About Our Ads | Privacy

PREP BASEBALL: North County's greatest teams

Font Size:
Default font size
Larger font size

1. 1999 Rancho Bernardo

The Broncos finished 24-6 under coach Sam Blalock, beating Helix 8-2 for the CIF San Diego Section Division I title. All nine players in the starting lineup played college ball or in the pros, eight were drafted and two -- Hank Blalock and Danny Putnam --- played in the big leagues. Matt Wheatland and Scott Heard were first-round draft picks. Freshman Jake Blalock, who entered the title game to play defense, was drafted after his senior season, making it nine draft picks off the team. Jeff Speights and Ryan Leake, who didn't get in the title game, went on to stellar college careers.

2. 2003 La Costa Canyon

The Mavericks finished 32-1 under coach Justin Machado, beating Rancho Bernardo 5-4 in eight innings to win the CIF San Diego Section Division I title. The Mavericks set San Diego Section records for wins in a season (32) and consecutive wins (27). The only loss was 6-1 to Rancho Buena Vista in the North County Tournament. Several players played college ball, but only Michael Kenney (Loyola Marymount) played pro ball. Kenney was 9-0 with a 2.43 ERA that season. Doug Konoske (Pepperdine) was 9-1 with a 1.40 ERA. Drew Logan was 8-0 with a 1.44 ERA. Catcher Scott Clement (UC San Diego/Cal State San Marcos) hit .485 with 38 RBIs. Joey Burke (Chico State) hit .460 with 40 RBIs and 26 steals. Andrew Nacario (Dartmouth) hit .407 with 25 steals. Michael Scharbarth (UC San Diego) hit .410 with 46 RBIs.

3. 1995 Mt. Carmel

The Sundevils finished 31-5 under coach Steve Edwards, beating Rancho Bernardo 11-0 in the CIF San Diego Section Division I title game. It was the first of back-to-back titles for the Sundevils, who went 21-10 in 1996. Eric Chavez, who hit .538 with nine homers and 33 RBIs and was 11-1 with a 1.55 ERA as a junior, was a first-round pick of the Oakland A's after the '96 season. Eric Munson, who played at USC and was later a second-round pick of the Detroit Tigers, hit .495 with six homers and 41 RBIs as a junior. Dave Uris was 12-1 with a 0.79 ERA. Mike Giamie, who is now the baseball coach at Mt. Carmel, hit .402 with five homers and 33 RBIs. Carl Logrecco was 6-1 with a 1.19 ERA and hit .367 with 28 RBIs. Donnie Rogers hit .310, Brian Weber .304 and Jake Epstein .255 with 16 RBIs. The Sundevils hit .342 as a team and had a team ERA of 1.61.

4. 2002 Rancho Buena Vista

The Longhorns finished 30-4 under coach Steve Hargrave, beating Rancho Bernardo 6-0 for the CIF San Diego Section Division I championship. Mitch Einertson, a fifth-round pick of the Houston Astros, led the team with a .444 average. Bobby Andrews, a seventh-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 2005 after a stellar career at Cal State Fullerton, hit .429. Diego Velasquez hit .421. Catcher Dylan Parzyk (Kansas) hit .310, Richard Fixsen (Biola) checked in at .350 and Nick Stong hit .339. David Wysocki was 6-1 on the mound. But the star of the team was left-hander Jesse English. A sixth-round pick of the San Francisco Giants, English was 13-1 with a 1.22 ERA. In 86 innings, he struck out 152 batters. English beat Rancho Bernardo four times in '02, including a 12-strikeout shutout in the finals, a game in which he also had three hits and three RBIs.

5. 1982 Mt. Carmel

The Sundevils finished 24-2 under coach Sam Blalock, beating Helix 10-9 in the CIF San Diego Section Division I title game. It was the second straight title for the Sundevils, who were 21-4 in 1981, beating Point Loma 1-0 in the CIF title game. Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley, who beat David Wells in the '81 title game, was 6-0 with a 2.32 ERA in '82. Tim Sinclair was the pitching star, going 11-1 with a 1.39 ERA. Todd Koetter was 4-1 with a 1.91 ERA. Shell Scott was the hitting star, batting .482 with five homers and 30 RBIs. Ken Pulsifer hit .421 with four homers and 29 RBIs. Ken Dermer hit .377, Steve Castleberry hit .333 with four homers and 24 RBIs and Rickey Cortez hit .305. Catcher Greg Graff batted .275 with 20 RBIs.

6. 1993 Vista

The Panthers finished 29-6 under coach Butch Smith, beating Monte Vista 5-0 in the CIF San Diego Section Division I title game. A trio of left-handers -- Steve Chatham, Matt Stone and Al Thielman -- led the Panthers. Chatham (Cal State Fullerton) was 7-1 with seven saves and a 1.88 ERA and hit .370 with 32 RBIs and 40 runs scored. Stone, who played pro ball, was 11-2 with a 0.94 ERA. He had 141 strikeouts in 96 innings. He also hit .385 with seven homers and 35 RBIs and was the CIF player of the year. Thielman, a freshman in '93, was 9-3 with a 2.35 ERA. First baseman David Vigor played football at Navy.

7. 2008 Poway

The Titans finished 31-6 under coach Bob Parry, beating La Costa Canyon 8-3 in the CIF San Diego Section Division I title game. Four players from that team -- Alex Dickerson (Indiana), Drew Leininger (Indiana), Brian Busick (Stanford) and Jason Brunansky (Kansas) -- are playing college ball. Two juniors on that team -- Bennett Parry (Cal State Northridge) and Steven Halcomb (Gonzaga) -- have committed to play in college next season. Sophomore Brett Thomas led the team, hitting .412 with 31 RBIs and 17 steals. Josh Anderson hit .389 with six homers and 30 RBIs. Dickerson had 46 RBIs and Dillon Dooney hit .350 with eight homers and 29 RBIs. Brunansky had 27 RBIs and Halcomb 26 with seven homers. On the mound, Leininger was 8-0, Keegan Yuhl was 8-2 and Parry 3-0.

8. 1994 Torrey Pines

The Falcons finished the season 27-8 under coach Craig Scoggins, beating Montgomery 7-2 in the CIF San Diego Section Division II title game. Chad Hutchinson (Stanford) played in the NFL and in the major leagues. He was 12-2 with a 1.38 ERA in '94 and hit .351 with 41 RBIs. Brody Heffner (Colorado), who was the designated hitter in '94, played in the NFL. The Nettles brothers -- Tim (UNC Asheville) and Jeff, sons of Yankees great Graig Nettles -- were underclassmen in '94. Both played pro ball. Mike Hymes (UCLA/Loyola Marymount) was a sophomore sparkplug and is now coaching at Westview High. Travis Farrell (Dartmouth) was 8-0 with two saves and a 1.69 ERA and hit .448 with 32 RBIs, 40 runs scored and 36 steals. Jeff Jahres hit .340.

9. 1989 Carlsbad

The Lancers finished 23-9 under coach Joe Pimental, beating Grossmont 7-4 in the CIF San Diego Section Division II title game. Ace pitcher Scott Karl broke his leg in soccer season and didn't start playing baseball until midseason. Karl played at Hawaii, was a sixth-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers and played six years in the major leagues. Jeff Myers, the other great lefty on that team, went on to play pro ball. Buck Taylor, now the head baseball coach at Palomar College, was the catcher. Chris Greene, now the athletic director and baseball coach at Carlsbad, was the right fielder.

10. 1951 Escondido

The Cougars finished 18-5 under coach Bill Duncan, losing to Bonita 7-6 in the CIF Southern California title game. Escondido beat Holtville 9-0 in the first round of the playoffs with Bob Schmeltz and George Cordry throwing a combined no-hitter. Escondido beat Lake Elsinore 8-1 in the second round before facing Bonita in the championship game. The Cougars were leading 6-4 in the ninth inning before three errors led to three unearned runs. Don Portis, one of the all-time great Cougars, was the cleanup hitter as a sophomore. Ralph Vasquez, who was a teacher and coach at Escondido High, was the shortstop. Tom Hinrichs played center field. Bob Goodbody, who later signed with the Padres, was in right field. Ernie Amago played first and Ken Iles was at second.

-- John Maffei

Discuss Print Email

/sports/high-school/nct

Scoreboard