Download complete file with overview and stats:

Unedited

1973

This year marked the first season of divisional play in the MBL. Under the new system the first and second place teams in both divisions (North and South) compete in a single elimination playoff to see who will advance to regional competition. The new alignment had success in both football and basketball. As a result of it more teams were in the running and races in both divisions tightened up. Close races are a key to generating fan interest. Every team played the schools in their division twice, while playing the other division schools only once. This meant that most games would be locally oriented and cross town rivalries would rise to an all time high. All in All the change was to the better, However a flaw in the system cost SC baseball a spot in the playoffs.

Coaches: John Volek, varsity football and assistant track. Bob Shook, assistant varsity football. Tex Ronning, assistant varsity football and wrestling. Don Dempewolf, head junior varsity football and golf. Larry Maibaum, assistant junior varsity football, assistant wrestling and track. Monte Blew, assistant junior varsity football. Terry Eckert, water polo. Dick Weaver, swimming. Dennis Mullen, girls and boys tennis. John Horner, cross country. Jack Alzina, varsity basketball. Bill Kypreos, assistant basketball. Pete Pappas, freshman basketball. Nick Delurgio, track. Bill Dodge, baseball. Ray Hunter, junior varsity baseball.

Most of the information came from the Trident.

1973
FOOTBALL Practice game: Prospect 12-6. League: Monterey 0-46, Alisal 0-22, SLV 18-13, Watsonville 7-6, Harbor 15-0, Aptos 6-19, Soquel 6-15. Southern division record 0-2. Northern division record 3-2. MBL League record 3-4. Season record 4-4.

The season was a success in that the Cardinals were always in the race for the championship playoffs. The Cards ended up one half a game from qualifying for the playoffs. The team will be noted for their attacking, relentless attitude. The team has laid a sound foundation for the future teams to build on. Coach John Volek and assistant Bob Shook. Trainers Bryan Amos and Earl Urioste.

The team by positions for the offense.
Ends, George Barbic, Todd Jones, Steve Parke,
Tackles, Tom Poston, Steve Scheider, Ernest Brown, Robert Mahan, Bill Kelly, Roy Musitelli
Guards, Scott Jernstrom, Homer Weston, Doug Sims
Centers, Chris Clarke, Scott Crane,
Quarterbacks, Mike Atwood, Rick Erlin
Running Backs, Manuel Alvarez, Tom Smith, Bill Mitchell, Russell Strong, Lorenzo Lowery

Defensive linemen, Ernie Hightower, Warren Scaroni, Gary Ekin, Keith Blew, John Mendez
Linebackers, Dan Urioste, Scott Daly, Alex Bastine
Defensive halfbacks, Rick Bastine, Gary Moro,
Safeties, John Morris, Robert O’Brien
Other players were Doug Woodall, Bruce Gabriel, Kelly Graff, Earl Urioste and Bryan Amos.

Two articles from the Sentinel. SC comes in fourth at the Santa Cruz Football Jamboree with 11 points. SC scoring for their four 10 minute games were ties with Seaside 1-1 and Harbor 0-0, win 9-3 over Monterey the winner of the Jamboree and loss to Soquel 11-1. Jamboree scoring includes touchdowns, PAT’s, field goals, but also features one point for each first down achieved. Even SC had something to get excited about, because they were not last as they have been.
New head coach John Volek’s team, led the Jamboree on defense until they lost to Soquel giving up 11 points. The Cards led alternately at quarterback by Mike Atwood and Rick Erlin, moved the fairly well at times on offense, especially during their bout with Monterey, which they won 9-3. Atwood got the period going with a long bomb that was dropped on a possible touchdown. Bill Mitchell drove five yards for a TD capping off a 50 yard drive. Key plays along the way were a 17 yard pass from Atwood to Manuel Alvarez and a 15 yard run by Alex Bastine on the option, both for first downs. Bastine led the SC rushers with 40 yards in 12 carries. As a team the Cards gained 62 yards rushing and Atwood added 39 from the air.

From the Sentinel. It Happens! Cards Snap Losing Streak with a 12-6 win over Prospect of San Jose in the season opener. It looked like the Cards had just won the Super Bowl as local fans, players and coaches went wild. High on the scoreboard was a strange sight, Home 12, Visitor 6. A 21 game losing streak was over, at last. Linebacker Dan Urioste intercepted a pass and ran it back 30 yards with four seconds on left in the third quarter for the winning touchdown.
Stiff defense played a big part in the win. Prospect moved the gall well between the twenties, but once deep in SC territory, the Cards got tough. Twice in the first half, the Cards held, once on their own two yard line and then on their 20 yard line. In the first quarter SC marched 65 yards for a score, paced by a 50 yard pass from Mike Atwood to Steve Parke from the SC 36 to Prospect 14. SC went to the ground twice, but lost a yard. Atwood passed to Parke again, who made a diving catch in the end zone.
Statistics reveal a close game. SC out gained the Panthers by a mere six yards, 187-181. SC appears headed to the same kind of offense as last year, one dominated by the pass. Atwood looked sharp completing 5 of 13 passes for 159 yards. SC picked up only 28 yards on 33 rushing attempts, as they were held to no gain or were thrown for losses on 14 attempts.

From Trident. In the first Northern division win over SLV 18-13, Tom Smith rushed fro 148 yards. Manuel Alvarez was the kicker for the team using his soccer skills.

In the second quarter the Cards scored on a Mike Atwood pass to Rick Erlin. Just before half time, Dan Urioste ran back an intercepted pass for the second touchdown. The final score was on a field goal to finish off Harbor 15-0.

Against Aptos the only SC score was on a run by Alex Bastine. Aptos scored their three touchdowns without throwing a pass all game.

After being down 0-15 at halftime against Soquel in the final game of the season, the Cards exploded with a 65 yard run by Lorenzo Lowery. In the final minutes of the game the Cards got down to the 15 yard line, but could not put it in. With a win the Cards would have had a winning record for the season and second place in league.

Honors voted by the team
Most Valuable — Ernie Hightower
Top Lineman — Ernie Brown
Most Inspirational — Lorenzo Lowery
Sportsmanship Award — Robert Mahan
Best Back — Rick Erlin also the
Football Scholar Athlete award — Rick Erlin

JV FOOTBALL Aptos 0-21, Soquel 0-14.
Against Aptos the Card defense lead by Ron Hayes stopped the Mariners twice inside the ten yard line.

The defense against Soquel was impressive the second half. Not allowing the Knights to cross mid field. The rain did hamper the Card offense.
Season record 2-6.

Team members were: Rick Watson, Ken Brown, Brent Gallick, Bruce Noland, Mike Moro, Dave Gregoric, Kevin King, Carl Jones, Marc Malory, Keith Dotson, Rich Osgood, Rosendo Alvarez, Mike Scofield, Mike Jones, Jim DeBoi, Larry Monroe, Rich Vanslager, Andrew Creely, Dan Moreno, Albert Reynaga, Manuel Ruiz, Leo Cortez, Jim Merkel, Ken Pollastrini, Ken O’Connell, Mike Helm, Brian Person, Jim Townsend, Dave Jessen, Bob Baker, Larry Roland, Robbie Irving, Don Hopping, Scott Seymour, Ken Thompson, David Hightower and Bob Johnston.

CROSS COUNTRY In MBL meet fifth and CCS seventh.
At the MBL meet at Mount Madonna the varsity came in fifth. The first five finishers for each team have their places added for the team total. The Cards score was 153 points. John Armstrong was the first Card across the line in twenty-second place followed by Allen Sandretti at twenty-sixth, Ed Price at thirty-first, Tom Watson at thirty-fourth and Gary Trowbridge at forty-first.

At the CCS meet the team came in seventh which was outstanding. The team was spirited and hardworking. Especially noteworthy in setting this tone were John Armstrong and Ed Price.

At the Soquel Invitational the Cards placed as one of the top teams in the small schools division. John Armstrong nabbed a twenty-fourth place and Moose Jacobs a twenty-fifth place out of ninety-eight runners. In the sophomore race, Allen Sandretti placed tenth after leading the way through the first half of the race. In the freshman race Ron Sims took fifteenth place.

At the main beach in Santa Cruz many fans watched from the pier as the Cards defeated Harbor 17-44. Allen Sandretti covered the 1.9 mile course in a course setting time of 10:09 for first place. Following directly behind Allen in two second intervals were Ed Price, Moose Jacobs and John Armstrong. Other runners were Tom Watson in fifth, Tom Armstrong, eighth and Gary Trowbridge, ninth.

At the RLS Invitational the varsity placed fourth. James Jacobs took ninth place followed by Ed Price in fifteenth place, John Armstrong in sixteenth, Tom Watson in twentieth and Tom Armstrong at twenty-second.
In the sophomore race Allen Sandretti took second place followed by Ron Sims in nineteenth place.

Other members not mentioned above are Stew Schellburg, Alfred Munoz and Englebert Wichilo.

Considering the small size of the twelve member team, since both varsity and JV’s have to have five runners for the team to be counted in the final score, the fifth place finish in the MBL meet and seventh in CCS it was an outstanding year. The team was spirited and hardworking. Especially note worth in setting this tone were John Armstrong and Ed Price. My thanks to them and to the rest of the team for a good year. First year coach John Horner.

Team vote honors
Most Valuable — Allen Sandretti
Sportsmanship Award — Moose Jacobs
Most Improved Runner — Ron Sims

WATER POLO no records or information available
Team members were: Barton Robinson, Charles Harris, Harland Johnson, Carl Fieberling, Bob Pianavilla, Dan Colton, Les Hill, Jon Smith, Matt Lezin, Tanya Lezin, Randy Shaffer, Bryron Blue, Brian Mayer, Joe Soloman, Ken Dolar, Keith Johnson, Ernie Faitos, Jon Hatch, Steve Ricar and Mike Marrase.

BASKETBALL Practice games: Los Gatos 58-48. Dads Club Tournament: Harbor 83-41, Milpitas 70-42, Aptos 80-71 for the Championship. Third place at the Carmel tournament. League: Harbor 68-53, Watsonville 58-46,
League record 11-4. Season record 19-6. The Cards were runners up to the Northern Division champion Aptos.

Many missing games.

In the opening game win against Los Gatos 58-48, Glen Reed scored 20 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Dave Bruce scored 13 points, while being a perfect 5 for 5 at the line. George Barbic scored ten points and snagged 11 rebounds. Dave Stengl scored 10 points.

In the first game of Dads tournament the Cards butchered Harbor 83-41, while showing superb defense. Glen Reed played a brilliant game scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. George Barbic was high scorer with 24 points.

In the semi finals, the Cards took a 15-2 lead against Milpitas at the end of the first quarter to finish with a 70-42 win. The Cards shot a good 28 of 68 from the field. Four starters scored in double figures. They were Barbic 15, Reed 13, Stengl 11 and Stan Frazier 10.

SC Takes It All by defeating Aptos. Dave Bruce played his most superb game this year scoring 28 points. George Barbic had an outstanding game scoring 15 and pulling down 15 rebounds. Glen Reed got into foul trouble and fouled out late in the third quarter, but still scored 11 points. After gaining a five point lead in the fourth quarter the team went into a stall that set the stage for Aptos to start fouling that ended up with many free throws by SC.

All Dads Club Tournament selections were seniors, Glen Reed, George Barbic and Dave Bruce.

Named to the six man All Tournament at Carmel were seniors Glen Reed and Dave Bruce, three year starters for the Cards.

Cards in easy victory over Harbor 68-53. At the end of the first quarter the score was 25-10 and Harbor was never in the game despite early substitutions. Three players scored in double figures. They were Dave Bruce with 24. George Barbic played a tough board game and scored 13. Glen Reed contributed a solid 17 points.

The Cards finished league play with a 58-46 win over Watsonville. Down 29-30 at half the Cards came alive in the second half and out scored the Cats 29 to 16, while playing tough defense. The top three scorers as usual were Bruce 20, Barbic 13 and Reed 11. The rest of the points came from Dave Stengal 6, Stan Frazier and Steve Bruce 4 apiece.

Since the league was divided into North and South divisions this year with each division school playing each other twice while playing the opposing division schools only once, there was a play off between the two divisions. Alisal in a hot shooting first half took a 32-16 lead into the locker room. The final score was Alisal winning 65-42. Dave Bruce led the Cards in scoring with 13 points. Aptos champions of the Northern division won the MBL title with a 58-48 win over Southern division champion Alisal to move into CCS regional play.

Some of the high points of the year were capturing the Dad’s Club Trophy. The play of Glen Reed and the development of George Barbic into a top flight center must rank as top individual achievements. The Cards got off to a fast start and were undefeated until the second round loss in the Carmel tourney. The Cards finished with the third best winning percentage in the entire MBL. New coach Jack Alzina promised that the team would be defense oriented, run patterned plays and make it enjoyable for his players. He kept his promise. The defense and offensive objectives were the result of many SC games being of the low scoring nature.

Average per game stats for the season were Glen Reed 15.4, George Barbic 15.0, Dave Bruce 13.3, Stan Frazier 8.3, Dave Stengl 8.1, Ken O’Connell 6.0, Steve Bruce 2.9, Todd Jones 2.1, Norb Szczurek 1.3, Eric Anderson 1.1, Ed Monroe 1.0 and Rick Erlin 1.0. Others were Charles Terry and Ray Poteete.

Seniors, Glen Reed, George Barbic and Dave Bruce were selected to the All Northern division of the MBL team.

JV BASKETBALL The team showed great improvement as the season progressed. In one stretch during the latter part of the season they won 10 of 12 games, while playing an aggressive pressing type of basketball.

JV’s Finish In Style beating Watsonville 60-55. The Cards led 49-31 at the end of three quarters and never looked back. Randy Wilson played one of his best games of the year scoring 14 points. Steve Palazzo delighted the crowd by sinking a pair of last second desperation shots. Dave Hightower led the club with seven rebounds.

Average points per game scoring for the season for the JV’s were Brian Bogaard 14.6, Gary Rudolph 6.4, Randy Wilson 6.2, Fred Rodkey 6.1, Dave Hightower 5.7, Ken Jones 5.1, Steve Palazzo 2.9, Rick Bastine 2.2 and Tom Schulze-Melmke 1.4.

Team honors
Most Valuable — Brian Bogard
Most Improved — Randy Wilson
Most Inspirational — Fred Rodkey
Captain — Gary Rudolph

Other members of the team were Eric Nelson, Scott Seymour, Terry Finn, John Musselman, Ed Marez, Phil Boegel, Andrew Creely, Scott McBeth and Martin Vanslager.

FRESHMAN BASKETBALL
Players: Eric Nelson, Scott Seymour, Terry Finn, John Musselmand, Ed Marez, Phil Boegel, Andrew Creely, Scott McBeth and Marty Vanslager. Coach Pete Pappas.

WRESTLING won eight and lost seven. It was a young team with only three seniors. Forty five wrestlers finished the season. Wrestling is continuing to attract new athletes as the attributes of strength, agility and balance continue to build better men. Rick Nelson capped a very successful season as he won trophies for the most pins, most takedowns and was voted the most valuable wrestler and team co-captain. Head coach Tex Ronning and assistant Larry Maibaum.

Rick Nelson took first place in the 148 pound division at the MBL meet and a first in the CCS region IV meet. Randy McCullah also took a first in the 112 division of the MBL and a third at the CCS region IV meet to qualify them for the CCS finals.

In a four way meet at Soquel were each wrestler went against two different schools, the following pinned both their opponents: Randy McCullah, Rick Nelson, Bill Mitchell and Chris Clarke.

As usual the upper weights led the way in defeating Mountain View. Winners were Rick Nelson, Dennis Meakin, Bill Mitchell and Chris Clarke. Bill Starrs in the lower weights had his best ever match dominating his man for six minutes for a big win by a decision.

Into each life some rain must fall as the Cards lost their first dual meet of the year to Gonzales 24-31. The pin twins, Rick Nelson and Dennis Meakin kept their pin streak going. Bill Mitchell had his pin streak stopped, but he still won by decision as did Chris Clarke six minutes later.

First team wrestlers by name, weight division, year in school and honors they earned. Instead of putting a ‘th’ after the place it will show just the number 6 instead of 6th.
Jack Palazzo 95, Freshman.
Bill Starrs 103, Junior, 6 MBL Tourney.
Randy McCullah 112, Senior, 4 Harbor Tourney, 4 Del Mar Classic, 4 Gonzales Tourney, 1 MBL Tourney, 3 Region IV
Rick Osgood 120, Freshman.
Luther Harris 127, Sophomore, 4 Del Mar Classic, 6 MBL Tourney.
Rosendo Alvarez 133, Sophomore, 4 Novice Tourney.
Bobby Deane 133, Senior.
Mike Scofield 138, Sophomore, 2 JV Tourney.
Rick Nelson 145, Co-Captain, 1 Harbor Tourney, 2 Del Mar Classic, 1 Gonzales Tourney, 1 MBL , 1 Region IV.
Dennis Meakin 154, Senior Co-Captain, 3 Harbor Tourney, 4 MBL Tourney.
Gabriel Reyes 154, Sophomore, 4 JV Tourney.
Jim Highes, 165, Junior.
Bill Mitchell 175 Junior, 4 Harbor Tourney, 6 MBL Tourney.
Chris Clarke 191, Junior, A.F.S.
Bob Johnston 191, Freshman, 3 Novice Tourney 4 JV Tourney.
Mike Helm 235, Freshman.

Other team members were: Tom Smith, Peter Yee, Manuel Ruiz, Tim Howton, Peter Stelling, Brent Gallick, David Gregoric, Paul Gabriel, Bob Baker, Alex Alvarez, Anthony LoGiudice, Richard Zak, Ken Pollastrini, Jose Saucedo, Jim Rameriz, Garrett McKeeman, Rory Willis, Mark Dugger, Kevin Lukan, Tom Spencer, Stan Baldwin, Pat Palazzo, Jay Soderling, David Soderling, Jim Rowe, Jim Hughes, Mario Alvarez, Dan Owen, Larry Roland, Kevin Jordan, Marc Stolman, and Nick Ruiz.

Rick Nelson capped a very successful season as he won trophies for the most pins, most takedowns and was voted the most valuable wrestler and team co-captain.

BASEBALL Practice games: Del Mar 0-3, Carmel 3-4, Piedmont Hills 1-0, Pioneer 1-4, Hollister 0-1. Salinas Tournament, North Salinas 12-5, Watsonville 4-3, Salinas 0-13, Pacific Grove, 1-5. Practice games 3-6. League: Southern Division only one round before playing two rounds against the Northern Division. South Division: Alisal 1-8, Monterey 4-10, Seaside 9-6, North Salinas 13-10, 9 innings; Salinas 4-1. South record 3-2. North Division: Harbor 1-4, 6-7 in 8 innings; Soquel 6-3, 2-1; Aptos 2-5, 2-1; Watsonville 6-2, 2-1; SLV 6-5, 1-3. Total League record 9-6 in three way tie for second with Soquel and Aptos.. Season record 12-12.
League standings for just the games played between members of the North Division of the MBL: Harbor 9-1, SC, Aptos and Soquel all 6-4, Watsonville 5-5 and SLV 2-8.

Team members: Seniors: Scott Fleming, Rick Erlin, Randy Strong, Mike Atwood, George Barbic, Glen Reed, Dave Bruce, Kelly Graff, John Mendez, Dennis Boegel, Garson Matasoff, Brian Amos and Monte Parmenter. Juniors: Dave O’Brien, Norbert Szczurek,

Del Mar shuts out Cards in the season opener 3-0. Four pitchers do well for first game giving up seven hits, three earned runs, striking out eight, but walked a not so good nine batters. The defense was good with only one error. But the hitters only came up with three hits. Reed and Ellis doubled. Lineup: Mendez 3B, 3-0; Reed SS, 2-1; Scott Fleming 2B, 3-0; Atwood P/SS, 3-0; Graff RF/C, 3-0; Ellis RF, 2-1; Strong 1B, 3-0; Bruce C, 1-0; O’Brien SS, 1-0; Szczurek CF, 2-1; Erlin CF/P, 1-0; Barbic P, 0-0, walk and Boegal LF, 0-0, walk. Pitching stats by innings pitched, earned runs, hits, walks and strike outs.
IN ER H BB SO
Atwood 3 0 2 3 5
Erlin 1 1 2 2 1 loss
Barbic 2 1 3 0 1
Doug Ellis 1 1 0 0 1

Pitchers Great In Early Going. Carmel was able to capitalize on four unearned runs to defeat the Cards 4-3. SC scored their three runs in the first inning. After an out, Scott Fleming singled and went to third on Glen Reed’s double. Mike Atwood grounded out on a fielders choice for two outs. Sophomore Doug Ellis walked to bring up Randy Strong. Strong singled to left field and the ball eluded the outfielder and all three runs scored. Mike Atwood started the game and threw a perfect two innings. George Barbic threw the next three innings and using his new no wind up style looked impressive. Rick Erlin pitched the last inning and gave up a cheap infield hit and a bad call at first that allowed the winning run to score. Good pitching. The outstanding defensive play was made by Kelly Graff making a diving catch of a line drive down the right field line. Reed doubled. Lineup: Mendez 3B, 4-0; Scott Fleming 2B, 4-1; Reed SS, 3-1; Atwood P/SS, 3-1; Ellis RF, 1-1, two walks; Strong 1B, 2-1; Bruce C, 3-0; Graff RF, 2-1; O’Brien SS, 3-0; Szczurek LF, 2-1; Erlin P, 0-0 and Barbic P, 1-0.
IN ER H BB SO
Atwood 2 0 0 0 0
Barbic 3 0 2 1 0 loss on unearned run
Erlin 1 0 1 0 0

The first win of the season came against Piedmont Hills in a 1-0 game won in the seventh inning, when Glen Reed tripled and scored on a Mike Atwood sacrifice fly to center. The hit was the only one the Cards had in the game. Mike Atwood started and went four innings followed by Rick Erlin, who finished the game and received the win. Mike gave up only one hit, walked two and struck out three. Rick gave up two hits and struck out two. Reed tripled. There were no errors by either team. Lineup: Erlin RF, 3-0; Fleming 2B, 2-0; Reed SS, 3-1; Atwood P/RF, 3-0; Szczurek LF, 2-0, walk; John Mendez 3B, 2-0, walk; Strong 1B, 2-0; Bruce C, 1-0, walk and Hollis O’Brien CF, 2-0.

Pioneer hold Cards to two hits to win 4-1. Norb Szczurek started on the mound and went three innings giving up four hits, one earned run, walked none and struck out two. George Barbic went the next three innings giving up one hit, two earned runs, walked five and struck out six. The Cards had four errors. Lineup; John Mendez 3B, 2-0, Fleming 2B, 2-0; Reed SS, 3-1; Atwood RF, 3-1; Szczurek P, 2-0; Strong 1B, 3-0; Erlin LF, 2-0; Barbic LF/P, 1-0; Bruce C, 2-0 and Hollis O’Brien CF, 2-0, one run.

Cards Drop League Opener. In the first league game Alisal trimmed the Cards 8-1. The Cards led off the game with Rick Erlin walking, advancing to second on Glen Reeds walk and scored on Mike Atwood’s single. The closes they came to another run was the sixth inning when Kelly Graff walked and was singled to second by Randy Strong. Alisal scored all their runs in the first two innings helped by four Card errors. Lineup; Erlin CF, 2-0; Fleming 2B, 4-2; Reed SS, 2-0; Atwood P/RF, 2-1; Szczurek LF/P/CF, 3-0; Graff RF/LF, 2-0; Strong 1B, 2-0; John Mendez 3B, 2-0; Bruce C, 2-0; Barbic P, 1-0; Boegel LF, 0-0, walk and Hollis O’Brien CF, 1-1.
IN ER H BB SO
Atwood 2 5 6 3 1 loss
Barbic 2 0 1 2 1
Erlin 2 0 0 1 3

In a game played at Soquel High, because of the field conditions elsewhere and the cooperation of Soquel coach Ron Walter, Monterey ripped the Cards 10-4. The Cards scored two runs in the first inning, when Szczurek walked, but was forced out on Fleming’s ground ball. Reed doubled in Fleming and Atwood doubled in Reed. In the third, Szczurek walked was sacrificed to second by Fleming and scored on Reeds single. In the fifth, Szczurek singled was sacrificed by Fleming again and scored on a error on Atwood’s ground ball to put the Cards ahead 4-3. But in the sixth inning Monterey scored five times on three walks, three hits and one error. Reed and Atwood doubled. Cards committed two errors. Lineup; Szczurek LF/CF, 3-1; Fleming 2B, 2-0, two sacrifices; Reed SS, 3-2, one RBI; Atwood P/RF, 3-1, one RBI; Graff C, 3-0; Mendez 3B, 3-0; Strong 1B, 3-0; Boegel RF, 1-0; Bruce RF, 2-1; Barbic P, 1-0; Hollis O’Brien CF, 1-0 and Erlin P/CF, 2-0;
IN ER H BB SO
Atwood 4 3 4 3 3
Erlin 2 5 3 3 2 loss
Barbic 1 0 1 2 0

Cards Score Big Victory finally got on the winning track in league play. Cards behind good pitching by Rick Erlin and George Barbic plus good hitting, as they broke out with eleven hits to defeat North Salinas 12-5 in six innings because of darkness. Second baseman Scott Fleming sparked SC at the plate going three for five, which included a double and three runs batted in. Starter Rick Erlin went four innings giving up three hits, no earned runs, walked three and struck out three for the win. George Barbic went two innings giving up one hit, one earned run, walked two and struck out four for a save. The Cards scored in every inning, but the first. RBI’s, three for Fleming and one each for Szczurek, Atwood, Barbic, Bruce, Erlin, Strong and O’Brien. Cards had three errors. Lineup; Szczurek CF, 3-1, walk, two runs; Fleming 2B, 5-3; Reed SS, 4-2, walk; Atwood RF, 1-0, three walks; Graff C, 3-0, 2 walks; Bruce LF, 2-2, 2 walks; Erlin P/RF, 2-0, walk, sacrifice; Strong 1B, 3-1; Mendez 3B, 3-0, walk; Barbic P, 1-1; O’Brien CF, 1-1.

Hollister scores on an unearned run, the one error by the Cards all day, to take SC 1-0. Excellent pitching by Norb Szczurek and George Barbic was not rewarded. Szczurek started and went five innings giving up three hits, no earned runs, walked none and struck out three, but was tagged with a loss. In one inning, Barbic allowed no hits or runs, walked one and struck out one. Lineup; Szczurek P/CF, 2-0, two walks; Fleming 2B, 3-0, sacrifice; Reed SS, 4-2; Atwood RF, 4-1; Bruce LF, 3-0; Graff C, 3-0; Strong 1B, 3-2; Mendez 3b, 3-2; Barbic P, 0-0; Erlin PH, 1-0 and O’Brien CF, 2-0.

Cards top Seaside 9-6. Cards score seven runs in the second inning and two in the third to go ahead 9-2. Seaside came back in the sixth inning and scored three runs all unearned. Szczurek, Atwood and Graff doubled. Fleming, Reed, Atwood, Graff Bruce and Strong had stolen bases. RBI’s were three for Szczurek, two for Graff and one each for Fleming, Reed, Strong and O’Brien. Lineup; Szczurek P/LF, 4- 2, two runs; Fleming 2B, 3-0, hit by pitch; Reed SS, 3-0, walk; Atwood RF, 3-1, walk; Graff C, 4-2; Bruce LF, 1-0, walk; Mendez LF/3b, 3-0. walk; Strong 1B, 4-2, two runs; O’Brien CF, 3-0, sacrifice and Erlin P, 1-0.
IN ER H BB SO
Szczurek 4 0 2 1 4 Win
Erlin 2 0 5 2 4
Barbic 1 0 0 0 1

League leading Harbor wins at their home field 4-1. Harbor came right out and scored two runs the first inning and followed with two more in the third. The Cards had runners on base every inning, but the fifth inning. The Cards scored their lone run in the fifth inning when Mendez walked, was singled to second by Erlin and driven home by Fleming. George Barbic started on the mound and went three innings giving up four hits, four earned runs, hit a batter and struck out one. Rick Erlin pitched the next three innings giving up two hits, no runs, hit one batter and struck out two. Strong doubled. Szczurek stole two bases. Cards had no errors. Lineup; Reed SS, 4-0; Fleming 2B, 3-1; Szczurek CF, 2-1, walk; Atwood RF, 3-1; Graff C, 3-1; Bruce 3B, 1-0, sacrifice, walk; Strong 1B, 3-1; Mendez LF, 2-0, walk; Barbic P, 1-0; Erlin P, 2-2 and O’Brien RF, 0-0.

Cards Corral Soquel 6-3 at Harvey West behind the complete game pitching of Norb Szczurek, who weathered an eight hit Soquel attack and four SC errors to gave up just two earned runs, walked two and struck out seven. Szczurek didn’t dominate the Soquel hitters, but he never let down even though he was under pressure throughout. Soquel had runners on base in every inning. He was backed up by his mates, who had a big fourth inning, when they batted around the order.
In the fourth inning, O’Brien walked and scored on Reed’s double. Fleming walked and Szczurek beat out a sacrifice bunt for a base hit, moving up Reed to third and Fleming to second. Reed scored on Atwood’s sacrifice fly. Kelly Graff sent Fleming home with a right field single as Szczurek going on the pitch steamed around to third. Graff stole second and scored when Strong’s ball was miss played. The Cards scored in the first inning on a single by Fleming, a walk to Szczurek and Atwoods single to score Fleming from second. The big Cardinal hitter was lead of man Reed, the Cards lanky shortstop went 3 for 4, doubled and stole three bases. Strong also stole a base. RBI’s Reed, Atwood, Graff and Strong. Cards had four errors . Lineup; Reed SS, 4-3; Fleming 2B, 2-1, two walks; Szczurek P, 2-1, 2 walks; Atwood RF, 3-1; Graff C, 3-1,steal, walk; Strong 1B, 3-0, walk; Bruce 3B, 4-1; Mendez LF, 3-0, walk and O’Brien CF, 2-0, walk.

Aptos scores two in the first inning to set the tone for the game in their 5-2 win. Rick Erlin started and went six innings giving up seven hits, five earned runs, four walks and five strike outs. George Barbic pitched the last inning and struck out two while pitching to only three batters. The Cards scored in the second inning on a walk to Atwood, a sacrifice by Graff and a single by Bruce. The other run came in the fifth when Reed was plunked, stole second and scored on Szczurek’s single. Fleming, Bruce and Graff stole bases. Cards had one error. Lineup; Reed SS, 2-0, hit by pitch, walk; Fleming 2B, 2-0, two walks; Szczurek CF, 4-1; Atwood RF, 3-0, walk; Graff C, 1-0, hit by pitch, sacrifice; Strong 1B, 3-1; Bruce 3B, 3-1; Erlin P, 3-1; Mendez LF, 3-0, walk and Barbic P, 0-0.

In the first game of the Salinas Lions Club Tournament the Cards defeated Watsonville 4-3 behind the excellent complete game pitching of George Barbic, plus his two run homer. He gave up only four hits, three earned runs, walked none and struck out nine. The no walks was an exceptional feat for big George, who is intimidating on the mound. All three of the runs came in the fourth inning. For five innings George put down the side in order and the one other inning, he threw to only one extra batter. This had to be one of George’s top high school games. The Cards scored all four of their runs in the fifth. Mendez walked and scored on Barbic’s home run to left center at the North Salinas diamond. Reed singled, stole second and scored on a throwing error on Fleming’s ground ball, which put Scott on second. He went to third on a ground out by Graff. Atwood walked, then he and Fleming worked a double steal to score Fleming with the winning run. Fleming had another stolen base and sophomore Doug Ellis, up from the JV team, had two. Reed and Atwood also stole a base. Cards had no errors. Lineup; Reed SS, 4-1; Fleming 2B, 4-1; Graff C, 4-0; Atwood RF, 3-0; Ellis CF/RF, 2-0; Strong 1B, 3-0; Bruce 3B, 2-0, walk; Erlin LF, 0-0, two walks; Mendez LF, 1-0, walk and Barbic P, 3-1.

In the second game of the tournament, the Cards and North Salinas had a free for all with the Cards coming out ahead 13-10. At the end of seven innings the score was tied 8-8. Rick Erlin pitched the first seven innings giving up seven hits, six earned runs, walked five and struck out eight. He got stronger as the game went along. Mike Atwood pitched the last two inning giving up three hits, two earned runs, walked none and struck out three to earn the win. Top hitters were Strong, who went 4 for 5, tripled, had two RBI’s and a steal. Mendez went 3 for 4, had a RBI, run and a steal. Reed was 3 for 6, two RBI‘s, a run and two steals. Atwood was 3 for 6, three RBI‘s, a run and a sacrifice. Doug Ellis up from the JV’s for the tournament had a good day going 1 for 2 with two walks, two runs and a sacrifice. Cards had one error. Lineup: Reed SS, 6-3; Fleming 2B, 5-0, one run, one walk; Graff C, 6-2, double, steal and three runs; Atwood RF/P, 6-3; Doug Ellis CF, 2-1, two walks, two runs, one sacrifice; Strong 1B, 5-4; Erlin P, 3-2, walk, sacrifice; Bruce 3B, 3-0, walk, sacrifice; Mendez LF, 5-3 and O’Brien PR.

Salinas slaughters Cards in the third game of the tourney as the Cowboys score seven runs in the fourth inning to win 13-0. Mike Atwood started and went three and two-thirds innings giving up 12 hits, but only four of the 12 runs scored against him were earned as the Cards made five errors. Sophomore Doug Ellis relieved and went two and one-third innings gave up one hit, no earned runs and struck out two. Lineup; Reed SS, 3-1; Erlin CF, 1-0, two walks; Graff C, 1-0, two walks; Atwood P/RF, 3-0; Strong 1B, 3-0; Fleming 2B, 2-0; Ellis RF/P, 2-0; Mendez 3B/LF, 2-1; Bruce 3B, 1-0; Lunsford RF, 0-0 and O’Brien LF, 1-0.

In the fourth and last game of the tournament, Pacific Grove dumps Cards 5-1 as they score four runs in the first inning after two were out. George Barbic started and after the first inning, he put down the side in order the next two innings. In his next three innings, he only pitched to four batters each inning. After the first inning, Barbic was in control. Sophomore Doug Ellis got the next three batters on three ground balls. Mendez drove in the only Card run. Cards had no errors. Lineup; Reed SS, 4-0; Erlin CF, 1-0; Graff C, 3-1, walk; Atwood RF, 4-0; Strong 1B, 3-1; Fleming 2B, 3-2; Mendez LF, 3-1; Bruce 3B, 2-0, walk; Barbic P, 2-1 and Ellis P, 1-0.

Cards Even With 6-2 Win. Evened their league record to 4-4. Cards score first in 6-2 win over Watsonville as Szczurek and Barbic combined to hold the Cats to just five hits and gave up no earned runs. Lead off hitter Reed singled up the middle, stole second and third and scored on a single through the right side by Szczurek. Reed scored three times in a row, stole four bases and went 3 for 4.. Reed led off the big four run, third inning with an infield hit, stole second and after Szczurek walked, scored on Kelly Graff’s double. Mike Atwood singled to drive in Szczurek and Scott Fleming tripled to left to score Graff and Atwood. Graff singled home Reed, who had collected his third hit of the game and then stole second for SC’s final run in the fourth inning. Szczurek started and went five innings giving up three hits, no earned runs, walked two and struck out three for the win. Barbic went the next two giving up two hits, no earned runs, walked none and struck out two for a save.. The Cards had two double plays to stop two potential Cat rallies. The first was Fleming to Reed to Strong. The second was Strong to Reed back to Strong, a tough play to make. But the Cards did make four errors, which allowed the two runs to score. Lineup; Reed SS, 4-2; Szczurek P/CF, 2-1, two walks; Graff C, 4-3; Atwood RF, 4-1; Strong 1B, 4-1; Fleming 2B, 2-2, walk; Erlin CF, 2-0, walk: Mendez LF, 3-0; Bruce 3B, 3-0 and Barbic P, 0-0.

SC In Third Place Deadlock. The day following the Watsonville game a make up game against Salinas originally called after two innings, because of heavy rain in March ended with a 4-1 Card victory. Rick Erlin pitched a complete game, his best game of the year, giving up only three hits, one earned run, no walks and striking out five. In the first inning, Fleming singled, stole second, went to third on a fly ball to right by Szczurek and scored on a wild pitch. In the third, Strong singled and scored on Erlin’s double. The final two runs, insurance runs, came in the sixth, when Graff was safe on an error, but was forced at second on a ground ball by Atwood. Strong tripled Atwood home. Erlin walked and as he took off on the double steal the pitcher balked to score Strong. The Cards had only one error. Lineup; Reed SS, 3-0; Fleming 2B, 3-1, steal; Szczurek CF, 3-0; Graff C, 3-1; Atwood RF, 3-0; Strong 1B, 3-2; Erlin P, 2-1, walk: Mendez LF, 3-0 and Bruce 3B, 2-1.

SC Moves Into Second Place Tie. The defending MBL champion SC moved into a three way tie for second place in the MBL North with a 6-5 win over SLV. The Cards went two games over .500 to increase their league record to 6-4, tying them with Soquel and Aptos. All three are three games behind front running Harbor at 9-1. George Barbic started and went 5 plus good innings for the win with relief help from Norb Szczurek for the last two innings for a save. Glen Reed started off the game with a double and scored on Mike Atwood’s single. In the second inning the Cards scored four runs, while batting around. Rick Erlin led off with a single and was sacrificed to second by John Mendez. Dave Bruce walked and then Erlin was forced out at third on what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt. Reed was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Bruce scored on a wild pitch and the other runners moved up. Reed and Barbic scored on Scott Fleming double to deep center. Fleming scored on an error.
In what turned out to be the winning run came home in the fifth inning. Mendez singled sharply to left, took second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a ground out and after Reed walked they worked the double steal and Mendez scored. Reed and Mendez each had two hits. Three Card errors in the sixth inning allowed SLV to score twice and another error in the seventh tightened up the score. The defense had been playing well.
Barbic in all probability would have finished the game with a little better support. He gave up three hits, one earned run, walked none and struck out seven. Szczurek went two innings giving up three hits, no earned runs, walked one and struck out one. The Cards had two errors. Lineup: Reed SS, 2-2, two walks, one steal; Fleming 2B, 4-1; Graff C, 4-1; Atwood RF, 3-1; Strong 1B, 3-0; Erlin CF, 3-1: Mendez LF, 2-2; Bruce 3B, 2-0, walk; O’Brien PR and Szczurek P, 0-0.

Pirated Edge Cardinals, 7-6, Eight Innings. The win boosts Harbor’s league record to 10-1 as the Pirates enjoy a three game lead over Aptos in the Northern Division race. SC is tied for third place with Soquel with a 6-5 record. In a eighth inning, real thriller against Northern Division winner Harbor, the Cards had 8 hits, while losing 6-7. Erlin started and went 4 and two-thirds innings giving up seven hits, six earned runs, walked one and struck out one. Barbic went three and one-third innings giving up four hits, no earned runs, walked none and struck out one. Barbic took the loss even though he should have been out of the inning without any runs scored.
The Cards scored two in the first inning and two more in the third to go ahead 4-0. In the fourth inning, Harbor scored two runs and four more in the fifth to go ahead 6-4. The Cards scored one in the fifth, when Reed reached first on an error, stole second, went to third on a ground ball and scored on Graff’s sacrifice fly to put the Cards down one. In the sixth the Cards tied the score as Mendez led off with a single, was sacrificed to second by Bruce and scored on Reed’s single.
Top hitters for the Cards were Reed with two hits and an RBI, Graff with 3 RBI’s and Atwood an RBI. The best defensive play for the Cards was turned in by Reed in the seventh inning. With the winning run on second, Reed made a diving stop of a hot grounder and threw the runner out at first to save the run. The Cards had a runner thrown out at the plate on a good throw from the centerfielder to deny the tying run in the last of the eighth. Lineup: Reed SS, 5-2; Fleming 2B, 3-1, walk, double, steal; Graff C, 2-1, sacrifice, hit by pitch; Atwood RF, 3-1, sacrifice; Strong 1B, 3-0, walk; Erlin P/CF, 3-1, walk: Mendez LF, 4-1; Bruce 3B, 1-0, two sacrifices, walk; O’Brien CF, 2-0; Barbic P, 1-1; Szczurek PH, 0-0, walk and Boegel RF, 0-0.

In a 2-1 win over Soquel for the second win against the Knights, put the Cards in a second place tie with a 7-5 record with Aptos. Szczurek started and went four strong innings, while giving up only two hits, one walk and one run. Erlin went three innings, never in trouble, while giving up one hit, no runs, one walk and struck out five for the win.
Both of the Card runs came in the sixth inning. Fleming led off with a single, went to second on a ground out and scored on a throwing error that put Graff on second. Atwood singled to center and the throw got away at the plate as Graff scored the winning run.
Mendez was perfect at the plate going two for two, while Atwood collected two hits in three plate appearances. Cards had two errors. Lineup: Reed SS, 4-1; Fleming 2B, 3-1; Szczurek P/CF, 2-0, walk; Graff C, 3-0; Atwood RF, 3-2; Strong 1B, 3-0; Mendez LF, 2-2, walk; Bruce 3B, 1-0, walk; O’Brien CF, 1-0; Erlin P, 2-0; Boegel PH, 1-0.

SC Edges Into Second Place; Defending Champions defeat Aptos, 2-1 for the second game in a row to take a giant step in clinching the remaining berth in the league playoffs. In case of a tie for second, the tie will be broken by the overall record, record within the division, common games between the schools and the record versus higher finishing teams within the division would determine the winner, before a single playoff game would be played.
SC’s pitching, after getting off to a slow start, seems to be peaking just at the right time along with sound defensive play of their teammates. Glen Reed’s play at short was phenomenal as he made five put outs and assisted on several hot liners that could have could have gone for extra bases.
Again good pitching prevailed for the Cards. Erlin pitched six innings giving up five hits, one run, no walks and struck out four to gain the win. Erlin had three innings of three up and three down, plus three more with just four batters an inning. With the tying runner on in the last inning and no outs, George Barbic came in to pitch. First baseman Randy Strong made a fine defensive play on a sacrifice bunt. Randy threw the runner out at second to prevent a potential tying run on a base hit. Barbic, then proceeded to strike out the next two batters to save the game 2-1.
The Cards scored their runs in the third inning. Erlin reached base on an error, O’Brien sacrificed him to second, but the pitcher threw the ball away and each runner moved up a base to third and second. Erlin scored on Reed’s sacrifice fly to left field. O’Brien scored the winning run on a ground ball by Fleming. On no hits the Cards scored two runs. The Cards had only three hits in the game, but they had no errors. Lineup: Reed SS, 3-0, sacrifice; Fleming 2B, 3-0, walk.; Szczurek LF, 1-0, walk; Graff C 1-0, 2 walks, steal, double; Atwood RF 3-0; Mendez 3B, 3-1; Strong 1B, 3-0; Erlin P, 2-1; O’Brien CF, 3-0, sacrifice and Barbic P, 0-0.

For the third game in a row SC won 2-1, this time against Watsonville. Barbic started and went 6 and one-third innings giving up no earned runs, only four hits with two of them coming in the last inning, struck out 8 and walked only one in a fine performance. Szczurek entered in the seventh inning with two runners on base and one out. Norb proceeded to strike out the next two batters to end the game for a save. In the second inning, Mendez was hit by a pitch and was doubled home by Strong. In the fifth inning, Barbic doubled and scored the winning run on Szczurek’s single. Barbic has helped himself win other games with his bat. Lineup: Reed SS, 3-0; Fleming 2B, 3-1; Szczurek CF/P, 1-1, two walks, two steals, RBI; Graff C, 3-0; Atwood RF, 3-0; Erlin LF, 3-0; Mendez 3B, 2-0, hit by pitch; Strong 1B, 2-1; Barbic P, 2-1; O’Brien CF, 0-0 and Bruce LF, 0-0.

A three run home run in the first inning by SLV gave the Cards a 1-3 loss in the last game of the year kept the Cards from taking second place all to themselves. They tied with Soquel and Aptos, but lost the opportunity to continue playing for the league championship. The Card pitchers did well the rest of the game. Norb Szczurek started and went four innings giving up three runs and five hits in the first inning, but only two other hit’s the other three innings he pitched. The second inning it went 1-2-3 and out. The other two innings only one extra batter came to the plate for two more hits.
George Barbic ended his season in good style giving up one hit, no runs, walked none and struck out three in two innings. There were four innings when the Cards went three up and three down. Two other innings they were able to get and extra batter to the plate. SC was only able to get four base hits and three of them came in the last inning, but they could get only one run from them. Kelly Graff started off the last inning with a triple. Mike Atwood followed with an RBI single. Scott Fleming grounded out and George Barbic singled to put the tying runs on base. A strike out made it two outs. Randy Strong drove a line shot that was caught to end the come back attempt. Cards had no errors. Lineup: Szczurek P/CF, 1-0, two walks; Reed SS, 3-0; Graff C, 3-2; Atwood RF, 3-1; Fleming 2B, 2-0, walk; Erlin LF, 2-0; Mendez LF, 3-0; Strong 1B, 3-0; Bruce 3B, 2-0 and Barbic P, 1-1.

The Cards played five one run games at the end of the season with four of them being wins and three of them being 2-1 wins.

All of the following is from the June 1 Trident. The Cards started the year in sad shape. They won only one of their first six games. The talk of the league was “SC will no longer be a force to reckon with in MBL baseball.” But the Cards came roaring down the stretch to finish the season in a tie for second in the league. Strong points were hard to assess. There was never a consistent display of hitting, pitching or desire. There was no one individual who stood out above the others though there were many good seasonal performances. The high point of the season was when they beat Aptos 2-1 for undisputed possession of second place. The biggest handicap of the team was not only the lack of hitting, but the lack of spirit. There were times when the dugout sounded like a funeral. The team also lacked a “never say die” attitude. They simply did not have the ability to come from behind and win.

Outstanding individuals are easy to spot. There was the All MBL League double play combo of Glen Reed and Scott Fleming, both who also finished the year hitting over .300. They were the heart of the inner defense and made many key defensive plays. One of the SC pitchers summed it up near the end of the year when he said, “ I have confidence in both of them, I know they will make the plays.”

ALL MBL pitcher Rick Erlin finished the league season with a 3-2 record and pitched the most innings with 39 and 2/3, struck out 30, walked 13, had an ERA of 3.30, while hitting a respectable .250.

Others who deserve recognition are George Barbic who saw action in 12 out of the clubs 15 league games and won the honor as being the most improved player. He compiled and ERA of 1.63 and in 30 innings pitched struck out 31 while walking only seven. George grew fast and in the past has had some trouble with his control. This year in a interview with the Trident, George had this to say, “I no longer work from the wind up, but always go from the set position. It has worked well for me and I have enjoyed a lot of success with it. I do not believe I lose any velocity by junking the wind up. It is just a waste of motion for me. Not using it will help me save energy and be a more effective pitcher in the late innings besides helping my control.” All of this was true. George had his most productive season.

Kelly Graff, the number four hitter, was more consistent in driving the ball than anyone else and hit .279, but a lot of his outs were line shots. Kelly developed into one of the leagues best defensive catchers.
Norb Szczurek led the Cards with four wins despite pitching in only six games. He pitched 22.2 innings, struck out 13 and walked six with an ERA of 1.83, while hitting .281. Norb spent a lot of time in the outfield, where he showed better than average defensive ability. Of the six players mentioned Norb is the only one returning next year. There are a host of JV players who could have helped this year and will be key players next year. More specifically we speak of Doug Ellis, Keith Blew, Ken O’Connell and Randy Pate.

Top RBI men in league were Fleming 10, Atwood 8, Szczurek 6 and Graff 4. Top base stealers were Reed 12, Fleming and Szczurek 6, Bruce and Graff 4. Tops in doubles were Graff and Reed 3, Strong, Fleming and Atwood 2.

LEAGUE hitting stats, by at bats, runs, hits, average, doubles, triples, total bases, runs batted in, walks, stolen bases and sacrifices.
AB R H AV 2B 3B TB RBI BB SB SAC
Fleming 44 8 14 318 2 1 25 10 5 6 2
Reed 49 11 15 306 3 0 25 8 4 12 1
Szczurek 32 8 9 281 1 0 24 6 11 6 1
Graff 43 7 12 279 3 1 25 4 4 4 0
Atwood 43 6 11 256 2 0 21 8 6 3 2
Erlin 32 2 8 250 0 0 15 2 3 2 1
Strong 45 5 8 178 2 1 15 3 2 3 0
J Mendez 40 5 6 150 0 0 11 0 3 1 1
D Bruce 27 4 4 148 1 0 14 0 7 4 3
D O’Brien 14 5 2 143 0 0 5 0 3 0 1
Barbic 9 3 3 333 1 0 5 2 0 0 0
D Boegel 2 0 0 000 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
Totals 380 64 92 242 15 3 186 43 49 41 12

LEAGUE pitching stats by innings pitched, hits, earned runs, earned run average, doubles, triples, home runs, walks, strike outs, won, loss and saves.
INN ER H ERA BB SO W L G
Erlin 40 19 13 3.30 13 30 3 2 10
Barbic 30 7 23 1.63 7 31 2 2 12
Szczurek 23 6 22 1.83 6 13 4 1 6
Atwood 6 10 10 11.66 6 5 0 1 2
Totals 99 42 68 2.97 32 79 9 6 15

SEASON hitting stats, by at bats, runs, hits, average, doubles, triples, total bases, runs batted in, walks, stolen bases and sacrifices.
AB R H AV 2B 3B TB RBI BB SB SAC
Reed 81 15 26 317 6 1 38 6 5 15 1
Fleming 70 10 18 257 2 1 37 11 6 9 3
Szczurek 40 8 10 250 1 0 28 6 13 7 1
Atwood 74 9 18 243 2 0 30 12 7 4 3
Erlin 46 4 11 239 0 0 26 3 9 3 2
Strong 71 7 16 225 3 2 26 7 3 4 0
Graff 67 10 15 223 3 0 34 4 7 5 2
J Mendez 65 6 13 200 0 0 20 2 5 2 1
Barbic 18 4 5 278 1 0 11 5 3 0 0
D Bruce 47 5 4 085 1 0 18 2 11 4 4
D O’Brien 24 6 2 085 0 0 5 0 1 0 3
D Boegel 2 0 0 000 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
Totals 605 84 138 228 19 4 274 58 71 53 20

SEASON pitching stats by innings pitched, hits, earned runs, earned run average, doubles, triples, home runs, walks, strike outs, won, loss and saves.
INN ER H ERA BB SO W L G
Barbic 52 15 42 2.02 15 51 3 4 17
Erlin 52 24 48 3.23 18 41 4 4 14
Szcsurek 35 7 31 1.43 7 22 4 2 9
Atwood 20 19 27 6.55 18 17 1 2 7
Totals 159 65 148 2.86 58 131 12 12 24

All MBL-NORTH players were the double play combo of shortstop Glen Reed and second baseman Scott Fleming and pitcher Rick Erlin.

JV BASEBALL
With a 9-2 win over SLV the Cards have a six game win streak going. Greg Wehr pitched a complete game for the win. Greg retired the first nine men he faced, before giving up a walk. The Cards had a six run second inning started off with a Alan Amos walk, followed by an error on Keith Dotson grounder and a walk to Don Enrico to load the bases. Wehr grounded out to the pitcher for a force out at home, but the bases were still full. Ken O’Connell doubled in Dotson and Enrico. Keith Blew emptied the bases with a three run homer. In the third Dotson singled was sacrificed to second by Enrico, stole third and scored on a ground out. Wehr walked and scored on Randy Pate’s hit. The final run came on Blew’s second round tripper.

Team members were pitchers, Greg Wehr, Doug Ellis also OF, Gary Rudolph also infield; catchers, Keith Blew and John Lunsford also OF; first base, Steve Bruce also P, and Alan Amos; infielders, Ken O’Connell, Randy Pate, Phil Boegel, Scott McBeth and Keith Dotson; outfielders, Don Enrico, George Lopez, Dan Dodge, Randy Gomez and Scott Seymour.

TRACK
Cards lose to Monterey 33-102 in a dual meet. Alan Sandretti, Moose Jacobs and Eddie Price swept the two mile. Gary Trowbridge and Todd Jones finished 2-3 in the 880, while Sandretti and John Armstrong did the same in the mile. Gary Ekin took second in both hurdles plus scoring in a field event. Peter Yee placed in the field events. The frosh-soph did much better losing only 55-81. Richard Vanslager, Rick Paris, Rick Bastine, Mike Scofield and Don Hopping all placed in two events. Placing in one event were Mike Helm, John Whichlow, Martin Vanslager, Robert Baker, Dave Gregoric and Ron Sims.

For the first time in two years, the varsity won a dual meet. It was against Aptos 75-61. SC started in style winning the 440 yard relay with an impressive time of 46.8. From there the sprinters took control with Ernie Hightower taking first in the 100 and 220. Jim Finch first in 440. Gary Ekin took second in the low hurdles and third in the highs. Scott Crane took second in the high hurdles, won the high jump and a third in the triple jump. Ron Hayes and Scott Daly went 1-2 in the shot put. Rick Nelson and Robert O’Brien went 2-3 in the discus. Alan Sandretti and Eddie Price went 1-2 in the two mile and 2-3 in the mile. Gary Trowbridge took second in 880. Todd Jones took second in long jump and third in 440. Dennis Meakin second in pole vault and was on the mile relay in a first place finish.
The frosh-soph lost to Aptos 63-73. Top performers were Rick Paris first in both hurdles and second in long jump. Mike Scofield first in long jump and second in the 100 and 220. Andrew Creely took seconds in the triple jump, the high jump and the 440. Richard Vanslager took first in the pole vault and second in high hurdles. Robert Baker and Don Hopping went 2-3 in the discus. Matt Helm third in the shot put. Rick Bastine first in triple jump. Ron Sims second in two mile. Ken Pollastrini third in high jump. Gary Ekin leaped 18’2” in the broad jump.

Frosh-Soph track team kills Harbor.

Three track men qualified for the CCS championship meet. They were Ricky Bastine in the triple
jump; Dennis Meakin in pole vault and Mike Scofield in low hurdles. Other top men were Rick Paris, who looked impressive in the high hurdles and anchoring the 440 relay team. John Whichelow should continue to improve while continuing to try different events. Right now he is best in the 440 and is a starter on the mile relay team where he runs the 440.

The frosh-soph distance runners are up and coming. Ron Sims also ran cross country as well as distance events in track. Dave Gregoric looked very good in the 880 and runs on the mile relay team. Martin Vanslager did his bests in the mile. The sprints are not the Cards strongest point, but there is good potential coming. Mike Scofield ran the 100, Rick Paris the 220 and Mike Jones did well before being injured. Rick Bastine has shown he is one of the league premier triple jumpers. In the weight events, Mike Helm set the new frosh-soph shot put record for SC. Robert Baker and Don Hopping did well in the discus. Other weight men were Garrett McKeeman, Carl Jones, Gary Lim and Mark Dugger.

Other varsity team members not mentioned above were Bill Kelly, Steve Parke, Peter Yee, Gary Moro, Ron Hays, Robert Brien, Scott Daly, Tom Watson, Scott Crane, Ernie Hightower, Stuart Schellberg, Rick Nelson, Tony Sanchez, Ed Price, John Morris, Dale Massek, Todd Jones, Moose Jacobs, John Gomez, Brian Hitchcock and Tom Armstrong.

Other JV team members not mentioned above were Rick Chadwick, Garret McKeeman, Dave Hightower and Dan Moreno. Head coach Nick Delurgio, assistants John Horner, Larry Maibaum and John Volek.

SWIMMING
At the MBL relays the Cards placed fourth out of eight teams. One of the bright spots was winning the 200 meter relay by Matt Lezin, Jon Hatch and Harland Johnson did it in 1:14.3.

Both varsity and frosh-soph enjoyed victories over Pacific Grove. The frosh-soph clinched the meet by taking the 200 yard free style relay at the end of the meet to put them ahead 45-43.
Jon Hatch set two meet records and Brian Person set one. Person did the 100 yard backstroke in 1:22. Steve Ricar is the team diver. At this time the team record is 2-2.

Other team members were: Clinton George, Ernie Faitos, Randy Shaffer, Jeff Darling, Steve Ricar, Jim Townend, Ken Doler, Dean Stengl, Ken Douglas, Karl Fieberling, Joe Soloman, Les Hill and Brian Mayer. Coach Dick Beaver.

The Aqamaids are kept busy managing the swimmers times and scores. They are Becky Nash, Judy Leindecker, Pandie Kirkwood. Debbie Blake, Melody McElroy, Peggy Rogers and Barbara Deffee.

TENNIS finished sixth in the league. The season record was 7-11.The newly formed JV team did fantastic, not losing a game.

The varsity easily beat North Salinas 8-3. Winners were Eric Fieberling, Tom Matthews, Taka Baba, Ed Costa and Bill Slakey in singles. Doubles winners were Jernstrom and Matthews, plus Caiocca and Costa.

Frosh team ties Aptos 4-4. Winners were Greg Mainis, Peter Tsuagwa and Matt Bowe. In doubles Bowe and Pat Dennhey won.

The last match of the year was a 2-7 loss to Harbor. The Card winners were Eric Fieberling in singles and Jack Harbert and Ed Costa in doubles.

The varsity played against great odds, but winning most of the time. This can be contributed to the hard work and long hours of practice under direction of their coach Dennis Mullen. Tennis is a growing sport with talent coming out every where. A good example is Fred Caiocca, who just started practicing in the Fall working day and night. Even with the odds against him, Fred kept working. Today Fred is the fourth man on the team. Fred is probably the most improved player in the league.

Varsity season records: Tom Mathews 11-6; Eric Fieberling 7-11; Taka Baba 7-10; Ed Costa 9-7; Fred Caiocca 5-8; Jack Harbert 1-8 and Scott Jernstrom 2-14.

Other team members not mentioned above were Keith Johnson, Luke Violante and Doyle Foreman.

GOLF no names or information available

INDIVIDUALS
George Barbic was a rare athlete competing in three sports this year. George was a three sport starter and top contributor in football as a defensive tackle, in basketball as the top rebounded and one of the top scorers and baseball were he pitched in 12 of the 15 league games. After spending three years in relative obscurity, though doing well on JV teams, he had not made the first teams of varsity previously, but has blossomed into one of the schools outstanding players.

Rick Nelson who wrestled at the 145 pound weight classification capped a very successful season as he won trophies for the most pins, most takedowns and was voted the most valuable wrestler and team co-captain. He took first places at the following tournaments: Harbor Tourney, Gonzales Tourney, MBL final and the CCS Region IV finals. He was second at the Del Mar Classic

John Armstrong was the first Card across the line in twenty-second place at the MBL meet. John nabbed a twenty-fourth place out of ninety-eight runners at the Soquel Invitational and the Cards placed as one of the top teams in the small schools division. John was a main player in his team placing seventh at the CCS meet and fifth at the MBL meet.

FORMER PLAYERS
Kris Sorensen a 1969 grad last year in his junior year at San Jose State posted a 5-3 record and a fine 1.90 ERA. In the summer he signed a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals and pitched for their rookie league club at Sarasota, Florida were he was 3-2 with an 2.05 ERA. He also led the league in strike outs, 60 in 60 innings. Kris worked out with the SCHS team this Spring before reporting to the Cardinals double A team.