San Diego Section Baseball : Mission Bay and San Marcos Meet Again

A year ago, in the San Diego Section baseball playoffs, Mission Bay High School jumped all over San Marcos, 18-1, to advance to the 2-A championship game.

As the 1985 playoffs open today, the second-seeded Buccaneers (22-4) and Knights (18-6) meet again in a 2-A quarterfinal game at Mission Bay at 3 p.m.

“Last year, we just got the jump on them and swung the bats real well,” Mission Bay Coach Dennis Pugh said. “I don’t expect anything like that this time.”

And there’s good reason why Pugh doesn’t expect a repeat. Today’s game will match two of the top pitchers in the county, San Marcos’ senior right-hander Mike Ponio (9-1) and Mission Bay’s senior left-hander John Hemmerly (10-1).

“We certainly hope it’s a lot closer,” San Marcos Coach Ron Layton said. “I would assume it’s going to be a low-scoring game where one team gets a break and the other team comes up a bit short.”

Mission Bay, the City Western League champion, has struggled offensively all season and that concerns Pugh.

“What hitting?” said Pugh, when asked about who he would count on at the plate today. “We’ve really struggled with the bat so I just hope we can get some runs. Most of these kids weren’t here last year and they know that just one bad inning can cost us.”

San Marcos, the Avocado League runner-up, will rely on the hitting of Greg Helm (20 RBIs in league play) and Keith Pollins (17 RBIs). The Knights will also be hoping the game isn’t too close, because Mission Bay won eight of the nine one-run games it played in this year.

Here’s a look at today’s other 2-A quarterfinal matchups:

Hoover (12-9) at San Pasqual (20-3)--The Eagles, top-seeded in the 2-A division, won their last eight games and beat San Marcos twice en route to the Avocado League championship. Coach Bill Green said he’s not sure who he’ll pitch today but his two choices are both good ones. Robbie Adams was 10-1 this year and Greg Bratten was 8-0. Hoover, meanwhile, came on strong to finish second in the City Central League. The Cardinals have been to the playoffs in each of the last four seasons.

Hilltop (17-7) at Christian (14-7)--The Patriots surprised everyone by beating Hoover to win the City Central title and will now take on the Lancers. Christian, which lost only one league game and is seeded third, will go with right-hander John Okken (9-3). Bill Donley hit .452 in league play and Mike Ippolito hit .364 to lead the Patriot hitters. Hilltop is coming off an important 2-1 win over Mar Vista in the last game of the regular season. Gary Feccia (9-2), who pitched a complete game to beat the Mariners, is expected to start today.

Clairemont (17-8) at Chula Vista (12-11-1)--The defending 2-A champion Chiefs will have to open their quest for a second straight championship on the road after losing the City Western League playoff to Mission Bay. Reggie Leslie (9-3) will go to the mound for Clairemont, which lost its last two games of the regular season. Chula Vista, meanwhile, won only two nonleague games but rallied to beat out Hilltop for the Metro-South Bay crown.

In first-round 3-A action Wednesday: Top-seeded Patrick Henry (20-1) will play host to Mar Vista (17-7), second-seeded Granite Hills (21-5) will play host to Vista (16-7), Mount Carmel (19-6), seeded third, will be at home against Mira Mesa (15-6), and defending 3-A champion Santana (20-6) will be at fourth-seeded Bonita Vista (15-9).