Sixty years ago, on May 4, 1951, Win Converse was selected as “Baseball Fan of 1951” by members of the Manteca High baseball team at a party. Mr. Converse has been attending ball games since the first teams were organized in the early days of the city. He was presented an autographed baseball by Coach Arte Fairbanks and members of the team.  Bob Turk and Pete Arizcuren were presented a new baseball and bat as top hitters of the team by Coach Fairbanks.



In other sports stories from the Bulletin files:

70 years ago: May 8, 1941 - Manteca High School’s small but potent track squad flashed in its special competitions in the Stanislaus County meet held at Turlock High Saturday, but they only placed fifth in the meet when total scores were compared. Ray Willson took first place in the 100 yard dash.

Engaging Turlock High in a league contest last Tuesday afternoon, the local high school Buffalo nine easily waxed the visitors to a 5 to 1 tune in the locals’ best-played game of the season to date. Lou Bronzan, pitching the whole game, performed excellently on the mound by tossing a one-hit, one-run and one-walk game with nine strikeouts to his credit. Fred Hubbard started things off for Manteca in the first with a nice, solid three-base hit. He later scored. Jim Miniaci drove in a run with a hit and later scored on Jim Theiler’s base hit.

60 years ago: May 10, 1951 - Manteca High’s track squad continues to gain prestige as they chalked up another fine showing at the recent big schools meet held at Modesto Junior College.

50 years ago: May 11, 1961 - Daymon Cook continued his mastery over Valley Oak League

competition and Manteca High hitters broke loose for 13 hits to pace the Buffaloes to a win over Tracy HIgh Tuesday afternoon. Cook was in control all the way as he held the Bulldogs to only one hit as he picked up his fourth straight win against VOL opposition. Tim Brumley, Bob Teicheira, John Holbrook, Roger McCoy and Cook picked up two hits apiece to pace the winners.

Don Reid is the new head basketball coach at Manteca Union High School. Reid will now take over the varsity coaching job from Joe Jacobs, with Jacobs moving to assistant coaching jobs in football and track.

The Manteca Merchants made their first win of the season a big one Sunday afternoon as they handed the previously undefeated Lodi Wine Guild a 4-1 loss. Not only was this the first loss of the season for the Lodi nine, it also marked the first time in four contests they had even been scored upon. Darell Phillips went all the way on the hill for the locals and scattered six hits to pick up the win. Larry Lusk, Carl McCutcheon and Phillips each got two hits for the Merchants.

Last Thursday, the Manteca High swimmers defeated Ceres High 62-24. Manteca High was again led by Tom Honey and Jim Cunningham. Honey took firsts in the 50 free, individual medley and was on the winning medley relay team. He again broke his own record in the individual medley with the winning time of 1:57.1. Cunningham took a first in the 200 free and was also on the winning medley relay team.

40 years ago: May 12, 1971 - The Oakdale High hex which has bothered East Union High athletic squads all year long struck for the second time against the Lancer horse-hiders as they were beaten 1-0 Friday, despite a non-quitting effort on the part of the locals. Pitcher Benny Garcia went all the way for EU and led the Lancers with two hits at the plate.

Taking first-place finishes in each of the 14 events, the Manteca High spikers convincingly downed East Union High 93-25 on the Guss Schmiedt Field oval Thursday in the final dual meet of the season for both schools. Double winners for Manteca included Greg Williams, who nabbed firsts in the 100 yards (10.4) and 220 (23.2) and Mike Warren, who took a first in the 180-yard low hurdles, combined with a 20-foot leap in the long jump to top all competitors.

Manteca High’s second-place golf team defeated the East Union High swingers 201-220 in the final dual match of the season. Steve Howe shot a 36 to lead the Buffaloes.

Coach Carl Bosque’s East Union High tennis team edged Ceres High 3-2 last week.

30 years ago: May 12, 1981 - With five golfers shooting three strokes apart, the Manteca High linksters bested 13 other schools to capture their first-ever Sac-Joaquin sub-section golf championship Monday at the spacious Oakdale Country Club. MHS’s total of 403 was three strokes better than Beyer High of Modesto. Senior Eric Davis fired a one-under par 70, as did junior Kevin Harris.

The East Union High softball team couldn’t come up with a necessary win Tuesday, falling to Los Banos High 11-1 in a VOL contest. The loss gave the Lady Lancers an 8-2 league record, good for second place and a trip to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. Both losses came against the Tigers of Los Banos.

The East Union High baseball team ended its season on a bad note Tuesday as the Lancers dropped a hard-fought 2-0 contest to Livingston High. The Lancers of Coach Doug Smith ended their 1981 season with a 9-14 overall record. The Lancers had just two hits in the game, both of them singles and both of them by catcher Don Crawford.

The Manteca High tennis team closed out its 1981 season with the best record of any athletic team in the city, as the Buffaloes dumped Sonora High 13-2 in a VOL match Tuesday up in the hills. Coach Alex Henderson’s team ended the VOL season with a perfect record of 12-0. Singles players Jon Shaefer and Greg Toy and the doubles teams of Jody Ruble-Ron Bylow and Clay Burkett-Randy Lagomarsino won all their matches against Sonora.

Coach Bill Davis’s Manteca High tracksters grabbed a second place in the team standings at last week’s VOL meet. Bobby Romero helped the Buffaloes as he grabbed firsts in the long jump (20-9.5) and the triple jump (44-5.25). East Union High’s James Mackey was also a  double winner, taking the 200 (22.67) and the 400 (51.96). The Manteca High girls also took second place in the team scoring, with Becky Corley winning the 300 LH in 47.62.

James Matas walked in the winning run in the eighth inning Saturday afternoon as Valley High of Elk Grove overcame a 3-0 deficit to upend Manteca High 4-3 in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section AA baseball playoffs at the Buffalo diamond. The Buffs got 10 hits, including two each by Todd Hardcastle, Ron Limas and Kelly Ellifritz.

Host Rio Linda High got six hits and six walks from the first 12 batters and scored 11 times in the first inning en route to a 15-0 shutout of East Union High in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section AA softball playoffs Saturday in Rio Linda. The Lady Lancers got only one hit, a single by Diane Lawton.

20 years ago: May 11, 1991 - Manteca High’s Paul Gutierrez hurled a three-hitter to lead the Buffs to a 3-1 VOL baseball win over East Union High Friday afternoon at MHS. Gutierrez had done the same thing in the first meeting between the two city teams. The junior left-hander walked five and struck out eight yesterday. Junior Dain Cilley led the Buffs’ attack, going three-for-four at the plate, scoring once and driving in a run.

Alicia Lyon and LaShawn Daniels each garnered four first-place finishes to lead East Union High’s showing in the VOL track finals, while Manteca High’s girls squad placed second and the boys, third. The Lancers took second in boys competition, scoring 125 points, trailing Sonora High’s 150. Lyon won the 400 meters (1:01.7), the 800 meters (2:24.2) and 1600 meters (5:38.4), along with combining with Kirsten Nelson, Darla Perreira and Jennifer Domingo to win the 4x400 meter relay (4:21.1). Manteca High’s Lynn Spradlin won both the 100 (12.2) and the 200 (26.0). Lady Buff Erin Lathrop finished off the list of girls double winners by taking first in the shot put (35-2.5) and in the discus (121-1.5). For the local boys, Daniels won the 200 (22.5) and the 400 (50.8), as well as leading the winning 4x400 relay team with DelShaun Williams, Larry Martinez and John Brooks with a 3:29.6 time. He then led the 4x100 relay team with Williams, Ricky DeShaw and Rudy Bass with a winning time of 44.0. Manteca High’s Rick Asbell repeated as the VOL shot put champion with a heave of 55-4.5, along with winning the discus with a toss of 154-7.

Manteca High’s Julie Gaynor took first place in the finals of the 100 breaststroke Friday at the Sac-Joaquin Section swimming championships at Lodi’s Tokay High pool. The Lady Buff’s time was 1:06.9, a section-best for a sophomore.

On Tuesday afternoon, Manteca High athletic director Walker Vick announced that Martha Dias had been hired to succeed the retired Butch Linn as varsity coach of girls basketball at the school. Dias coached frosh basketball for the past six seasons, as well as frosh volleyball and frosh-soph softball. She will drop volleyball off her schedule next season.

The Manteca High softball team got revenge for a pair of losses to Sonora High and clinched the VOL title in the process with a 12-0 win Tuesday afternoon. The Lady Buffs of Coach Bill Mendosa banged out 11 hits in support of Tracie Sloan’s no-hitter before the umpire pulled the plug in the bottom of the sixth inning due to the 10-run rule. Roni Hart had three hits, including a double, and drove in five runs for MHS.

Needing only a win at fifth-place Los Banos High to clinch a spot in the section tournament, the East Union High softball team played its worst game of the year to lose 11-0 Tuesday afternoon. EU was held hitless after Karina Ward’s first-inning single. The Lady Lancers end their season at 6-4 in the VOL, 13-5 overall. The unexpected defeat snapped a five-game win streak. Coach Mike Morenzone will have the entire team of starters back for the 1992 season.

The East Union High baseball team pounded Los Banos High 9-1 Wednesday afternoon to win the VOL title for the second straight year. Coach Darrell Hardcastle’s Lancers jumped out to a quick lead with three runs in the first inning. Mike Costa had two hits and drove in three runs for EU and Eric Simoni and Mark Kackley each had two hits and drove in one run in EU’s 10-hit attack.

10 years ago: May 19, 2001 - Sierra High’s junior Matt Berezay holds the title of Most Valuable Player of the VOL’s all-league baseball selections. Manteca’s high schools were well-represented with quality athletes. East Union High’s Adrian Anaya was chosen as the league’s Outstanding Offensive Player. The Lancer junior batted .452 in league play and had a 3-0 pitching record with a 2.67 ERA. Senior shortstop Robert Breedlove was the VOL’s Outstanding Defensive Player. Other locals making the all-league squad included Kyle Raymond and Chris Deitrich from EU and Timberwolves Ryan Teicheira and Mike Loomis.

VOL all-league softball selections placed East Union High’s Ryan Harris and Sarah Cross from Manteca High as co-MVP’s. Harris had a league batting average of .356, while Cross batted .388 in league games. First team selections from the Lady Lancer squad included Mary Norton, Ashley Anderson and Jaime Anderson. EU’s Mike Morenzone was named VOL Coach of the Year for the fourth year in a row. Along with Cross, Manteca High’s first team VOL honors went to pitcher Becci Harnden, with a 1.30 ERA and to third baseman Valerie Placencia. First team honors for Sierra High players went to Amanda Tucker, Vanessa Portillo, Lisa Young and Chyanne Jacomini.

As a result of the finals at the Sac-Joaquin sub-sectional meet at Modesto Junior College yesterday, 25 athletes, 22 finalists and two alternates from Mant eca will make the trek next week to the Sectional Meet at UC Davis. For East Union High in the girls competition, Amy Haapanen had no trouble with the field in the shot put (40-9.5). Other advancing Lancers were the 4x100 relay team of Kim Moore, Anneka Haroldsen, Courtney Williams and Mika Madden, who placed sixth. Another school record fell for Sierra High’s girls. The 4x400 relay team of Lorelyn Pascual, Nicole Bullock, Rebekah Hagan and Brittany Proctor placed second in 4:02.88. Proctor also placed second in the 800 meters (2:22.3), while Pascual ran to a fifth in the 100 (12.64) and Jennifer Sanchez earned a fifth place in the 100 hurdles in  16.54. Manteca High’s Amanda Toon, with a strong performance, placed fifth in the grueling 3200 meters at 12:03.45. Local boys were also successful on the track. Both Manteca High and East Union High had double winners. The Buffaloes’s Charlie Larson earned the number-two spot in both the 110 (15.05) and the 300 hurdles (39.74). Lancer Kenny Hughes qualified in the 200, where he placed fourth in 22.25 and in the 100, where he placed fifth in 11.08. EU’s Ricky Cuevas demolished the field with his first place run in the 3200 meters (9:35.67). Teammate Josh Willingham placed third in the 1600 meters (4:31.07 ) and fellow Lancer Brian Boone was not far behind in sixth place. Manteca High’s Jeff Paneda and Sierra’s Sean Payne-Wilson both qualified in the 800 meters. Another T’wolf, Dejon McIntyre, advanced in the triple jump (42-9.5) for second place.