Paul Douglas (Pete) Jernigan, one of the San Diego area’s most accomplished athletes and coaches, passed away recently at his home in Hereford, Arizona.

Jernigan, 75, played 10 seasons of professional baseball and later coached successful high school and Under 18 softball teams.

He was named “Mr. Youth Sports” by the El Cajon Parks and Recreation Department in 1984 for his contributions to girls’ athletics.

Jernigan’s teams at Santana and El Capitan posted a combined record of 118-41-4.  Santana won the San Diego Section championship in 1984 and El Capitan was runner-up in 1987.

Jernigan was a standout in football, wrestling, and baseball at Mount Miguel High, class of 1959.

After a season at San Diego Junior College, Jernigan signed with the Boston Red Sox in 1960, and was one of the Red prize minor league prospects.

Jernigan hit .342 with 19 home runs and 77 RBI in 62 games for Alpine in the Sophomore League in 1960.

His average was a combined .347 at Waterloo in the Midwest League and Johnstown in the Eastern League in 1961.

Jernigan played most of his career with Seattle and Phoenix in the AAA Pacific Coast League.

He hit .303 in 115 games with 10 home runs and 56 runs batted in for the Phoenix Giants in 1967 and retired after the 1969 season..

Lewis Edward Sanclemente, 92, passed away  recently, leaving behind a multitude of friends and admirers and memories of a lifetime spent in or around baseball.

Ed Sanclemente grew up near the University Heights playground, where he shagged baseballs for young slugger Ted Williams and honed a game that would take Sanclemente to national championships on two levels.

Sanclemente played for coach Mike Morrow at San  Diego High and was the starting third baseman on Morrow’s 1941 Post 6 American Legion squad that swept Berwyn, Illinois, in a three-game series at Lane Field in San Diego.

After playing third base and shortstop at the University of California in 1943-44, Sanclemente served in the U.S. Navy and then returned to Cal and was the Bears’ third baseman on the 1947 team that won the first College World Series.

Sanclemente batted .369 during the 1947 regular season and was 4 for 10 with 4 runs batted in as California swept Yale in a two-game series for the national championship.

Sanclemente played two seasons of professional baseball. He taught and served in administrative capacities at South San Francisco High and for the San Francisco Olympic Club before returning to San  Diego and coaching baseball at La Jolla High in 1956.

Mike Morrow appointed Sanclemente to the coaching staff at San Diego Junior College in 1957.  Sanclemente  succeeded Morrow as head coach  in  1958, when Morrow started the University of San Diego program.

Ed’s success on the two-year college level included conference championships at San Diego J.C., later known as San Diego City, and at Mesa College, where Sanclemente was the Olympians’ first coach when the school opened in  1964.

Dozens of Sanclemente’s players signed professional contracts, some reached the major leagues, and many became coaches and athletic administrators.

Groups of 10-15 former players honored Sanclemente every Thursday for years.  They were his hosts for breakfast at D.Z. Akins restaurant on Alvarado Road.

SWUNG A MEAN RACQUET

Ed Sanclemente made a name for himself on the tennis courts at University Heights and throughout the city before he turned  his attention to baseball.

Newspaper accounts from as far back as 1933 reported that “72-pound Edward San Clemente won the first of a series of tennis tournaments for children of grammar school age.”

According to tournament coordinator Wilbur Folsom,  Sanclemente’s 6-4, 10-12, 6-4 victory over Dick Brink in the finals of the  event at University Heights was after a “three-hour struggle that saw several rallies for crucial points last as long as five minutes.”

Sanclemente won numerous tournaments in the area and became one of the city’s top junior players.

Joe Schloss, who  operated a North Park sporting goods business for 69 years and coached the same Little League team for 59 seasons, passed away  at age 88.

Schloss, a 1944 graduate of San Diego High, coached a legion of youngsters for the North Park Little League and both of his sons spent many years in sports.

“Joe instilled in us many of the values we carry today,” said Bob Cluck, a professional baseball lifer and 10-season major league coach who played on Schloss’ first North Park LL team in 1957 (Schloss also had coached a Jewish Community Center team for three seasons).

“He taught us ‘way more than baseball,” said Cluck.  “He taught us how to act and how to compete.”

Rick Schloss was a public relations representative for the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos and has been a prominent sports public relations practitioner in San  Diego for the last 30 years.

Gregg Schloss was a member of the Chargers’ athletic training department and worked side-by-side with his father at  A & B Sporting Goods, located near the corner of 30th Street and University Avenue.

MARONE, WILLIAMSON, MARTINEZ

All graduated from high school in 1963.

LOU MARONE

Lincoln’s  flame-throwing lefthanded pitcher, Marone was all-Eastern League and one of the aces in a circuit that was turning out professional players every season.

Lou went on to San Diego City College and then helped coach Ed San Clemente start the Mesa College program.  He was signed out of Mesa by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1965.

Marone had a 2.55 earned run average and 2-1 record  out of the bullpen in 34 innings for the Pirates in 1969 and was with the team in 1970.

JOHN WILLIAMSON

A 6-foot, 7-inch center who scored 351 points points for the  23-6 Mission Bay Buccaneers  in 1962-63.

Williamson was a strong offensive presence as he  and his teammates reached the semifinals of the San  Diego Section basketball playoffs before bowing to eventual champion Crawford, 48-44.

KENNY MARTINEZ

Starred in football and baseball at Point Loma and played for coach Ed San Clemente at San Diego City College.

Noel Mickelsen, Charlie Paulk, and Richard Verlasky recently passed.

Mickelsen, 80, had a lengthy coaching career in San Diego’s East County after posting a 71-62 record in nine seasons of professional baseball, including three years in  the AAA Pacific Coast League.

The 6-foot, 6-inch Mickelsen was a star player on the 1955-56 San Diego State basketball team that posted a 23-6 record and gained the second round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament in Kansas City.

The Aztecs were beaten, 69-60, by Gustavus Adolphus of Minnesota.  Mickelsen still ranks No. 10 among the Aztecs’ all-time leading rebounders.

HORNETS WON STATE TITLE

Paulk, 68, became coach at Lincoln before the 1994-95 season and led the Hornets to a 25-7 record and the state IV championship, the first for San Diego Section team.

Led by future NBA player Mark Sanford, the Hornets closed fast and won four state tournament games,  105-51 over Easton Washington, 83-51 over Oxnard Santa Clara, 94-93 over Los Angeles Verbum Dei, and 63-50 over San Anselmo Sir Francis Drake.

A 6-8 forward from Northeastern State in Louisiana, Paulk played three seasons in the NBA. He was the Milwaukee Bucks’ first selection and the seventh pick in the first round of the 1968-69 draft.

SAINTS STANDOUT

Verlasky, 70, was a San Diego attorney who starred at St. Augustine and played for legendary coach Phil Woolpert at the University of San Diego and with future NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff.

Verlasky averaged 12 points  and was one of the Eastern League’s leading scorers in the Saints’ 13-7 season in 1961-62.

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