1974 Monterey State Champion Baseball Team

On March 16, 1974, the Monterey Plainsmen Baseball Team split a doubleheader with Odessa Permian, losing the first game 4-3 and winning the nightcap 10-0. That loss represented one of the only blemishes on the season as the Plainsmen reeled off THIRTY consecutive wins on their way to the 4A State Championship. Those 30 straight wins still stands as the all-time record for consecutive wins in Monterey Baseball History, and the final 36-4 record is the second most wins in a season for any Monterey Baseball Team. The 1974 State Baseball Championship was the school’s second in three years.

With a 20-0 record in district play, the Plainsmen had the first-ever undefeated record in the history of District 4-4A. Two-game playoff sweeps of Amarillo Caprock, El Paso Bel Air and Carrollton Turner gave the Plainsmen another 6 wins and set the stage for the fourth trip to the State Tournament in five years.

In the State Semifinal game against Pasadena High School, Larry Horn provided six innings of scoreless relief as the Plainsmen rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to win 4-3.

The State Final pitted Monterey against Spring Woods High School. Trailing 2-0 in the 6th inning, Coach Bobby Moegle, a 2011 Hall of Honor Inductee, called on pinch-hitter Richard Bowles, a sophomore. He responded with a dramatic three-run homerun. The Plainsmen held on to the lead and claimed the State Championship 4-2.

Marlin Hamilton, Brad Harrelson, Rodney Westfall, Larry Horn and Jimmy Shankle, a 2016 Hall of Honor Inductee, were all named to the All-State Tournament Team. Seniors Marlin Hamilton and Jimmy Shankle were also named to the All-State Team. Several players would continue their baseball careers in college baseball. Shankle, Scott Gardner, Rocky Alburtis and Larry Horn all played professionally.

With all of the State Tournament appearances and now a second State Championship, Monterey had become known across the state as “Lubbock Monterey”. That’s how they were listed in the UIL Playoffs and in the State Tournament Program. Anyone who knew anything about high school baseball knew about Lubbock Monterey Baseball.