The narrative originally was posted on Nov. 16, 2012.

Coach Les Cassie’s Hoover Cardinals were within nine outs of a berth in the Southern California finals.  San Diego High was San Diego High, reliably formidable.  But Don Clarkson’s Point Loma Pointers may have been the best team of all.

The Pointers won the prestigious Pomona 20-30 Rotary Club tournament, split two games with Hoover, and defeated San Diego in Pomona.  The Pointers ran the table in the Metropolitan League and would have been a prime candidate for the Southern California playoffs.

But the Metropolitan loop had a curious history regarding the playoffs.  It usually declined, including this year.

The Pointers had an explainable reason this year.  Its regular season ended on the same day Hoover was bowing in the semifinals to Long Beach Wilson.

In the future the Southern Section would open the door  to more teams by creating major and minor divisions and schedules would be more accommodating to the start of the playoffs.  Point Loma would win a small schools football championship in 1949.

2/28/47

Hoover Alumni, aided by seven errors by the Cardinals’ varsity, won the season’s opening game, 6-2.

3/2/47

Leonard Ross and Pete Corona teamed on a three-hitter and San Diego, scoring three runs in the eighth inning, defeated its alumni, 5-2.

–Hoover’s six runs in the first inning, highlighted by Gene Launders’ single and LeRoy Darnell’s double, was enough to win a seven-inning contest against visiting Point Loma, 11-7.

3/7/47

Max Minga’s two-run triple in a three-run seventh inning paved Grossmont’s 4-1 win over the Alumni.

—Hoover opened an odd intersectional trip with a 12-7 win at Long Beach Jordan.  Chuck Chagnard’s three-run double on his second at-bat in the first inning was the final shot in a seven-run first, in which Bulldogs pitchers issued seven walks.

—Cyril Guthridge’s grand slam home run was the difference in La Jolla’s 6-5 win over visiting Kearny.

3/8/47

Harvey Jones gave up five hits, struck out eight and hit a two-run home run and Hoover outlasted the host Colton Yellowjackets, 9-6.

3/10/47

Bob Miller singled three times in three at-bats to lead Hoover to an 11-6 win over guest Grossmont.

—Andy Stagnaro’s five-hit pitching was enough to lead the San Diego Junior Varsity to a win at Escondido over the Cougars’ varsity.

3/12/47

San Diego’s junior varsity withstood a seven-run inning and edged the Kearny varsity, 9-8.  Grossmont was outhit, 10-9, but outscored Sweetwater, 8-7, in a nonleague game between Metropolitan League teams.

3/15/47

Coach Mike Morrow’s club won a day-night doubleheader in Balboa Stadium from the Tucson Bears, 9-5, and 10-9, collecting 25 hits in the two games.

—Long Beach Poly collected only four hits off Ken Clary but scored a 6-5 victory over Hoover on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot diamond.

—Joe Medina and Paul Kaneyuki combined to pitch Point Loma to a 10-1 victory over St. Augustine on the Pointers field.  John Brown helped with two doubles.

—Bob Press was 2 for 2 and Kearny beat San Diego Vocational, 6-2, at Kearny.

3/16/47

San Diego struck for 19 hits and defeated the Tucson, 17-5, to sweep the three-game series in Balboa Stadium against the defending Arizona champion.

Every member of the Hilltoppers’ lineup collected at least one hit.  John Brown and Pete Corona had four hits each, Ray Mendoza three hits, and Bill Dugan, John Verdusco, Jerry Dahms, and Hank Duffie two each.

3/18/47

Hoover’s Larry Nenna homered with a man aboard in the first inning for the Cardinals’ only hit, but they won, 10-4, over St. Augustine, which committed only two errors but virtually walked the Horace Mann playground ball park.

—Art Preston’s two-run home run in the first inning was the difference as Grossmont defeated Kearny, 3-2, on the Komets’ diamond.

3/20/47

Hoover and San Diego opened the Coast League season with wins at home.

Ken Clary and Harvey Jones hit home runs and Clary, with additional hitting support from Bill McColl, Bill Casey, and Gene Launders, scattered seven hits as the Cardinals won, 15-0, over Pasadena.

San Diego shut out Pasadena Muir, 11-0, as Joe Catlin contributed three hits, including a double and triple, and John Brown and Bill Dugan added two hits apiece in support of Pete Corona’s three-hit pitching.

—San Diego’s Junior Varsity beat La Jolla’s varsity and ace Bud Relyea, 10-6, at La Jolla.  Relyea hit a home run.

3/21/47

Ed Gray and Hank Fitch each had two hits and Pat Kennedy hurled St. Augustine to a two-hit, 9-1 win over Escondido at Golden Hill Playground.

—Point Loma began a two-game swing through the North with a rain-shortened, five-inning, 4-2 victory at San Bernardino.  Joe Medina pitched the victory and added a two-run triple in the second inning.  Medina’s sixth-inning home run was washed out by a downpour.

3/22/47

Paul Kaneyuki allowed nine hits and went the distance as Point Loma completed a successful weekend foray into the Inland Empire with a 6-4 win at Colton.

—Len Ross’s five-hit pitching and Joe Catlin’s two-run triple in a three-run fifth inning was enough for San Diego, 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the Coast League, to beat Pasadena, 6-2, in Balboa Stadium.

—Merle Smith’s three-run triple in the fifth inning broke open a game with visiting Pasadena Muir and Hoover romped, 13-2.

3/25/47

San Diego won a nonleague game at Grossmont, 8-4, tagging the Foothillers’ Art Preston for 10 hits.  Pate Corona and Bill Dugan combined with seven-hit pitching for the Hilltoppers.

–Joe Medina pitched six hitless innings and third baseman Joe Correia doubled and tripled and the Pointers topped pitcher Don Larsen and an alumni squad, 6-2, at Golden Hill playground.

–Who’s on first? No, who scheduled the game?  The dreaded administrative glitch. Hoover’s nonleague contest against Escondido was canceled because of a reported “misunderstanding” as to the game site.

–Bud Relyea struck out 16 St. Augustine batters, contributed two hits, and allowed three hits in the La Jolla’s’ 5-1 win at home.

3/28/47

Hoover (8-2) scored seven runs in the first four innings and went on to a 10-6 win over San Diego (8-1) to take the lead in the Coast League with a 3-0 record. Ken Clary had four hits in five times at bat, including two home runs, and pitched the complete-game victory.

Bob Miller also homered and Harvey Jones singled, doubled, and tripled for the Cardinals.

—Grossmont scored at least one run in every inning from the fourth through the eighth inning and Art Preston kept El Centro Central at a distance as Grossmont won, 12-6, in an intersectional game on the Foothillers’ diamond.

—Paul Kaneyuki, Gene Roberts, and John Silveira combined to pitch a one-hitter and Point Loma submerged the Amphibious Base team, 12-0, at Navy Field.

—Eight errors contributed to Kearny’s 10-3 loss at Sweetwater.  La Jolla knocked off St. Augustine for the second time in the week, 10-3, in a seven-inning contest at Golden Hill.

3/29/47

San Diego bounced back from its loss to Hoover with an 8-1 victory over visiting Long Beach Wilson.  John Brown stopped the Bruins on six hits. Jerry Dahms singled, tripled, and homered and Hank Duffie doubled and hit three singles.

4/1/47

The 14^th Pomona 2030 Rotary Club tournament drew six San Diego-area teams and they played a combined total of 12 first-round, second-round, and consolation games, starting as early as 8 a.m. and concluding in late afternoon.

San Diego and Point Loma still were alive in the championship bracket, but Hoover and La Jolla fell into the consolation bracket after first-round losses.  Grossmont and Escondido won first-round games but lost and headed home after second-round defeats.

San Diego defeated Fullerton, 3-0, and Santa Monica, 8-2. Point Loma whipped Covina, 11-3 and Santa Barbara, 5-1.

Escondido beat Covina, 9-8, and fell to Whittier, 7-1.  Grossmont measured Huntington Beach, 6-2, and then bowed to Long Beach Poly, 6-4.

La Jolla lost to Whittier, 6-3,  but was in business in the consolation bracket after a 14-5 victory over Chino.  Hoover, one of the tournament favorites, was ousted in the first round, 9-1, by Ontario Chaffey but rallied for an 11-1 win over Santa Ana in the afternoon, second-chance game.

What it all meant was that San Diego was to play Point Loma in the championship quarterfinals and Hoover and La Jolla would meet in the consolation quarterfinals.

4/2/47

Not San Diego and not Hoover.  Point Loma was playing for the championship of the Pomona 20-30 Rotary Club tournament,

The Pointers of coach Don Clarkson emerged as potential champions, defeating San Diego, which was seeking its seventh tournament title, 3-1, in the morning quarterfinals and San Bernardino, 13-0, in the afternoon semifinals.

Defending champion Hoover, knocked out of the championship bracket on the first day, stayed in the hunt for the consolation trophy, beating La Jolla, 12-0, and Bonita, 8-0.

Paul Kaneyuki pitched a three-hitter against San Diego and had two hits.  Yoto Takeshita added a couple hits for the Pointers. Don Blackman was leading the Peninsula team with a .600 average, nine for 15. Joe Medina stuffed San Bernardino on four hits.

Hoover’s Bob Woods stopped La Jolla on two hits.  Harvey Jones allowed Bonita one hit.

4/3/47

Point Loma won a see-saw battle with Whittier, 8-7, for the Pomona 2030 Rotary Club championship.  Hoover took the consolation title, 10-5, over Fullerton.

Ralph Silva’s double with the bases loaded off Whittier pitcher Ed Hookstratten was the difference in the game.  Hookstratten gave up nine hits compared to the 14 allowed by Paul Kaneyuki, who continually worked out of jams.

Larry Nenna paced Hoover’s 11-hit attack with four hits in five times at bat.

4/8/47

Andy Stagnaro, up from the junior varsity, stopped Grossmont on three hits and Joe Catlin hit a three-run home run in an eight-run third inning as San Diego whipped Grossmont, 10-1, in Balboa Stadium.

—Harvey Jones and Larry Nenna each had three hits, with Nenna also adding a two-run homer, in Hoover’s 6-2 win over visiting St. Augustine.

—Joe Medina scattered 12 hits at Sweetwater and Point Loma continued to win, 6-4.

4/11/47

Hoover lost at Compton, 4-1, and San Diego won at Pasadena Muir, 8-2, in Coast League games.

—Grossmont pounded three Escondido hurlers for 16 hits and whipped the Cougars, 16-6, as Metropolitan League play began.

—Guest Oceanside had 13 hits, but Sweetwater made better use of its 15 hits in an 18-8 victory.

—La Jolla won at Kearny, 8-5, and Point Loma used its bye date to win, 8-5, at Naval Training Center.

4/13/47

Compton completed a sweep of visiting San Diego and Hoover and took command in the Coast League when the Tarbabes defeated the Hilltoppers, 6-1, after stopping Hoover, 4-1, the previous day.

—Hoover recovered to win, 8-3, at Pasadena Muir. Harvey Jones struck out 12 and Bill McColl drove in four runs with a double and two singles.

4/15/47

Rudy Ortiz, Frank Morey, John Verdusco, Pete Corona, and Bill Dugan hit home runs at Golden Hill Playground and San Diego used the circuit clouts and 10 other hits for a 23-0 rout of St. Augustine.

John Brown, Pete Corona, and Leonard Ross combined to hold the Saints to two hits.

—Merle Smith had three hits and Hoover beat Grossmont, 15-7, and the Hoover JV, behind Bill White’s no-hitter, beat the Grossmont JV, 6-1.

—The San Diego junior varsity (11-0) rapped 14 base hits and clobbered Escondido’s varsity, 17-9.

4/18/47

Bud Relyea struck out 17 batters, hit a home run, and pitched a no-hitter as La Jolla routed Escondido, 18-0.

—Paul Kaneyuki gave up one hit and Point Loma defeated host Oceanside, 7-1. Sweetwater lost at Grossmont, 8-6, and Kearny won a nonleague encounter from visiting St. Augustine, 8-4.

—Gene Launder’s two-run single in the top of the seventh inning tied the score, 6-6, and Launder’s sharp grounder, mishandled by Tommy Martinez, scored Bill McColl in the ninth inning and Hoover edged San Diego, 7-6, at Balboa Stadium.

4/22/47

Point Loma continued to meet and beat all area opposition, taking down Hoover, 6-0, behind Joe Medina’s two-hit pitching on the Convair field.

Medina led off the second inning with a home run and Don Blackman aided the cause with two singles and a double.  Hoover coach Les Cassie used 13 players and three pitchers.

—San Diego State’s junior varsity stook advantage of Kearny hospitality, 11-5, and Grossmont rudely welcomed traveler Calexico, 13-3.

—San Diego junior varsity’s streak of 13 consecutive wins was ended at Sweetwater, 10-2.

Nine St. Augustine errors contributed to San Diego’s 11-2 win in Balboa Stadium.

4/23/47

Jack Konte homered and Bud Relyea homered and pitched La Jolla to a 2-1 win at Kearny.

4/25/47

Hoover moved into a first place tie in the Coast League by winning a rematch with Compton at Hoover, 6-4. Ken Clary was touched for 10 hits but went the distance for the Cardinals.

—San Diego shut out Pasadena, 10-0, in a night game in Balboa Stadium.

—Paul Kaneyuki and Point Loma got the best of Grossmont and Art Preston, 6-5, on the Naval Training Center diamond.

—La Jolla and Bud Relyea gave up unbeaten Metropolitan League status in a 5-3 loss at Sweetwater and Kearny was a road winner at Escondido, 7-0.

4/26/47

San Diego clinched the Coast League championship for Hoover when it crushed Compton with an 18-hit attack, 17-4, ending a disastrous, 0-2  trip for the Tarbabes.

—Fred Weitzen hit two home runs and Ken Clary homered as Hoover beat Pasadena, 13-0, behind Harvey Jones’ six-hitter on the Horace Mann field in Hillcrest.

The Cardinals soon got word of Compton’s loss four miles away in Balboa Stadium and then awaited word on the Southern Section playoffs.

4/29/47

Grossmont beat La Jolla, 8-3, in the lone Metropolitan League game.  Escondido took out some frustration with a 20-5 nonleague win over Vista.  The Hoover JV blanked the Kearny varsity, 5-0, and Fallbrook topped Julian, 7-0, in a Southern Prep League game.

5/1/47

La Jolla’s Cyril Guthridge gave up three hits and defeated the Camp Elliott Marines, 4-2.

—Don Larsen, who graduated mid-term, doubled home the winning run as the Point Loma alumni beat the varsity, 4-3.

5/3/47

Art Preston hit for the cycle—single, double, triple, and home run—struck out 15 and gave up one hit in Grossmont’s immolation of Oceanside, 21-0.

–Paul Kaneyuki of Point Loma and Bud Relyea of La Jolla struck out 15 batters each but didn’t do as well with those who made contact.

La Jolla collected 10 hits but committed 10 errors and Point Loma, on the strength of nine safeties, won, 13-6.

–Kearny made six errors and Sweetwater five, but the Red Devils also had more hits, 10 to five, and whacked the Komets, 16-5.  St. Augustine won a nonleague contest with Escondido, 10-8, on Ivan Radovich’s two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning.

5/7/47

John Brown socked two home runs and Bill Dugan and Jerry Dahms one each and San Diego won, 18-8, at Long Beach Wilson.

–Point Loma drove Art Preston to cover in the first inning but relief pitcher Fred Weinbrandt kept Point Loma off the scoreboard and Grossmont took an 11-5 victory.

5/8/47

Shortstop Doug Harvey would be the leadoff man for visiting El Centro Central when the Spartans played Hoover in a first-round CIF Southern Section playoff. Harvey became a major-league umpire and is in the baseball Hall of Fame.  Harvey’s presence and command was such that Reggie Jackson once declared that Harvey “was the voice of God.”

5/9/47

Merle Smith hit a two-run home run in the first inning that propelled Hoover to a 13-3 victory over El Centro Central in an opening-round playoff game.

Bob Miller, Ken Clary, Harvey Jones, and Ralph Carpenter also drove in two runs apiece for the Cardinals.  Clary and Jones held the Spartans to one hit, a single by shortstop Doug Harvey.

—Art Preston struck out 18 batters as Grossmont defeated St. Augustine, 3-1.  La Jolla’s Bud Relyea struck out 19 Oceanside Pirates in La Jolla’s 5-0 win.

–Phil Adams was 3 for 3 as Point Loma punished Kearny, 15-1, and Sweetwater bombed Escondido, 12-3, as Ordean Olson had three hits and Al Hooper hit a two-run home run.  Fallbrook won a Southern Prep League game at Vista, 8-2.

5/9/47

San Diego dropped a 3-0 decision at Tucson in the first of its three, season-ending games against the Arizona squad. The Hillers were restricted to singles by Jerry Dahms and John Verdusco.

5/10/47

Ray Mendoza’s two hit pitching evened San Diego’s season-ending, three-game series at Tucson, 4-1, but the Bears prevailed, 2-1, in the nightcap of the doubleheader.

San Diego won the intersectional series, four games to two, and completed the season with a 19-6 record.

5/16/47

Hoover scored two runs in the first inning and two more in the third and single runs in the fourth and fifth to win at Inglewood, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section playoffs.

Harvey Jones scattered eight hits and Gene Launders and Merle Smith contributed two hits each.

–Point Loma clinched a tie for the Metropolitan League title, 11-2, at Escondido.  Paul Kaneyuki spaced 10 hits and the Pointers manufactured 14. Grossmont beat La Jolla, 10-4, and Oceanside took its first league win, 6-3 over Kearny.

5/20/47

Brown Military (4-1) stayed alive in its Southern Prep League pursuit of idle Fallbrook (4-0) as the Cadets smashed Julian, 16-2, at the Cadets’ Garnet Avenue ball bistro in Pacific Beach.  Ramona beat Army-Navy, 11-5, and Vista topped San Dieguito, 7-6.

–Grossmont finished 5-1 in Metro League play with a 9-7 win over Kearny and then began a waiting game, hoping for a Sweetwater win over Point Loma which would give the Foothillers a share of the championship.

5/23/47

Point Loma (6-0) claimed the Metropolitan League title, 5-2, over Sweetwater on the Convair diamond.  Paul Kaneyuki limited the Red Devils to five hits.  Fallbrook (5-0) clinched a share of the Southern Prep League title, 10-1, over Army-Navy as Ted Chamness limited the Warriors to one hit.

Host Long Beach Wilson trailed, 1-0, after six innings and then scored two runs each in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings for a 7-2 CIF playoffs, semifinals victory over Hoover.

Wilson, an 18-8 loser to San Diego, won the Southern Section championship the following week, 9-4, over visiting Glendale.

Baseball and track and field continued to feel the effects of the World War II with shorter seasons and limited participation.

Teachers and students were answering the call from Uncle Sam and leaving for the military.  Allied forces continued to fight fierce battles in Europe and the Pacific.

No official count of the number of baseball games were played, but practice games and nonleague encounters sometimes went unreported or weren’t published by the shrinking staffs of The San Diego Union, Evening Tribune, and The Daily Journal.

San Diego, Hoover, and Sweetwater tied for first in Victory League baseball, each with a 3-1 league record.  Track and field managed to complete a full season with a combined championship day for the Southern Section and Los Angeles City Section.

The sections competed separately before a crowd of about 15,000 in the L.A. Coliseum.

The war took a historic turn in Europe, with D-Day and the Normandy invasion, thirteen days after the final track meet.

(Bold type for Track, Light for Baseball)

 4/2/44

San Diego defeated Hoover, 57 2/3-46 1/3, in a dual meet that did not count in Victory League competition. 

Ralph Phillips of the Hillers won the 100-yard dash in :10.1 and 220 in :23.1.  Sophomore Norman Stocks won the 440 in :52.2 and anchored a 1:35 victory in the 880-yard relay.

Vocational dropped a 5-1 decision at Golden Hill Playground to the San Diego junior varsity, whose Luis Urquidi had five hits in five times at bat.

4/4/44

Jack Harshman collected four of San Diego’s 10 hits but the Hillers were beaten by the Coast Guard base team, 11-4, at Golden Hill.

4/5/44

The Point Loma varsity combined two hits, two errors and a walk for three runs, and defeated the San Diego High JV, 4-2.

4/11/44

Hoover dropped a 7-1 decision to the visiting Camp Kearny Marines.

—Byron Ward homered and his triple scored Don Sparling in the 10^th inning as Sweetwater outlasted Camp Miramar, 6-5, on the Red Devils’ diamond.

4/13/44

Lee Singleton’s single scored Tom Maheras and George Caswell in the first inning and that was enough as host Hoover beat Point Loma, 4-0, in a Victory League opening game.

The Cardinals rolled behind the four-hit pitching of Dick Barnes, who struck out 11 and didn’t allow a base runner after the fourth inning.

4/14/44

San Diego scored 6 runs each in the first and second innings and pounded out 14 hits in an 18-0 execution of Vocational on the Balboa Stadium diamond.

—The Fort Rosecrans team bunched two-base hits in the sixth inning at Hoover and defeated the Cardinals, 1-0.

Grossmont’s James Wood won the 70-yard high hurdles, next to last event of the meet, in :10 and the Foothillers dominated the field events to edge San Diego, which won all races on the track, 54-50.

—Hoover was a 52 ½-50 ½ winner over La Jolla and led the Victory League with a 5-0 record, followed by Grossmont and San Diego, each 4-1.  Top mark was the 21-foot, 6 ½-inch broad jump by the Cardinals’ Jack Norberg.

4/18/44

Victor Salazar scored from second base on a fly-ball out by Carl Goodwalt and San Diego defeated Fort Rosecrans, 5-4, in Balboa Stadium.

Bud Andrews and Bob Marr each won two events and La Jolla topped Sweetwater, 66 ½-37 ½.  Grossmont beat Point Loma, 62-42.

4/21/44

Hoover (6-0) swept the broad jump and shot put and took four other first places plus a tie for first to clinch a tie for the Victory League dual meet championship, 55 ½-48 ½, over San Diego (4-2) on the Cardinals’ oval.

Thirty-two combined base hits and 10 combined errors later San Diego stood 2-0 in the Victory League after a 16-11 victory at Point Loma.

The Hilltoppers struck 21 base hits and put the game away with a five-run seventh inning.

4/25/44

Three Sweetwater pitchers, Castro, Johnson, and Don Sparling held Point Loma to three hits and Sweetwater made the most of eight hits to score an 8-0 victory on the Pointers’ diamond.

4/26/44

Charlie Harris gave up four runs but survived a seventh-inning uprising as Point Loma defeated the San Diego Electric Railway team, 9-4.

(The Electric Railway operated in San Diego from 1892 until 1949, when trolley cars gave way to buses and the continually expanding use of automobiles).

—Hoover capitalized on singles by Tom Maheras and Don Brorson, a walk to Lee Singleton, and a wild pitch in the sixth inning propelling the Cardinals to a 2-0 victory over a team identified as Kearny Ship’s Company and not affiliated with Kearny High.

4/28/44

Outhit, 10-7, San Diego took advantage of 11 Sweetwater errors to score a 13-7 victory on the Red Devils’ diamond.

—John Brody struck out 15 and St. Augustine scored six runs in the fifth inning en route to a 10-7 win at Point Loma.

—Idle Hoover backed into its second straight Victory League dual meet championship when coach Dave Rebd’s Cardinals rested and La Jolla went to the foothills and defeated Grossmont (5-2), 60 ½-43 ½.

The Cardinals (6-0) had one meet remaining, versus Coronado the following week.

—San Diego won 10 of 11 events, routing Kearny, 92-11.  Ted Simpson won the 880 in 2:09, Norman Stocks the 440 in :52.6, and Pasqual Buono the pole vault, clearing 11 feet, 4 inches.

—Bob Seiben won the 440, broad jump and 220 low hurdles but didn’t get much help as Point Loma topped Sweetwater, 67-37.

4/30/44

The city’s Civil War was five days away and coaches Bob Breitbard (Hoover) and John Brose (San Diego) were setting their lineups for the three-game series that would not count in Victory League standings.

San Diego, Hoover, and Sweetwater were tied for first in the abbreviated campaign.

5/2/44

Hoover closed a 7-0 dual meet season with a 92-11 victory over Coronado that was its 14th in a row since 1943.  Jack Norberg was a triple winner, :09.8 70-yard high hurdles, :13.5 120 lows, and 21-4 ½ broad ump.

Runners-up in the standings were San Diego, Grossmont, and La Jolla, each 5-2, while Grossmont (7-0) swept Classes B and C.

—Hoover’s Dick Barnes and Marty Gaughan combined to pitch the first perfect game in Victory League history, 7-0 over Vocational on Golden Hill Playground.

Barnes pitched the first three innings and Gaughan the last six, striking out 8 and walking one.  Lee Singleton and Frank Smith each had two hits and drove in three runs.

5/4/44

Al Smith allowed six hits but Point Loma committed eight errors and dropped a 6-4 decision to the Camp Kearny Liberators on the Pointers’ diamond.

5/5/44

Carl Hurlbach kept Hoover in check on five hits and benefitted from a San Diego attack that scored nine runs in the final three innings for a 13-5 victory in the first of the best-of-three City series at Hoover.

A five-run ninth against Cardinals pitchers Bill Ruzich and Marty Gaughan highlighted by Louie Dukes’ two-run double clinched the win.

5/6/44

VICTORY LEAGUE FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

San Diego won the team championship with 36 points, followed by La Jolla, which had 28, and Hoover 18½.  Grossmont had 18 1/6, Sweetwater, 13 1/3, Coronado 11, Point Loma, 3, and Kearny, 1.

Jack Norberg of Hoover was the individual star with 13 points, winning the 120-yard low hurdles in :13.3 and broad jump at 20 feet, 10 inches, and placing second to the :09.3 by Don Nelson of Grossmont in the 70-yard high hurdles.

San Diego’s two first places were the :53.1 440 by Norman Stocks and the 5-11 3/8 high jump that tied Ivan Robinson with La Jolla’s Don Ide.

Ray Turnipseed of Coronado was a double sprint winner, running the 100 in :10.2 and 220 in :22.7.

La Jolla’s Bob Marr, Phil Prather, Bob Faniel, and Bud Andrews raced to a season-best 1:32 in the 880-yard relay.

5/19/44

Lefthander Bill Ruzich stopped San Diego on three hits and Hoover, scoring three runs each in the eighth and ninth innings, evened the City series at one win apiece, 6-1, in Balboa Stadium.

—Don Sparling singled, doubled and tripled and Bob Rinkleib drove in four runs, and Sweetwater hammered visiting Point Loma, 15-2.

Jack Norberg of Hoover ran :15.8 in the 120-yard high hurdles and :25.2 in the 220 lows at Sweetwater to qualify for those events in the May 27 CIF Southern Section championships in Los Angeles.

Norberg and other Victory League athletes did not run the highs or the longer-distance race during the  season, instead competing in the 70-yard highs and 120 lows.

Don Nelson of Grossmont and Bob Marr of La Jolla also qualified for the CIF meet.

5/24/44

The venue for a rare, wartime night game was Lane Field and San Diego clinched the City series with its second win in three games over Hoover, 18-11.

Jack Harshman had four hits, including a home-run with the bases loaded in an eight-run sixth inning, to lead the Hilltoppers, who trailed, 8-1, after the Cardinals scored six in the fourth inning.

Harshman also had a double and two singles and the Hillers were ahead, 18-7, after seven innings.

Dick Barnes hit a bases-empty home run in the ninth for Hoover.

5/26/44

—Don Nelson was a surprise winner and the only local gold medalist in Class A when the Grossmont hurdler won at 220 yards in :24.9 in front of a crowd of approximately 15,000 persons in the Los Angeles Coliseum, where the Southern and L.A. City Sections combined their championships for a total of 66 events in Classes A, B, and C.

CLASS A MEDALISTS

—Ray Turnipseed of Coronado, third in the 100-yard dash to the winning :09.7 and tied for second to the winning :21.4 in the 220.

—Jack Norberg, Hoover, third to the winning :15.8 in the 120-yard high hurdles.

—Ivan Robinson, San Diego, third at 5-11 in the high jump to the winning 6-1 ¾. Don Ide, La Jolla, tied for fifth at 5-8.

—Don Nelson, Grossmont, first in the 220-yard low hurdles in :24.9.

—Gilbert Martin, Grossmont, fourth in the shot put at 47 feet, 7 3/8 inches to the winning 52-6 1/2.

—La Jolla, fifth in the 880-yard relay to the winning 1:31.2.

Inglewood outscored Beverly Hills, 23-22, for the team championship. La Jolla was fourth with 9 ½.

 

World War II was almost over (Victory in Europe was declared in May) and CIF travel restrictions for high school teams virtually had ended, but calls to the colors and other dynamics continued.

By the 1944-45 school year San Diego High enrollment had dropped to 2,694 students, with 750 graduates, down from a high of 851 and enrollment of 3,316 in the September 1941-June 1942 period, according to Don King’s Caver Conquest, athletic history of the school.

Students were leaving early and joining the military, or just leaving for jobs, many amid wartime financial challenges.

San Diego and Hoover held sway on the diamond.  The Cardinals won 2 of 3 rivalry games and the City Series with the Hilltoppers, who were led by future major leaguer Jack Harshman.

Harshman hit .370 and signed a professional contract with the San Diego Padres.  He would  hit as many as 40 home runs in one minor league season but eventually transitioned to the pitcher’s mound.

The move resulted in Harshman’s posting a record of 69 victories against 65 losses in parts of 10 seasons with five teams, with records of 14-8 in 1954 and 15-11 in 1956 with the Chicago White Sox. He once threw 245 pitches in a 16-inning, 1-0 White Sox victory.

Harshman also pinch hit.  The lanky (6-foot, 2 inches, 175 pounds) slugger hit 21 home runs in his big league career.

3/31/45

Pitcher Bob Peterson and first baseman Jack Harshman were selected to the Pomona 20-30 Rotary Club all-tournament team.

The Hilltoppers won 3 of 4 games but El Monte was the tournament champion.

4/1/45

Jack Harshman hit two triples but San Diego  dropped an 8-4 decision to the Naval Air Station team at Navy Field.

4/3/45

A game in which there were more combined errors, 13, than hits, 10, saw Point Loma and St. Augustine struggle to a 9-9 tie at Golden Hill Playground.

4/6/45

Phil Adams’ pinch-hit single in the seventh inning robbed Hoover’s Dick Barnes of a no-hitter in the Cardinals’ 8-0 victory over Point Loma.

 4/10/45

John Hatz collected three hits and Sweetwater, which scored four runs in the first inning, won a nonleague game at Point Loma, 6-1.

—Brown Military dropped an 8-5 decision to the visiting San Diego High junior varsity.

4/13/45

Hoover opened the Victory League season at Sweetwater with a 5-1 victory.

Starting Cardinals pitcher sophomore Ken Clary singled in the fourth inning, followed by walks to Marty Gaughen and Bill Paul, and George Caswell’s single and a Sweetwater error that led to three runs.

—Point Loma’s Charlie Harris pitched a no-hitter and Point Loma swamped Vocational, 24-0, in a game called after seven innings.  The losers did not help themselves with 13 errors.

—San Diego High hit the road for the first time since 1942 and defeated Redondo Beach Redondo Union, 13-2, on five hits, aided by three Seahawks errors, eight walks, and four hit-batsmen.

San Diego’s trip included next-day victories of 21-5 over Inglewood and 5-4 over Lawndale Leuzinger.

4/16/45

St. Augustine was defeated by the Hoover junior varsity, 4-1, at University Heights playground.

4/17/45

Pete Corona of the San Diego JV threw a no-hitter as the Hilltoppers defeated the Point Loma varsity and Charlie Harris, 1-0.

4/19/45

Ken Clary scattered three hits and Hoover moved to 2-0 in the Victory League with a 15-1 rout of host Point Loma.

4/20/45

Redondo Beach Redondo returned the favor by being the visiting team in a rare doubleheader.  Dick Barnes’ four hitter stopped the Seahawks in Hoover’s 3-2 victory in the afternoon on the Cardinals’ diamond.

Possibly fatigued and out of sorts, Redondo moved over for an evening game in Balboa Stadium, where San Diego High scored nine runs in the first inning and needed only six hits, plus 17 bases on balls and five Seahawks errors, to send the Los Angeles team home a 14-0 loser.

4/24/45

Ken Clary pitched Hoover to a 3-1 victory over San Diego in Balboa Stadium in the first of the three-game City Series.

Clary was gifted with two runs from third-inning wild throws by the Hilltoppers and kept them off the scoreboard until the bottom of the ninth inning after Hoover scored in the top of the inning.

Clary gave up for hits, one more than losing pitcher Harry Ohlson.

4/25/45

A six-run fifth inning propelled Sweetwater to a 10-6 win over the visiting San Diego junior varsity.

4/26/45

Point Loma and Vocational felt the wrath.  San Diego clobbered the Pointers, 25-1, and Sweetwater scored a 20-0 rout of the downtown school.

—St. Augustine was beaten again by a junior varsity, San Diego’s, 8-7.

5/1/45

Dick Barnes struck out 13 and gave up six hits and Hoover beat Sweetwater, 6-5. George Caswell’s single scored Ken McCoy with the winning run in the last of the seventh inning after McCoy singled and stole second base.

—Point Loma scored seven runs in the seventh inning and took St. Augustine, 12-6, in a game that had almost as many errors (14) as base hits (16). Point Loma made fewer (6) and overcame a 5-3 deficit.

5/2/45

Malin Burnham’s two hits led Point Loma to an 8-4 win at Brown Military.

5/3/45

Jack Harshman had two hits and Harry Ohlson struck out 12 and San Diego moved into a tie with idle Hoover for first place in the Victory League when the Hilltoppers beat Sweetwater, 10-0, for a 3-0 record.

—Lawndale Leuzinger was supposed to travel South but would forfeit games to Hoover and San Diego the following week.

5/4/45

The San Diego Junior Varsity was a rude guest, whacking the Point Loma varsity, 12-2, on the strength of a 10-run eighth inning.

—Six errors doomed St. Augustine in an 11-3 loss to Los Angeles Cathedral at University Heights playground.

5/8/45

Bob Turley allowed three hits and Point Loma defeated visiting St. Augustine, 12-2.

5/10/45

Sweetwater’s 6-1 victory at Point Loma clinched third place in the final Victory League standings.  The Red Devils finished with a 2-2 league record to the Pointers’ 1-3.

5/11/45

San Diego, trailing, 6-4 entering the top of the ninth inning, scored two runs to tie and three more in the 10^th inning to defeat Hoover, 9-6, on the Cardinals’ field and even the City Series at 1-1.
Jack Harshman was 4 for 4 and Bob Peterson 4 for 5 as the Hilltoppers reached Cardinals ace Dick Barnes for 16 hits.

5/17/45

The Hoover junior varsity outlasted the St. Augustine varsity, 10-8, at University Heights playground.

5/18/45

Awaiting their City Series-deciding game next week, the Hoover and San Diego squads each played host to  the Imperial Valley All-Stars in separate afternoon-evening games.

Hoover won the sunshine contest, 16-3.  San Diego won, 6-1, under the lights.

Ken Clary and Jimmy Gleason divided pitching assignments for Hoover, holding the visitors to five hits in the seven-inning contest. Redbirds Don Brorson and George Caswell each homered and tripled.

Jack Harshman hit a home run and Harry Ohlson and Carl Hurlbach stopped the desert entry on three hits hours later in Balboa Stadium.

5/23/45

Centerfielder Dick Barnes had three hits and drove in four runs and Hoover defeated San Diego, 7-5, for a 2-1advantage in the three-game City Series, clinching city bragging rights and the Victory League championship for the Cardinals.

San Diego’s Jack Harshman hit a two-run, 400-foot home run over the rightfield wall in the top of the first inning at Lane Field, where an estimated 2,500 persons attended.

The Hilltoppers led, 3-0, after Harshman’s clout but Hoover scored a run in its half of the first and was in front, 4-3, after three innings.

San Diego took a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning, but the Cardinals scored two in the seventh and one in the eighth.

Ken Clary went the distance for Hoover, surrendering 10 hits.  Shortstop Victor Salazar and second baseman Bob King had two hits each for the Hillers.

Bill Beane of Mt. Carmel was a star player for the Sundevils and  the first player selected in the 1980 major league draft by the New York Mets.

“Billy” Beane played five seasons in the majors and joined the Oakland Athletics as an advance scout in 1990, beginning a front office career in which today Beane is part owner of the team and was the subject of the movie “Money Ball” in 2011 starring Brad Pitt.

5/2/80

Mark Davis, the third brother to play for Hoover since 1971, homered as the Cardinals defeated Crawford, 4-3.

Mark was preceded by John and Mike Davis.  The latter went on to a nine-season major league career.

—Brian Tuller’s double scored Tony Johnson from first in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 4-3 Clairemont victory over Kearny, snapping the Komets’ seven-game Eastern League winning streak.

Tuller, who pitched a no-hitter against Bonita Vista in the Lions tournament, went the distance for the Chieftains, scattering 10 hits.

—Joe Bautista’s first-inning grand slam home run led Mar Vista to a 5-4 in over Chula Vista.

—Borrego Springs Mark Giberti pitched a no-hitter as the Rams defeated Cal Lutheran, 10-2, in the Southern League and Poway’s Tim Lund allowed one hit in a 3-2 win over Oceanside.

5/6/80

Nestor Rosas’ fourth-inning homerun was the difference in unbeaten Mar Vista’s 19^th straight win, 4-3 over Coronado.

—Home runs by Charlie Steele and Garry Harris powered Hoover to a 13-4 win over Lincoln.

—Madison’s Gene Sgambelluri pitched a no-hitter and struck out 14 in a 7-0 win over San Diego.

5/16/80

Mar Vista’s 23-game, San Diego Section winning streak ended with an 8-6 loss to Coronado.

The Mariners, whose run included four games at the end of the 1979 season, backed into the Metropolitan League championship when Southwest defeated second-place Hilltop, 3-2.

Mar Vista, 15-1 in league and 19-1 overall, earlier broke the Section record for most consecutive wins.  Oceanside won 18 in a row in 1970.

San Diego High had a 23-game winning streak as a member of the Southern Section in 1954 and streaks of 21 in 1959 and 19 in 1952 and ’57.

—Tom Katomski, Matt Nokes, Scott McKee, and Tom Weikel hit run-scoring singles and the first six Patrick Henry batters hit safely in the first inning as the Patriots defeated Kearny, 6-3, short circuiting the Komets’ attempt to clinch the Eastern League championship.

5/23/80

Regular-season play concluded in the Eastern, Western, and Metropolitan Leagues, with eight of 16 playoff berths in accounted for.

Kearny, Clairemont, and Patrick Henry (Eastern) advanced in 3-A, as did Mission Bay and University (Western), and Mar Vista and Chula Vista (Metropolitan) in 2-A.

—Joe Blas homered twice and drove in four runs as Kearny routed Morse, 23-4.  Tom Katomski pitched Patrick Henry to its ninth consecutive win, 5-2 over Point Loma.  Western League champion University lost to La Jolla, 3-2, and Clairemont, despite losing, 8-5, to Madison still finished ahead of the Warhawks.

Although losing to Mar Vista, 7-6, Hilltop qualified.  Chula Vista earned the third bid, 11-7 over Bonita Vista.

—Santana, picked to finish seventh in the nine-team Grossmont League, rode the three-hit pitching of Ray Brown as the Sultans beat Grossmont, 1-0, at El Capitan.

The win marked the first time since 1970 the Sultans had won or shared the league title.

STANDINGS

EASTERN LEAGUE

LEAGUE                       OVERALL

Team	Won	Lost	Pct.	GBL	Won	Lost	Pct.
Kearny	12	2	.857	—	17	5	.773
Patrick Henry	10	3	.769	1 ½	13	6	.684
Clairemont	9	5	.643	3	14	8	.636
Madison	8	5	.615	3 ½	11	8	.579
Point Loma	7	7	.500	5	11	9	.550
Morse	5	9	.357	7	6	14	.300
San Diego	3	11	.214	9	4	16	.200
Mira Mesa	1	13	.071	11	3	17	.150

WESTERN LEAGUE

LEAGUE                                                  OVERALL

Team	Won	Lost	Pct.	GBL	Won	Lost	Pct.
University	11	3	.786	—	15	7	.682
Mission Bay	9	5	.643	2	14	7	.667
Hoover	8	5	.615	2 ½	12	7	.632
Lincoln	8	6	.571	3	11	8	.579
Crawford	7	7	.500	4	10	10	.500
La Jolla	6	7	.462	5	10	9	.526
Serra	5	9	.357	6	7	12	.368
St. Augustine	1	13	.071	10	3	18	.143

GROSSMONT LEAGUE

LEAGUE                                                  OVERALL

Mount Miguel	12	4	.750	—	15	5	.750
Santana	12	4	.750	—	14	8	.636
El Capitan	10	6	.625	2	13	8	.619
Valhalla	9	7	.563	3	12	9	.571
Helix	9	7	.563	3	11	10	.524
Grossmont	7	9	.438	5	12	10	.545
Granite Hills	7	9	.438	5	11	10	.524
Monte Vista	4	12	.250	8	6	16	.273
El Cajon Valley	2	14	.125	10	3	16	.158

AVOCADO LEAGUE

LEAGUE                                               OVERALL

Carlsbad	9	3	.750	—	13	8	.619
San Pasqual	8	4	.667	1	14	8	.636
Escondido	6	6	.500	3	8	10	.444
San Marcos	6	6	.500	3	8	12	.400
Ramona	5	7	.417	4	5	13	.278
Oceanside	5	7	.417	4	5	15	.250
El Camino	3	9	.250	6	6	14	.300

PALOMAR LEAGUE

LEAGUE                                                OVERALL

Vista	9	3	.750	—	15	6	.714
Poway	9	3	.750	—	13	6	.684
Orange Glen	7	5	.583	2	12	8	.600
Mt. Carmel	5	7	.417	4	11	9	.550
Torrey Pines	4	8	.333	5	11	9	.550
Fallbrook	4	8	.333	5	9	11	.450
San Dieguito	4	8	.333	5	9	13	.409

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

LEAGUE                                                  OVERALL

Mar Vista	17	1	.944	—	21	1	.955
Hilltop	12	6	.667	5	16	7	.696
Chula Vista	11	7	.611	6	14	8	.636
Sweetwater	9	9	.500	8	10	10	.500
Montgomery	9	9	.500	8	9	11	.450
Coronado	8	10	.444	9	11	11	.500
Marian	8	10	.444	9	8	10	.444
Bonita Vista	8	10	.444	9	8	12	.400
Southwest	7	11	.389	10	8	12	.400
Castle Park	1	17	.056	16	1	19	.050

5/27/80

SAN DIEGO SECTION PLAYOFFS

QUARTERFINALS

3-A

El Capitan 2, @Kearny (17-6) 0.

An error, balk, walk, and single by John Ramirez loaded the bases, and another walk to Tate Velau forced in a run in the top of the third inning that was the difference.

Vaqueros pitcher Jim Kurzinger gave up five hits, including two by Komets pitcher Billy Eggert, who allowed four hits and struck out 11.

Vista (15-7) 1, @Mount Miguel 5.

Rick Bighames and Tom Toledo homered for the Matadors.

Patrick Henry 2, @Santana (14-9) 0.

Mike Fazekas’ six-hit pitching led the Patriots to their 10^th consecutive win.

Clairemont 5, @Poway (13-7) 1.

Doug Fess tripled twice and Chieftains pitcher Mike Weinbrecht struck out 10.

2-A

San Marcos (14-9) 3, @Mar Vista 10.

Doug Reynolds hit a grand slam home run and Regan Owen added a two-run clout in the Mariners’ nine-run first inning.

San Pasqual (14-9) 3, @Hilltop 9.

The Lancers broke the extra-innings tie with six runs in the eighth.

Chula Vista (14-9) 1, @University 3.

Carlsbad (13-9) 6, @Mission Bay 8.

Mike Burrows went all eight innings for the Buccaneers, was 3 for 5 at the plate, and singled in the winning run.

5/29/80

SEMIFINALS

3-A

Patrick Henry 10, @Clairemont 4 (15-9).

Trailing, 4-2, the Patriots exploded for six runs in the sixth inning.

El Capitan 7, @Mount Miguel 6 (16-6).

2-A

Mission Bay 4, @Mar Vista 2 (22-2).

Mission Bay coach Dennis Pugh surprised by giving the ball to John Henderson instead of ace Art Rodriguez, and Henderson, who had not made a start this season and had appeared only twice in relief, survived a shaky first inning and pitched a complete game.

Pugh thought Henderson’s sidearm delivery and variety of “junk stuff” would work.  “I wanted to give them something they’ve hadn’t seen yet,” said Pugh.

“Besides,” the coach added, “we’re a better team defensively with Art at shortstop.”

Hilltop 2 (16-6), @University 3.

1-A

Army-Navy 4, @Borrego Springs, 11.

Santa Fe Christian 3, @Mountain Empire 9.

The Redskins’ Bob Price gave up two hits and struck out 10.

5/31/80

CHAMPIONSHIPS

3-A

Patrick Henry (16-6) 10, El Capitan (15-9) 4, @University San Diego.

The Patriots, hitless through 5 1/3 innings, exploded for nine runs in the sixth.

“I guess the sixth is a good inning for us,” said Patriots coach Bob Imlay, recalling a similar outburst in the semifinals two days before.

Tony Sharamitaro led off with a triple, Scott McKee doubled, and Rodney Ellis added a two-run single.

Greg Perry relieved starter Jim Kursinger and was on the mound for seven more runs, with the Vaqueros’ third error and a passed ball contributing.

The win, behind Mike Fazekas’ six-hit pitching, was Patrick Henry’s 13^th in a row.

2-A

University (18-7) 4, Mission Bay (16-8) 3, @University San Diego.

Both pitchers, Mike Correia for the Dons and Mike Burrows for Mission Bay went the entire 13 innings.

Correia’s single drove in the deciding run after Burrows had almost worked out of a bases-loaded jam with two force outs at home plate.

Correia had worked a complete-game seven innings in the quarterfinals, added 1 1/3 innings in the semifinals and finished the week with 21 1/3 innings pitched.

“I feel this is the last game I’m going to want to pitch for a long time,” Correia told Linda Murphy of The San Diego Union. “I told coach I probably couldn’t pitch the next inning.”

The win was coach Dick Serrano’s second championship in three years and Correia closed with a 14-1 record.

1-A

Mountain Empire (10-3) 4, Borrego Springs (9-4) 3, @Imperial High.

The Redskins’  second straight title was achieved without a base hit in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Tom Harkness was hit by a pitch.  A base on balls and a fielder’s choice moved Harkness to third.  He scored on a passed ball.

Dan Mady’s two-run single in the fourth tied the score after Borrego took a 3-1 lead in the third on Paul Giberti’s double and Jim Streit’s two-run single.

San Diego High defeated Excelsior Norwalk in the championship game of the Southern Section playoffs in what was almost becoming routine.

The 16-8 victory at the Lane Field home ballpark of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres was the seventh since Mike Morrow became coach in 1927.

Th Hilltoppers (20-4), also known as Hillers and Cavers or Cavemen, had several standouts, including one who would star for the PCL Padres.

Sophomore pitcher Al Olsen signed with the Padres after graduation in 1939 and was an essential member of the team’s starting rotation for most of the next 13 years.

3/31/37

John (Red) Keogh pitched the season’s first no-hitter, a 2-0 St. Augustine triumph over Point Loma at University Heights playground. Keogh struck out 14 and walked three and no runner advanced beyond second base.

—Hoover’s six errors that led to two unearned runs allowed Sweetwater to edge the visiting Cardinals, 4-3.

4/21/37

Charlie Strada of St. Augustine caught a fly ball in right field and threw to first base to double up a Naval Air runner. First baseman Claude White then completed the season’s first triple play with a throw to shortstop Bob Menke, who tagged a second Naval Air runner for the third out.

Joe Rinder was 3 for 3 for the Saints, who won, 12-3.

—Les Cassie scattered 10 hits and the San Diego State Freshmen topped Escondido, 12-5, on the Aztecs’ diamond.

—Cliff Bashore gave up four hits and Grossmont defeated visiting Point Loma, 5-1.

4/23/37

Long Beach Wilson created a three-way tie with Alhambra and San Diego for first place in the Coast League when the Bruins struck 11 base hits off three San Diego pitchers and defeated the traveling Hillers, 8-1.

—Hoover claimed its first Coast League victory with a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat Santa Ana, 8-7.

The visiting Saints took advantage of Cardinals ace Del Ford, who retired with a sore arm in a three-run fourth inning, and led, 7-3, before Hoover scored three runs in the eighth, setting up its clinching rally. Del Ballinger, who relieved Ford, was the winning pitcher.

—Charlie Strada homered and tripled and drove in five runs, and Ed Vitalich survived a couple homers and 10 hits as St. Augustine outscored Sweetwater, 11-7, with a 15-hit attack on the Red Devils’ diamond.

—Don Galindo struck out 15 Oceanside batters, allowed two hits, and Escondido shut out the Pirates, 14-0.  The Cougars had 13 base hits, including home runs by Morgan Finney and Willie Reyes.

4/26/37

Two-year letterman first baseman Dick Mitchell was elected captain of the Hoover team, coach Wofford (Wos) Caldwell announced.

—Del Ballenger surrendered one hit, a bases empty home run by Red Keogh in the fourth inning, and contributed a home run as Hoover beat St. Augustine, 10-1, on the Cardinals ‘diamond.

4/28/37

Track star and baseball pitcher Jerry Soule struck out 13 and was supported by two singles and a home run by first baseman Carl Reed and three singles and a triple by Elvard Walden in La Jolla’s 10-4 win over visiting Oceanside.

4/30/37

Bill Hutchinson’s grand slam home run and Art Davis’ effective pitching resulted in an 11-2 win, Mountain Empire over guest Ramona.

—Don Galindo, with 17-hit support, pitched Escondido to a 12-6 win over nonleague visitor Compton.

—Jack Lange had two doubles and a single and Del Oliver, who relieved Del Ballenger in the ninth inning, was the winning pitcher after Hoover scored two runs in the 10^th at Alhambra for a 6-4 Coast League victory.

5/1/37

Attendance was 1,200 persons at Lane Field, home of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres, and the Hilltoppers, behind lefthander Al Olsen, defeated Long Beach Poly, 9-2.

Olsen gave up five hits and Dave Curtis and Jess Meyers each had two hits and Chet Kehn walked four consecutive times.

San Diego’s victory set up a one-game playoff in four days with Long Beach Wilson, with the Coast League title on the line. The teams tied for first, each with a 4-1 record.

5/4/37

Cliff Bashore pitched Grossmont to a 4-1 victory in the season’s final Metropolitan League game, tying the Foothillers with La Jolla and Oceanside, behind champion Escondido.

5/5/37

Al Olsen won his second straight critical game, striking out 13 and pitching a seven-hit, 8-3 win over Long Beach Wilson in City Stadium and giving San Diego the Coast League’s playoff berth.

—Ed (Zip) Vitalich improved his record to 6-1 and, aided by Joe Rinder’s double and triple, set down the Navy Hospital team, 6-2, although the medics reached Vitalich for 11 base hits.

5/7/37

San Diego defeated Placentia Valencia, 26-1, in a first-round, Southern Section playoff in the community near Fullerton in Orange County.  Manny Fernandez and Dave Curtis hit home runs and Chet Kahn pitched.

Game information in The San Diego Union originally incorrectly reported a 7-2 San Diego victory and a Hilltoppers’ advance into the playoff finals.

5/8/37

Escondido sent Santa Monica home with an 8-0 playoff victory over the visiting Vikings.  Don Galindo won his 12^th game without defeat.  Don and his brother Ursulo each had three hits in four times at bat.

—CIF commissioner Seth Van Patten notified San Diego coach Mike Morrow by telegram that the Hilltoppers’ next opponent would be Calexico at a site to be determined.

5/12/37

Announcing that because one of its players had been hospitalized with an illness, Calexico pulled out and forfeited its quarterfinals playoff game to San Diego.

CIF commissioner Seth Van Patten turned to Blythe Palo Verde Valley. The free-lance school, 220 miles away, on the Arizona border, had petitioned Van Patten for inclusion in postseason play after posting a 5-1 record. Unattached teams had to win three of five games to be eligible, according to CIF rules.

—St. Augustine completed its season with a 10-7 won-loss record and 6-1 victory over Sweetwater at Golden Hill Playground.  Ed (Zip) Vitalich’s three-run home run was supportive of the 11-strikeout, four-hit pitching by John (Red) Keough.

5/20/37

A day earlier than expected, because of a City Stadium schedule conflict with an 11^th Naval District track meet the next day, Blythe took the field against San Diego and went the way of Valencia, 25-3.

San Diego battered Yellowjackets pitcher Eunice Johnson for 19 hits in seven innings of a game that was called after eight innings. The Hillers, leading, 8-0, struck for 13 runs in the fifth inning.

“Blythe knew it was in trouble in the second inning when its catcher nailed his own pitcher (in the back) while trying to throw out a base stealer,” wrote Don King in Caver Conquest, the athletic history of San Diego High.

—Fallbrook’s 16-hit attack overwhelmed Ramona, 9-3, on the Bulldogs’ diamond and gave the Warriors the Southern Prep League championship.

5/26/37

Escondido coach Harry Wexler said he would not play San Diego in a semifinals playoff in City Stadium, next to the San Diego High campus and seemingly tailor-made for the sluggers on San Diego coach Mike Morrow’s squad.

Gamesmanship was in play and Escondido was feeling its oats with a 17-0 record against high school competition and a 10-3 win over the Hilltoppers in the Pomona tournament in March.  San Diego found itself in an elimination game against a team from what it considered the inferior (in comparison to the Coast) Metropolitan League.

Morrow then declared that he would not take his team north to play a game on the Cougars’ diamond.

San Diego Padres owner Bill Lane ended the need for CIF commissioner Seth Van Patten to intervene when Lane made Lane Field available.

Wexler sent pitcher Don Galindo, who had posted a 16-0 record, to face Morrow’s nominee, sophomore Chet Kehn.

A memorable battle ensued with the teams tied, 2-2, after nine innings.

San Diego won, 3-2, when Mel Skelley’s pinch hit single, a line drive to leftfield, scored Al Olsen with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.

Kehn gave up six hits and was touched for two unearned runs in the first inning.  Kehn and the Hilltoppers avoided disaster in the sixth after John Filippi dropped Fred Valanzano’s fly ball to left field.

Filippi recovered and the Cougars’ Ursulo Galindo, trying to score from second base, was thrown out, Filippi to Jared (J.W.) Scudder to catcher Jess Meyers.

6/5/37

The championship game at Lane Field was anti-climactic following the dramatic win over Escondido. The Hilltoppers trailed early to the Norwalk Excelsior Pilots, who took a 5-4 lead after four innings. Aided by 16 bases on balls, San Diego totaled 11 hits in a 16-8 victory.   J.W. Scudder Chet Kehn, Stanley (Wes) Sharp, and John Filippi each had two hits.

The long game ended the longest wait in the 18-season history of the San Diego Section.  Hilltop’s 3-1 victory over Vista in the 17-inning 2-A finals marked the first year that a team not from the Eastern, Western or Grossmont leagues had won the title.

Championships had been won by Eastern League schools Hoover (4), Crawford (4), San Diego (1), and Patrick Henry (1), the Western League’s University (2), Kearny (1), Madison (1), and Point Loma (1), or the Grossmont League’s Helix (1), Santana (1) or Granite Hills (1).

Keeping with history, Hilltop coach John Baumgarten’s lineage included a link to the Eastern League.  Baumgartner was a 1958 graduate of St. Augustine.

Baumgarten was head coach at Hilltop from 1972-2001 and posted a career record of 407-299. His teams earned seven league titles and the 1983 and ’85 teams won San Diego Section championships.

5/15/79

Eight schools, half of the 16-team bracket, qualified for the San Diego Section playoffs.

Kearny earned the City Conference Eastern League title with an 8-4 win over Clairemont.  Madison claimed the No. 2 spot despite losing to Patrick Henry, 8-6.

University won the City Western League championship, 1-0, over Serra, and Hoover finished second with a 17-4 victory over Mira Mesa.

Hilltop’s 10-5 win over Bonita Vista gave the Lancers the Metropolitan League crown and a No. 2 qualifier went to the Barons.  Castle Park, 6-0 over Sweetwater and Coronado, 6-5 over Marian, filled out the first eight playoff positions.

—Kearny’s third consecutive title was fueled by the complete-game pitching of Mike Bregante and the hitting of Marty Hunter and John Wynns, who each drove in two runs.

—Gary Harris and Bob Warner combined for five runs batted in for Hoover.

—John Alvarez hit his sixth and seventh home runs and Helix beat Grossmont, 9-5, to tie for first place in the Grossmont League with the Foothillers, each with an 11-3 record. Highlanders catcher Jim Oxe was 4 for 4 and 8 for his last 12 at-bats.

5/18/79

Grossmont League teams concluded the regular season with Helix and Grossmont tying for first place after the Highlanders beat Valhalla, 3-1, and Grossmont defeated Monte Vista, 4-1. El Capitan was in the playoffs after a 11-4 win against El Cajon Valley and Mount Miguel, despite a 5-3 loss to Santana, took the final bid.

School bosses voted for Helix as the league’s No. 1 playoff seed.

—El Capitan lefthander Steve Cook allowed three hits and struck out six and the right-hand-hitting Cook was 2 for 3 at the plate, scored three runs, and slugged a home run.

—Steve Lopez’ four-hit pitching stifled Monte Vista and Helix’ Steve Bazzar went the distance for the win over Valhalla.

FINAL STANDINGS

GROSSMONT LEAGUE

LEAGUE						OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	TIED	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	TIED	Pct.
Helix	13	3	0	.829	—	19	4	0	.826
Grossmont	13	3	0	.829	—	14	7	1	.659
El Capitan	11	5	0	.688	2	14	9	0	.609
Mount Miguel	8	8	0	.500	5	11	11	0	.500
El Cajon Valley	7	9	0	.463	6	9	14	0	.391
Santana	7	9	0	.463	6	9	13	0	.409
Granite Hills	6	10	0	.375	7	8	14	0	.364
Monte Vista	5	11	0	.313	8	8	15	0	.348
Valhalla	1	15	0	.062	12	2	19	0	.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

LEAGUE						OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	TIED	Pct.	GBL		WON	LOST	TIED	Pct.
Hilltop	13	4	1	.750	—		15	6	1	.705
Bonita Vista	11	7	0	.611	2		14	9	0	.609
Castle Park	9	8	1	.528	3 1/2		12	9	1	.568
Coronado	9	9	0	.500	4		9	13	0	.409
Chula Vista	8	9	1	.472	4 ½		12	12	1	.500
Marion	8	10	0	.444	5		11	11	0	.500
Montgomery	8	10	0	.444	5		9	13	0	.409
San Diego Southwest	7	10	1	.417	5 1/2		11	12	1	.479
Sweetwater	7	10	0	.412	6		10	12	0	.455
Mar Vista	7	11	0	.389	6 ½		9	13	0	.409

EASTERN LEAGUE

LEAGUE						OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	TIED	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	TIED	Pct.
Kearny	11	2	0	.786	—	17	6	0	.737
Madison	9	4	1	.679	1 ½	17	6	1	.729
Patrick Henry	8	6	0	.571	3	16	8	0	.667
Crawford	7	6	1	.536	3 ½	13	10	1	.563
Morse	7	7	0	.500	4	10	12	0	.455
Clairemont	6	8	0	.429	5	14	10	0	.583
San Diego	5	9	0	.357	6	10	12	0	.455
Point Loma	2	12	0	.143	9	5	16	0	.238

WESTERN LEAGUE

LEAGUE						OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	TIED	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	TIED	Pct.
University	12	2	0	.857	—	20	4	0	.833
Hoover	10	4	0	.714	2	17	6	0	.737
Mission Bay	8	5	1	.607	3 ½	12	10	1	.543
Serra	8	6	0	.571	4	14	9	0	.609
St. Augustine	6	7	1	.464	5 ½	10	12	1	.457
La Jolla	5	9	0	.357	7	9	12	1	.432
Lincoln	4	10	0	.286	8	7	14	0	.333
Mira Mesa	2	12	0	.157	10	4	16	0	.200

AVOCADO WEST

LEAGUE						OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	TIED	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	TIED	Pct.
Vista	8	3	1	.708	—	13	6	2	.667
Fallbrook	8	4	0	.667	½	12	12	0	.500
San Dieguito	7	5	0	.583	1 ½	14	10	0	.583
Carlsbad	6	5	1	.542	2 1/2	13	10	1	.563
El Camino	6	6	0	.500	3	9	13	—	.409
Oceanside	4	8	0	.333	4	10	12	0	.455
Torrey Pines	2	10	0	.167	6	5	17	0	.227
Mira Mesa	2	12	0	.157	10	4	16	0	.200

AVOCADO EAST

LEAGUE						OVERALL
TEAM	WON	LOST	TIED	Pct.	GBL	WON	LOST	TIED	Pct.
San Pasqual	9	3	0	.750	—	14	9	0	.609
Mt. Carmel	9	3	0	.750	—	16	7	0	.696
Orange Glen	8	4	0	.667	1	12	10	0	.545
San Marcos	7	5	0	.583	2	12	10	0	.545
Poway	5	7	0	.417	4	8	13	0	.381
Escondido	3	9	0	.250	6	5	16	0	.238
Ramona	1	11	0	.083	8	6	16	0	.273
Mira Mesa	2	12	0	.157	10	4	16	0	.200

5/22/79

SAN DIEGO SECTION PLAYOFFS

FIRST ROUND

University (20-5) 2, @Madison 6.

University’s attempt to be the first team since Crawford in 1964 and ’65 to win back-to-back championships came a cropper when Madison’s Mark Wilson and Bill Watson combined to halt the Dons on five hits.

The Warhawks batted around in the second inning and scored four runs on five singles. Paul Peterson, Steve Clark and Bill Davis paced Madison’s 10-hit attack with two hits each.

Hoover (17-7) 5, @Kearny 6.

—John Wynns hit a two-run home run and Forrest Goodman singled and tripled, and David Buttles pitched a complete-game eight-hitter as Kearny, after losing a five-run lead, scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning for the victory.

El Capitan (14-10) 2, @Grossmont 5.

—Mike Hook gave up one hit, a fourth-inning, bases-empty home run to John Ramirez, and Grossmont defeated El Capitan, with Hook continuing to enjoy a hot streak.  The 6-foot, 170-pound senior pitched a two-hitter and one-hitter in his previous two starts.

Mount Miguel (11-12) 4, @Helix 6.

The Highlanders’ Phil Oyos pitched a complete game victory…in relief.

Oyos stepped in for starter Joe Carter after the Matadors scored four runs before anyone was out in the first inning and allowed two singles and struck out 13.

Coronado (9-15) 3, @Hilltop 12.

Kerry Everette’s two-run home run was among 12 base hits by the Lancers, who led, 8-0, after three innings.

Castle Park (12-10-1) 6, @Bonita Vista 7.

Fallbrook (12-13) 4, @San Pasqual 11.

Trailing, 4-2, the Golden Eagles scored nine runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Mt. Carmel (16-8) 2, @Vista 5.

Bill Baldwin gave up five hits, Tom Davis hit a two-run home run in the first inning, and Vista jumped to a five-run lead in the first three innings.

QUARTERFINALS

5/23/79

Kearny 3, San Pasqual (15-10) 2, @University San Diego.

Kearny players gave coach Jack Taylor a signed birthday card on his 49^th and then delivered a victory.

Steve Dreher relieved starting pitcher Mike Bregante with one out after the Eagles had scored a run and had the tying and winning runs on first and third base.

Dreher got Dan Lane to miss an attempted squeeze bunt that resulted in one runner being tagged out in a run down. Lane then struck out to end the game.

“It was a tough situation but I kind of like pressure,” said Dreher, who moved from his position at third base to the mound.  “I signaled to coach Taylor in the dugout that I was ready if he needed me.”

Hilltop 6, Grossmont (15-8-1) 4, @Grossmont College.

The Lancers rode a five-run first inning to victory.

Vista 5, Madison (18-7-1) 4, @Palomar College.

The Panthers stunned the favored Warhawks with a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Helix (20-5) 3, Bonita Vista 4, @Grossmont College.

Steve Ray worked his way out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth inning to preserve the Barons’ win over the favored Highlanders.

5/25/79

SEMIFINALS

Hilltop 4, Kearny (19-7) 3, @University San Diego.

Successive singles in the fifth inning by Todd Fileccia, Bryan Wagner, and Manny Salinas scored one run and a hit batter forced in another run as Hilltop tied the score at 3, and Wagner’s double over the centerfielder’s head, drove in the winning run in the seventh.

Vista 11, Bonita Vista (16-10) 1, @Grossmont College.

Ed Lisi’s three-run home run highlighted a four-run third inning and Doug Moxley’s grand slam in the top of the sixth was the coup de grace as Vista hammered the Barons, handcuffed by Bill Grim’s two-hit pitching.

5/26/79

CHAMPIONSHIP

Hilltop (19-6-1) 3, Vista (16-7-1) 1, 17 Innings, @University San Diego.

The game was so long, five hours, that the 1-A title contest between Christian and Mountain Empire had to be rescheduled to the following Wednesday.

With the score tied, 1-1, Hilltop’s Howard Rasmussen drew a one-out walk in the top of the 17^th.  Rob Hughes’ single advanced Rasmussen to third and Todd Fileccia, hitless in his first five times at bat, singled in Rasmussen.  Hughes scored one out later on a single by Manny Salinas.

Bill Collins pitched the first 8 1/3 innings for Hilltop and Davie Martinez blanked the Panthers over the last 8 2/3 innings.  Panthers starter Bill Baldwin pitched 10 innings before giving way to three relievers.

The sides combined for 28 base hits, all singles.  Collins gave up one run in the first and survived a near disaster in the bottom of the seventh, when the Panthers loaded the bases with none out.

After a walk in the ninth inning, Lancers coach John Baumgartner called on Martinez, normally used in short relief.

Bryan Wagner and Hughes each had three hits for the Metro League squad.  Ron Tart and Charlie Somers had three hits each for the Avocado West representative.

5/30/79

1-A CHAMPIONSHIP

Mountain Empire defeated Christian, 2-0, at University of San Diego, snapping a two-game losing streak to the Patriots this season and preventing Christian from a third consecutive 1-A championship.

Junior Mike Davis cuffed the Patriots on two hits, singles by Dave Tenney and Kenny Watson.  Davis struck out 4 and walked 4.

6/4/79

Helix’ Jim Oxe hit a bases-loaded single in the fourth inning to lead County seniors to a 4-3 win over the City in the annual San Diego Baseball Coaches’ All-Star game at University San Diego.