LJ baseball: Last four head coaches to throw out first ball at Alumni Game

By Ed Piper

The last four La Jolla High baseball coaches--Al Lamotte, Dick Huddleston, Bob Allen, and Gary Frank--will each throw out an opening ball before the 25th Annual Alumni Game Sat., March 3, at Ronnie Spelman Field on the Muirlands Middle School campus.

"These four coaches cover the past 50 years of Viking baseball," said Howard Frank, Gary's father and a long-time booster of the La Jolla program.

The significance of the 25th annual event, in which some of the 19 former Vikings to play pro ball and the 93 former Vikings to play at the collegiate level will participate, is not lost on the elder Frank.

"The Alumni Game illustrates the rich history and tradition of La Jolla baseball," he said. "It not only unites former players, but also the families of former players who, in effect, have a reunion each year at this event."

Lamotte guided the Vikings baseball program from 1968-81. Huddleston was at the helm from 1982-84 and 1986-89. Allen, the former athletic director and current teacher on campus, was head coach in 1985 and 1990-2003. Finally, Gary Frank enters his 15th year as head coach, having begun in 2004, and his 22nd year coaching the varsity as an assistant or head coach.

The affair is an informal one, with Frank's new varsity unit for 2018 facing off against the alumni, some of them old-timers who have participated in several of the annual games.