1940 Baseball: Hilltoppers to CIF: Thanks, But No Thanks
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 […]
1971 Baseball: Down and Up Kearny Overcame Setbacks
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, […]
1939 Baseball: Another Title for Mike Morrow and Hilltoppers
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 […]
1970 Baseball: Colts’ Sandback Leaves Outstanding Legacy
Bill Sandback, who coached Crawford to four San Diego Section championships in nine seasons, was moving on, succeeding retiring Ed San Clemente at Mesa College. Sandback, an erstwhile hockey player from Minnesota, coached teams that posted an overall record of 164-60, a .732 winning percentage. His 1964 squad (22-4) was declared the top team in […]
1969 Baseball: Cardinals and Colts Battled for CIF Royalty
A road map would have been easy to follow in the first nine years of the San Diego Section: Start at 44th Street and El Cajon Boulevard and travel about 1.5 miles East and Southeast to 55th and Trojan Avenue. The Hoover Cardinals and Crawford Colts, neighbors in the East San Diego enclave eventually known […]
1958 Baseball: Cavemen Exit Playoffs in Quarterfinals
Another great San Diego High team? Or a very good San Diego team that had punished mostly mediocre opponents? The Cavemen, 23-1 and one of the favorites for a Southern Section championship, were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the playoffs at Long Beach Poly, a team with a 20-3 record but had not participated in […]