The win over Balboa also capped a 12-year run by Dick Murray as the team’s coach. Phelan also was another of the squad’s top pitchers. With other top hitters such as Bill Phelan, Ron Butori and Frank Tamony (who later went on to become a top teacher/coach at De La Salle of Concord and is now in that school’s athletic hall of fame), Sacred Heart had a team batting average of. In regular season league games, Bertaina went 10-0 with a 0.27 ERA and struck out 151 batters. He pitched a two-hitter and struck out 16 when Sacred Heart closed out the San Francisco Academic Athletic Association playoffs with a 2-0 win over Balboa before 6,106 at Candlestick Park. Pitchers David Hoffmeister and Steve Travers (both who pitched at USC) along with outfielders Steve Hoffmire and Jim Connor were among the team’s other standouts.įuture major league pitcher Frank Bertaina led the Irish to a memorable season. The Giants also had 358 hits, a total that still makes the state record book. Third baseman Greg Zunino set a state record by scoring 65 runs and helped the team score 356 runs for a NorCal record. The most famous player on the team was infielder Buddy Biancalana, who was a hero for the Kansas City Royals in the 1985 World Series. Two losses were to league rival Terra Linda (a team the Giants also beat) while two notable wins were against top teams from Oregon and Washington. One of Redwood’s losses was by 2-1 to the Taiwan national team in a game that was tied 1-1 after seven innings. The 1977 Giants also were better than Redwood’s 1978 squad that is listed as State Team of the Year. With Edgewood making these rankings, Redwood’s 1977 team can be this high as well. 2 in the state behind Edgewood of West Covina, which was 29-1. The Giants were awarded a mythical national title after this season by the Easton Bat Company, but we have them No. Junior outfielder Danny Putnam also earned all-state recognition as did a sophomore pitcher, Cole Hamels, who eight years later would be MVP of the World Series. Two players from the roster were chosen in the first round of the 2000 MLB Draft – pitcher Matt Wheatland (eighth) and catcher Scott Heard (25th). It also was the team’s 75th homer of the season, which tied the state record. The only run of that game came on a home run by David Georgis. This looks like the best combination of star players and team accomplishment among all of those that have been coached by Blalock, one of the state’s all-time win leaders who just finished his 37th season with another CIF San Diego Section title.Īfter the Broncos nipped Vista 1-0 in the CIF San Diego Section Division I final, they were ranked No. Catcher Bob Jones and junior first baseman Dick Traversi were two more All-City players. Sophomore Ralph Rose (Earl’s brother) was one of the top pitchers, along with Chris Christian and J.C. 521 average followed by junior Peter Stathos at. It is still one of the five longest unbeaten streaks in state history.Īs with all great teams, McClatchy could hit and pitch. The 23-game unbeaten streak didn’t end until it reached 40 games during the 1952 season. The team’s only close game was an 11-11 tie with Christian Brothers that was called due to darkness. 12 teams, CLICK HERE.ĭue to being unbeaten in the days when Sacramento city baseball was as its best, the Lions can still make a claim at being the greatest team in Sacramento history. Here are the next 13 teams in the top 25 California high school baseball teams of all-time (through 2013 season):įor writeups of the No. To check out our YouTube channel, click here. To browse through our various photo galleries, click here. To subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter, click here. CLICK HERE for the link to the book on Amazon.įor game reports, please go to our twitter page and for other updates please visit our Facebook page. City, CIF Central Section, Sacramento, SF/Peninsula and Oakland/East Bay. We also have lists of all-time top high school players from San Diego, Orange County, the Inland Empire, L.A. This covers all the reasons why our state is so great in the sport, from MLB to the Cal League, from colleges, high school (of course) and Little League. You can download a 27-page free sample of the book into your phone on iTunes now. Note: The first Cal-Hi Sports e-book, “California: The Baseball Capital of the World” is now available on Amazon, iTunes and other on-line e-book stores such as Kobo and Barnes & Noble. Leading this group also is McClatchy of Sacramento 1951, Rancho Bernardo of San Diego 2000 and two teams from San Diego High. A third team from 2003 season makes the cut, but no team from 2013 gets this high. Photo: Bill Fox (from Cal-Hi Sports archives). Redwood of Larkspur shortstop Buddy Biancalana was leading player for 1977 team that is ranked among best in NorCal history.
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