Mitch Chortkoff
Mirror Sports Writer
Santa Monica High was unable to repeat as the Ocean League baseball champion, leaving Coach Kevin Brockway to wonder what might have been.
After entering the final week of the regular season tied with Culver City, Samohi lost to Beverly Hills before winning a second meeting. Culver City defeated Morningside twice to claim the league championship.
Culver City had two league losses. Although Santa Monica split its two games with Culver City, it lost to two other league opponents – Beverly Hills and Hawthorne.
“We squandered our chances,” said Brockway.
Fresh on the coach’s mind is the 6-2 loss to Beverly Hills on May 9 that preceded a 7-1 victory two days later.
“We hit the ball hard,” said Brockway. “We had 10 hits and some other balls were hit hard but right at someone. We didn’t get timely hits.’”
In the second game, junior Joe McGrew pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts and first baseman Diego Valdez drove in three runs with a double and two sacrifice flys.
In a season when Samohi was plagued by injuries, the regular season record was 18-10-1 and the Vikings qualified for the CIF playoffs.
