In 1941, Coach Julius Langlo accomplished something that had never been done before or since. He led Mariposa to championships in football, basketball, and baseball in the same school year. That championship team from 1941 is pictured above. (Submitted photo.)

Sports

An anthology of MCHS baseball

August 9, 2024 36

By Trace DeSandres – Former coach, athletic director and teacher

Part 2

At the conclusion of the 1938-39 school year, Coach Del Henrich departed. His two seasons saw Mariposa win three and lose 10 recorded baseball games. At that point, Julius Langlo would take over the football, basketball and baseball coaching responsibilities. He would also teach history, science, and boys’ P.E.

Coach Langlo’s baseball team went 1-3 in his first year. Despite the poor record, the 1940 season was successful as Langlo established himself as a disciplinarian who quickly gained the respect of the MCHS athletes. Coach Langlo worked hard to develop sound fundamentals and a positive culture during the season.

The 1940-41 school year, Coach Langlo and the Grizzlies accomplished something that has never been repeated at MCHS. He led MCHS to championships in football, basketball, and baseball. The 1941 baseball team swept Le Grand and Raymond and also defeated the Merced Junior Varsity to go undefeated. With a new school (built in 1937), improved facilities, and a coach who had developed a winning culture, the immediate future looked bright for Mariposa County High School athletics. This would unfortunately change with the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States entering into World War II.

Just before the 1942 baseball season started, Coach Langlo announced that in compliance with the National Defense Program, competitive games within the Tri-County League would be dropped and intramural baseball would be played instead of a league season. Coach Langlo left at the conclusion of the 1942 school year. Between 1943 and 1945 Mariposa baseball would continue to play primarily intramural baseball. Four practice games were played against Le Grand in 1944 and again in 1945.

Coach E.A. Grant was the baseball coach over four seasons (1943-1946). In the 1946 season, Mariposa played in the newly-formed Valley League. MCHS played five games that season, losing to Los Banos, Dos Palos, Chowchilla, and Merced. Their lone victory was against Le Grand.

With World War II in the rear-view mirror things began to return to normal. Enrollment continued to go up and the athletic fields began to see improvements. The baseball field was moved to the northeast part of the lower athletic field with the building of the stone bleachers (built in 1942 and 1946), a new backstop and new equipment. The Grizzlies were back on track athletically. Coach Grant left at the end of the 1946 school year.

The 1947 season brought a new coach and new uniforms for Mariposa Grizzly baseball. For the first time since 1935, “Mariposa” was printed across the front of the jerseys. For unknown reasons varsity baseball uniforms had “Yosemite” printed across the front of the jerseys.

Phil Goettel became the seventh MCHS baseball coach. Like Ryan in the 1930s and Langlo in the early 1940s, Coach Goettel brought discipline and an expertise to Grizzly athletics. A 13-game schedule and a third-place finish in the tough Valley League was a real positive for the program. I believe Mariposa went 8-5 on the season, giving it the most wins in program history. Unfortunately, Coach Goettel left after one year for reasons unknown.

Coach Vern Peter is shown with his 1960 baseball team. This team was involved in the most controversial game in the history of MCHS baseball, costing them a league championship. The team included, front row, left to right, Glem Stroming, Gerald Greenamayer, Bill Flake, Bill Peterson, Bob Albers, and Larry Jordan. Back row, left to right, Marvin Merrill, Gary Preston, Jack Williams, Coach Peter, John Wilberg, Clair Peterson, and Bob Oechsner. (Submitted photo.)

The 1948 and 1949 seasons saw one-year stints by James Simerly and R.A. Bareuther. The team showed a ton of promise after the magical 1941 season, World War II, declining enrollment, and five coaching changes put a damper on MCHS baseball during the 1940s.

The 1949–1950 school year saw Mariposa hire its tenth coach, as Don Hixon was assigned to coach football, basketball and baseball, while teaching U.S. history, civics, general science and biology. In Coach Hixon’s first season, the Grizzlies played nine games, going 3 -6. Although they didn’t achieve a great win/loss record, the Grizzlies would have many returning players, setting up a promising run at a future league championship.

In the 1951 season Mariposa moved into the newly-formed Joaquin League. The six teams included Los Banos, Le Grand, Newman, Patterson, Gustine, and Mariposa. Under Hixon’s leadership the Grizzlies had their most successful season to date. Mariposa went 10-3 overall and 7-3 in league play. Despite finishing third, Mariposa gave Los Banos its only league loss by a score of 1-0. The 10 wins broke the 1947 mark of eight victories in a single season. In his third season, Coach Hixon guided Mariposa to another winning record, going 6-4 in league and 7-6 overall.

Things continued to improve in 1954 as Mariposa moved up into second place, going 7-3 in league, two games behind league powerhouse Los Banos. The Grizzlies went 10-4 and star pitcher John Tressidder pitched the first recorded no-hitter for the Grizzlies, striking out 17 Patterson batters. Merle Williams would lead Mariposa in hitting with a .422 batting average.

Coach Hixon would teach and coach at Mariposa for eight years. His baseball teams were very competitive in a very tough league. His overall mark was 53 wins and 48 losses. His team’s league record was a respectable 40-35.

With Coach Hixon departing at the end of 1957 school year, Vern Peter was hired to lead the Grizzlies.

In 1961, under coach Vern Peter, the Grizzlies claimed the Southern League Championship, which was the school’s first since 1941. The team included, W. Jay, D. Brooks, F. Williams, M. Waldron, S. Vogt, J. Pfutzner, B. Hill, J. Anderson, J. Condra (manager), J. Robinson, C. Preston, G. Wren, G. Wren, T. Steely, G. Brown, L. Lauritzen, C. Peterson, T. Meagher, Coach Peter. (Submitted photo.)

The 1958 season was a season of change for Grizzly athletics; Mariposa moved from the Joaquin League to the newly- formed Southern League. The new league included Gustine, Denair, Ripon, Newman (Orestimba), Hilmar, LeGrand, Hughson, and MCHS. Mariposa also played a 20-game schedule, the most baseball games ever played in a season to date. Under Coach Peter, Mariposa went 5-9 in league play and 8-12 overall.

The 1959 season saw Mariposa improve to 6-8 in league and 9-11 overall. Coach Peter was blessed with strong pitching, but lacked a good hitting attack. In the 1959 season, Larry Jordan was the Grizzlies best pitcher, while Bill Peterson and Bob Albers were the most consistent hitters.

In the 1960 season, Mariposa set records in league wins (10) and overall wins (12). MCHS came down the stretch with a one-game lead over Denair and two games left to play. Winning one game would assure the Grizzlies of no less than a Southern League Co-Championship with Denair’s Coyotes. In the final week of the season, Mariposa lost a thrilling 14-inning 7-6 game to Hilmar. This set up a final game with Denair. A Mariposa win would still mean a Southern League championship.

In the most controversial game Mariposa had ever played, the Grizzlies scored what looked like the tying and go-ahead run, but the batter was ruled “out” for running out of the baseline. The two runs were disallowed keeping the score 4-3 in favor of Denair. The score would remain 4-3, thus giving the Coyotes the Southern League Championship. Coach Peter protested the chalking of the baseline and that the Denair pitcher was never touching the pitching rubber, giving him a one-foot advantage towards home plate. The Southern League waited five months, until September, to make a decision and eventually did not uphold either protest. What had been a record-setting year, ended up being ruined by poor umpiring and ineffective leadership from the Southern League Board.

Like the previous season, Mariposa set a record for most wins in a season (13) and tied their previous record in league wins (10). This time, though, Mariposa came away as the undisputed Southern League Champions. This was the first baseball championship since 1941. With a small letdown in the middle of the league season, the Grizzlies reeled off seven straight Southern League victories and reversed the two losses in the previous season by defeating Hilmar 8-7 and Denair 6-4. This undoubtedly helped removed some of the sting from the previous season.

Coming up: Part 3: 1962 – 1997 and Part 4: 1998 – 2024.