defeated Ramona, 81-26, in a Southern Prep League meet.

4/12/39

Hoover defeated Alhambra, 86 1/6-35 5/6, in a quickly organized Coast League meet.  Alhambra balked at the under-the-lights Friday, April 15, date at Hoover.

The Moors would have had to travel three hours and 125 miles on the often foggy Coast Highway  as evening was setting in.

4/13/39

Tom Herrin, his Point Loma baseball team’s game rained put, switched uniforms  and helped the Pointers beat Grossmont, 73-31, in a Metropolitan League dual.

Herrin was second to teammate Bill Fitzgerald in the 100 and 220 and won the broad jump at 20-5 7/8 and shot put at 43-1 ½. Fitzgerald’s winning times were :10.6 and :24.1.

—Long Beach Poly won the Coast League’s big meet, 69½-52 ½, over visiting San Diego. Poly’s Tommy Davies won sprint duels from San Diego’s Robert Estavillo in :09.9 and :23 and anchored the Jackrabbits’ 1:32.2 win in the 880 relay.

The Hilltoppers’ Al Heredia won the mile in 4:43. Chuck Hartzog took the broad jump at 21-1 /3/4 and John Macevicz beat teammate Jim Brewer in a 2:01.3 880.

—Vista stayed unbeaten in the Southern Prep League by sweeping classes A, B, and C from Brown Military.  The Panthers outscored the Cadets, 72-36, in Class A.

4/18/39

Escondido outscored visiting Hoover, 52 2/3-51 1/3, in a nonleague dual meet.  Bob Gain set a school record with a :10.2 victory in the 100-yard dash and teammate Jerry Williams set another with a 6-1 high jump.

4/20/39

Coronado won at Sweetwater, 66 2/3-37 1/3, clearing the decks for a showdown between the Islanders (4-0) and Escondido (3-0) four days later.

Point Loma (4-1) was lying in the weeds, the Pointers’ only loss to Escondido and still to meet Coronado.

4/21/39

The first annual All-City Relays at Hoover matched the Cardinals and Point Loma against San Diego and La Jolla.

Twenty events with combined squads in varsity, Class B and C, from the opening, four-man shuttle hurdles, to the final, Football Lettermen’s 400-yard relay (in full uniform and a football to serve as the passing baton), drew about 1,400 persons.

Hoover-Point Loma outscored San Diego-La Jolla, 88-72, with scoring at 5 points for first and 3 for second.  The Cardinals and Pointers combined for 14 first places.  San Diego was forced to enter four men in some events as La Jolla did not have personnel.

Best performance probably was by the four Hilltoppers runners in the four-man, two-mile relay.

Bill Chapman, Jim Brewer, John Macevicz, and Al Heredia covered the distance in 8:22.  Macevicz was timed in 2:03 and Heredia anchored in 2:01.5, crossing the finish line 150 yards in front of the Hoover-Point Loma entry.

4/24/39

Coronado’s Tommy Miller overtook Escondido’s Jerry Williams in the 880 relay and the Islanders came from behind to win the important Metropolitan League dual, 52 ½-51 ½, with a school-record time of 1:35.1.

Bob Gain, who won the 100 (:10.3) and 220 (:23.7), gave the Cougars a lead on the opening leg of the relay and that held up until Miller caught Jerry Williams about 15 yards from the tape.

Williams had won the high jump (5-8) and broad jump (20-9 1/8) and was second in the 120-yard low hurdles.  Howard Bob White of Escondido won the 880 in a Metro best of 2:09.3, narrowly beating Coronado’s Tom Rice.

4/28/39

The powder blue pants of San Diego High coach Joe Beerkle caught the attention of the crowd, which gathered under the lights at Hoover as the Hilltoppers surprisingly dominated, 74 2/3-47 1/3.

Al Heredia pulled away to beat Cardinal Art Nash by 20 yards in 4:38.2, stamping Heredia as a CIF contender.  Glendon Armstrong and Bob Klicka tied for first in the 440 in :51.8.

—Escondido would get an opportunity to tie for the Metropolitan League dual meet championship with a 76 1/3-27 2/3 win over Sweetwater.

—Point Loma defeated Coronado, 56-48, as the Islanders’ Tom Rice set a school record of 4:53.5 in the mile and the Pointers’ Parkinson set a school record of 5-8 7/8 in the high jump.

Escondido had only La Jolla remaining on the schedule.  An expected win by the Cougars would give the three contenders 5-1 records.

5/2/39

La Jolla, citing a lack of personnel, forfeited the final dual meet to Escondido, creating a three-way tie for the dual meet title between the Cougars, Point Loma, and Coronado.

5/5/39

Johnny Bauer, who set a CIF Class C record of 53 feet 5 inches with the eight-pound shot in 1938, won the Coast League Class B competition at Alhambra by pushing the 10-pound ball 52-4.

Rodney Cole of Hoover was second in the pole vault but set a school record of 12 feet, ½ inch.

Hoover won the Class B championship, edging Long Beach Poly, 61-60.

5/6/39

Grossmont, undefeated in Class B and C dual meet competition entered 52 athletes in a field of 265 in the sixth Metropolitan League trials and championships at San Diego State. Trials were to begin at 10 a.m., with finals getting underway at 1:30 p.m.

The 17^th Coast League finals were at Balboa Stadium and the third Southern Prep League championships were at San Dieguito.

Al Heredia continued his late-season push when he ran the mile in a 4:33.2 that smashed the meet-record of 4:38 by Evan Dowers of San Diego in 1930.

A month ago Heredia was running in the 4:40s and John Macevicz was one of the top half-milers in Southern California. Sinus problems forced an end to Macevicz’s season this week, but Jim Brewer stepped up to win the 880 in 2:01.

Long Beach Poly outscored San Diego, 75 ½-68, for the team championship. Hoover and Alhambra finished third and fourth with 38 ½ and 9.

Bill Hite of Poly logged :50.4 in the 440 to better the record of :50.5 by Maynard Shove of Pasadena in 1927 and Hite was part of the 880 relay squad which won in 1:30.7.

—Point Loma’s Richard Marques set a Metro mile mark of 4:44.9, which broke a record of 4:48.8 by Sweetwater’s Clair Berdel in 1935.

Marques’ teammate, Tom Herrin, and Oceanside’s Bruce McAllister were double winners, Herrin with a 21-6 7/8 broad jump and 45-8 shot put and McAllister with a :10.2 100 and :22.6 220.

Point Loma won the team title with 43 points, with Coronado (22), Oceanside (21-1 ½), Escondido (16 ½), Grossmont (10) and Sweetwater (8) trailing.

—Ten meet records were broken and Vista outscored San Dieguito, 67 to 62, for the team Southern Prep League championship.  Leo Swain of San Dieguito had the day’s best effort with his record 2:07.7 in the 880.

5/13/39

DIVISIONAL @SAN DIEGO STATE

San Diego and Hoover of the Coast League was joined by athletes from the Metropolitan, Southern Prep, and Imperial Valley loops.

The often afternoon cold wind was prevalent as San Diego’s Al Heredia won his mile race in 4:42.  Sophomore Lou Barrera led teammate Robert Estavillo and Escondido’s Bob Gain in a :22 flat 220.

5/20/39

SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS, @L.A. COLISEUM

San Diego’s Al Heredia set a school record and won the mile in 4:29.3.  Jim Brewer ran the 880 in 1:59, second to the 1:58.6 by Beverly Hills’ Paul Christianson, for another Hilltoppers record.

Lowell Donnelly tied for third in the high jump at 6-1 and Chuck Hartzog was fifth in the broad jump at 21-9.  The 880 relay team, of Lou Barrera, Bob Klicka, Glendon Armstrong, and Robert Estavillo, was third as Compton won in 1:28.9.

Tom Herrin of Point Loma reached 44 feet, 6 ½ inches and won the hop, step, and jump.

Long Beach Poly led in team scoring with 24 points, with Compton second with 21, San Diego tied for third with Glendale Hoover with 15.

5/27/39

25^TH STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS, @L.A. COLISEUM

Al Heredia was so close to winning that his second-place time of 4:26.8 was the same as the winner, John Hall of Torrance, second to Heredia in the Southern Section meet last week.  Heredia’s school record wouldn’t be broken for almost 30 years, by John Jacobsen, who ran 4:22 in 1967.

Jim Brewer was runner-up again to Beverly Hills’ Paul Christenson, who ran 2:01.3 in the 880.

Tom Herrin of Point Loma did not compete in the hop, step, and jump because it was an exhibition, non-scoring event.

San Diego was sixth in team scoring with 8 points.  Bakersfield won with 16.

San Diego’s 11th CIF Southern section championship and Coach Dewey (Mike) Morrow’s sixth came at the end of a turbulent decade and on the eve of World War II.

The Great Depression that started in 1929 raged through the ‘thirties and playoffs would be affected as the CIF moved forward.  San Diego did not participate in 1940 and ’41, and Morrow was in the Navy from 1942-45, a period when the CIF suspended the postseason.

Normalcy returned and so did Morrow.  The Hillers won the CIF championship in 1946, Mike’s first year back.

3/15/39

Ollie Mathis pitched a no-hitter and struck out 10 as Point Loma defeated Fallbrook, 3-0, at Golden Hill Playground.

3/17/39

Grossmont players were ducking all afternoon as visiting Escondido sprayed 24 hits on the Grossmont diamond and demolished the Foothillers, 25-5, in a Metropolitan League contest.

—Chaffee Kieber struck out 15 Sweetwater batters and gave up two hits, and Ollie Mathis drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning in Point Loma’s 3-2 win.

3/31/39

Host Hoover beat San Diego, 3-2, behind the pitching of Fred Matson and scored the winning run in the sixth inning on two walks, hit batter and an error.

—Bill Kern drove in Pete Galindo with a two-run home run in the sixth inning and Pete scored his brother Don with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth in Escondido’s 7-2 win over Sweetwater.

—The Four Coast League teams, San Diego, Hoover, Alhambra, and Long Beach Poly, were tied with 1-1 records after Poly’s Leroy Koenig hit a walk-off home run in the 10^th inning to defeat Alhambra, 6-5.

Point Loma defeated Grossmont, 7-6, when Pointers pitcher Chaffee Kieber struck out the last Grossmont  batter with the tying and winning run on base.

4/6/39

San Diego, Hoover, and Escondido were among the favorites in the seventh-annual, 48-team Pomona 20-30 Club Tournament.  Point Loma, Sweetwater, and St. Augustine also were in the gigantic  field of teams from Southern California.

San Diego and Long Beach Poly, each with two previous championships, were vying for the 30-inch perpetual trophy which goes to a three-time tournament winner.

4/6/39

Unheralded Point Loma upset seeded Long Beach Poly, 8-5, after earlier defeating favored Redondo Beach Redondo, 5-0, on the first day of the Pomona 20-30 Rotary tournament and Poly whipping Santa Paula, 16-2.

San Diego walloped Chino, 18-0, and the Chino Boys Republic, 27-2. Escondido beat Lawndale Leuzinger, 12-3, and Hoover topped Antelope Valley, 8-1, before receiving second-round byes.

Sweetwater and St. Augustine were eliminated in the first round, the Red Devils losing to Phoenix Union of Arizona, 3-2, and the Saints losing to San Luis Obispo, 9-7.

Chaffee Kieber went the distance for Point Loma, allowing only four hits and was backed by a five-run Pointers rally in the sixth inning.

4/7/39

San Diego, Hoover, and Escondido reached the semifinal round of the Pomona 20-30 Club tournament, but Point Loma, first-round conqueror of favored Long Beach Poly, was ousted.

The Pointers were in a 4-4 tie with Bonita, which broke open the game with five runs in the top of the seventh inning.  The Pointers scored four in their half of the inning but left the tying run stranded on third base.

Coach Mike Morrow’s Hilltoppers had a four-game total of 60 runs after defeating San Luis Obispo, 6-1, and Bonita, 9-2.

Hoover beat Monrovia, 3-1, in the morning and South Pasadena, 3-1, in the afternoon as Danny Roland and Don Donnan combined on three-hit pitching.

Escondido, champion in 1937 and runner-up in ’38, moved on with a 7-0 blanking of Huntington Beach and a 6-2 win over host school Pomona, 6-2, behind Don Galindo’s four-hitter.

Sweetwater stayed alive in the consolation bracket, 8-0, over Compton.

4/8/39

Mike Morrow’s sluggers pounded out 24 hits and defeated Phoenix Union, 18-6, to win their third Pomona title since the first in 1933.  The Hilltoppers, 6-0 over three days, beat Escondido, 4-3, in the morning semifinals.

The Hilltoppers scored 8 runs in the fifth and sixth innings, and administered an emphatic coup de grace with seven in the seventh. Manuel Hernandez and Bill Morales hit home runs.  Morales, Bill Williams, Stan Sharp, and Earl Bowman each had four hits.

Five Hoover errors contributed to Phoenix’ 5-2 victory in the morning. The game was called after five innings because of a tournament time limit.

Sweetwater was eliminated in the consolation semifinals by Fullerton, 5-4.

4/10/39

Writer Mitch Angus of The San Diego Union noted that the six San Diego teams in the Pomona event were 17-7 and that San Diego, winning the $250, 30-inch perpetual championship trophy, outscored opponents, 82-15.

San Diego also won the 1933 tournament but later were forced to forfeit because two of their players had played under assumed names in a meaningless exhibition in El Centro the previous summer.

4/12/39

Visiting Escondido scored nine runs in the seventh inning and Don and Ursulo Galindo homered in a 12-9 victory at Hoover.

4/14/39

Alhambra’s Bob Chambers quieted San Diego bats and pitched the Moors to a 2-1 win over the visiting Hilltoppers as play resumed in the Coast League.

Chambers allowed the Hillers five hits and his team had seven, bunching three in the bottom of the ninth inning against Jimmie Cortez to break a 1-1 tie.

–Hoover’s Fred Matson pitched a four-hit, 8-1 victory over visiting Long Beach Poly.

4/17/39

Bill McGee and Chaffee Kieber were reported to have combined to strike out 21 batters in Point Loma, 3-1 win over Sweetwater.

4/18/39

Escondido swept its home-and-home series with Hoover, beating the Cardinals, 6-2, at Finney Field on the Cougars’ campus after a 12-9 victory at Hoover four days before.

4/19/39

Danny Roland limited Point Loma to two hits and Hoover scored a 2-0 shutout at Point Loma in a nonleague contest between Coast League and Metropolitan League contenders.

4/21/39

Hoover (3-1) moved into first place in the Coast League with a 1-0 win at Alhambra (2-2), behind Fred Matson, who gave up 10 hits, all singles, but only once did the Moors get two in an inning and they were thwarted by three Cardinals double plays.

San Diego (2-2) defeated Long Beach Poly (1-3) in another Coast League contest at the Hilltoppers’ City Stadium.

Jimmie Cortez scattered seven hits and Nan Hernandez drove in Freddie Martinez and Jackie Albright with a second-inning hit.

–Escondido, closing in on a fourth consecutive unbeaten league season, warmed for its important Metropolitan loop game at Point Loma by defeating Fallbrook, 2-1, despite a 14-strikeout performance and home run by Warriors pitcher Lavata.  Pete Galindo homered for the Cougars.

–Grossmont, 0-4 and buried in the Metropolitan cellar, erupted for six runs in the third inning and broke a tie with two in the bottom of the ninth to beat arch-rival Sweetwater (1-3), 9-7.  Vincent Villavicencio tripled twice for the Foothillers.

4/26/39

Grossmont surprised Point Loma, 11-9, helped in part by 12 walks issued by Pointers starter Ollie Mathis, forced to go the distance because Chaffee Kieber was nursing an injured ankle.

4/27/39

Bill Swezey’s triple with the bases loaded was the difference in St. Augustine’s 6-2 win over the San Diego State Frosh at University Heights playground.

4/28/39

San Diego took a 5-0 lead after two innings and Duane Pillette scattered eight hits in a 7-2 victory over Hoover that tied the Hilltoppers (3-2) for first place in the Coast League with the visiting Cardinals.

4/30/39

Escondido completed an undefeated league season with its sixth Metropolitan League victory against no losses, 13-0 over Sweetwater.

The Cougars would have to wait for an unknown playoff opponent that still was playing in a league that had not completed its schedule.

5/3/39

Hoover, prepping for its game with Long Beach Poly, defeated a team called the Brooklyn Juniors, 6-2, as three Cardinals held the Juniors to one hit.

5/4/39

San Diego managed only two hits off Fenton Rinder, whose control problems led the Hillers to a 5-2 win over St. Augustine in the City Stadium.

5/5/39

Long Beach Poly dealt a critical blow to Hoover’s hopes for a first Coast League championship when the plate umpire ruled catcher interference on the Cardinals’ Jerry Davidson, allowing the Jackrabbits to score the winning run in the bottom the 10th inning.

5/6/39

Jackie Albright, Manuel (Nay) Hernandez, Stan Sharp, Freddie Martinez, and Earl Bowman slugged home runs—Albright’s to centerfield leading off the bottom of the first inning—and San Diego claimed the Coast League championship with a 9-1 win over Alhambra.

Duane Pillette gave up four hits as the Hilltoppers (4-2) finished ahead of the Moors, Hoover, and Long Beach Poly, all 3-3.

5/9/39

Still waiting for word on the Southern Section playoffs, Escondido defeated the San Diego Marines, 7-6, when Don Galindo singled in Bob Houser with the winning run in the last of the ninth inning.

5/12/39

Freddie Martinez had four hits, including a two-run home run in the eighth inning as San Diego won its opening Southern Section playoff game with a 12-8 victory at Whittier.

—Escondido meanwhile routed visiting Perris, 15-0, in its playoff opener.

5/20/39

Escondido, whose only two losses had been in nonleague games against San Diego High, saw its season end with a 5-3 loss to Long Beach Wilson in quarterfinals of the CIF playoffs.

5/26/39

Freddie Martinez and Earl Bowman each had two hits and Jimmie Cortez scattered five hits in San Diego’s 5-1, CIF playoff semifinals victory at Riverside Poly.

The Hilltoppers would face Long Beach Wilson, 4-2 winner over Santa Maria, in the CIF finals.

6/2/39

The five home runs that San Diego High slugged in its Coast League-deciding game against Alhambra was drawing snickers from people in the Long Beach Wilson program.

Bruins faithful didn’t think much of the Hilltoppers’ power, because of the very short distance to the leftfield fence in City Stadium, according to Mitch Angus of The San Diego Union.

San Diego coach Dewey (Mike) Morrow was unperturbed and pointed out that the Hillers win as often on the road as they do in the stadium, not just with home runs but solid pitching and overall play.

Angus was raising a moot point. The championship game wouldn’t be played in City Stadium but at Lane Field. Hillers had waived their right to play in City Stadium for the more neutral home of the San Diego Padres.

6/4/39

There were no home runs but San Diego’s Duane Pillette, son of the legendary Pacific Coast League hurler Herman (Old Folks) Pillette, stopped Wilson on one hit and the Hillers won their 11^th CIF championship, 3-0, in the park where his dad pitched.

Nay Hernandez had three hits and drove in a run. Jackie Albright hit a sacrifice fly for another and Albright scored the third run in the eighth inning after a wild throw on pickoff attempt by the Wilson catcher.