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San Pedro High School (photo: John Mattera Photography)

The San Pedro High School Athletic Hall of Fame banquet, the hottest ticket in town before the pandemic, returns in November after a two-year hiatus.

Five All-City performers will be inducted individually, along with 44 others, including members of two teams and two families, November 5 at the Dalmatian-American Club, 1639 S. Palos Verdes Street.

Those being inducted for individual performance and year graduated are softball/volleyball star Holly Stevens (2009); basketball’s Raymond Tutt (1993); gymnast Allen Evansen (W’51); running back/cornerback Holmon Wiggins (1998); outfielder/tight end Rodney Garcia (1988).

After three years as an All-City outfielder, Stevens moved to catcher as a senior in 2009 and earned City Player of the Year honors while leading the Pirates to a fourth straight City softball championship. She also was a two-time All-City volleyball player. Stevens went on to an all-star softball career at Pitt.

Tutt, the most prolific scorer in San Pedro history, led the City in scoring as a senior with a 32.5 point average. That gave him his second consecutive first-team All-City berth after averaging 24.7 points as a junior. He went on to play at Azusa Pacific and UC Santa Barbara. Evansen, named one of San Pedro’s top 100 all-time athletes during the 1988 centennial, was the City high bar champion as a senior.

In 1997, Wiggins rushed for more than 1,200 yards and scored 14 touchdowns to lead the Pirates to their second City 4-A title in a row; he was named City Player of the Year. He played at New Mexico and began coaching. He joined Nick Saban’s Alabama staff in 2019 and was receivers coach on the Tide’s 2020 national championship team.

Garcia was the league MVP as a senior, batting .500, and was named first team All-City for the second time. That followed making first team all-league in football in 1987. He went on to Harbor College, where he was a member of the Seahawks’ Hall of Fame 1990 state championship baseball team.

The Lifetime inductees for 2022 are Bob Schatz, Richard Vladovic (1961), David Olsen (1960), Larry Robertson (1965), and Leon Carr.

Schatz was the school’s athletic director from 1992 to 2018, during which the Pirates claimed 42 City sports titles.

Vladovic was a longtime member of the LAUSD Board of Education. Robertson and Carr were fixtures at SPHS athletic events in their booster club jackets, hawking 50-50 raffle tickets to raise funds. Robertson, who died in 2020, also was a member of the HOF committee and the son of the late Jimmy Robertson, booster club charter member, originator of the 50-50 raffle, and HOF inductee.

Olsen was a two-sport standout, making all-league in baseball and basketball multiple times, and he also was on the centennial top 100 list.

The Paetz sisters and Clements brothers are being inducted as siblings. Eryn (2002), Kaci (2005), and Sami (2008) Paetz all starred in soccer. Jeffrey (1961) and Walter (1963) Clements set school records in track, went on to star at Long Beach State, and were among San Pedro’s top 100 athletes in 1988.

Three families are being inducted. Dario Bubica (1980) will be joined by his All-City volleyball daughters Alex (2007) and Marissa (2010) and son, Chris (2006). Anthony Nizetich (1941) will be joined by his softball standout granddaughters Stephanie (2003) and Vanessa (2006) Spychaj. The Pirozzi family includes soccer-playing father, Anthony (1983), cross-country star mother, Carolyn (1987), and sons Antonio (soccer and track, 2015), Vincent (baseball, 2017), and Luca (water polo, football, 2020).

The six posthumous inductees are Joe Chuka (baseball, 1942) and Fred Ihde (track and football, 1948), both members of San Pedro’s top 100 all-time athlete’s list; Eddie Hughes (1947), a baseball standout; Dayr Peterman (1949), a City champion swimmer; Bob Thompson (1953), longtime community youth coach; and Kuzma “Matty” Domancich, founder of the Pirate Boosters.

The 2004 and 2005 girls volleyball teams, back-to-back City champions, are being inducted. The 2004 team, coached by Vivian Gosnell and assistant Ian Dixon, was comprised of Samantha Taylor, Amber McColl, Klaudija Holliday, Jessica Iacono, Courtney Lyons, Alex Bubica, Shannon Miller, Bree Hutton, Jenny Miller, and Candice Tawa.

Most of the 2004 team returned in 2005 and under new coach Christina Kumar and led by Taylor, who was named City Player of the Year, rolled to a 34-4 record. Joining Taylor were  McColl, Nancy Benitez, and the Millers, all All-City players, and Jill Francis, Hutton, Bubica, Antonela Perhat, Sarah Ojeda, and Elaine Kalman.

The event will begin at 5 p.m. with photos, a silent auction, and social hour. Tickets, $69 each, can be obtained by credit card at sanpedroboosters.com or by check (payable to Pirate Boosters-HOF2019) c/o Leonard Miller, 1589 Plymouth Lane, San Pedro, CA 90732. The HOF sells out every year, so seating is limited. For more information, email sppirateboostersclub@gmail.com or call (310) 701-9357.

Those who’d like to sponsor the event also can contact Miller, booster club president.

HOF committee members are Lefty Olguin (chairman), SPHS Principal Steve Gebhart, Miller, Steve Schiazzano (historian), Janet Bezmalinovich, Kathy Carcamo, Ron Carter, Tony Dobra, Debbie Ferguson, Jerry Lovarov, Richard Samudio Sr., Peter Tuiasosopo, Danny Trujillo, Tim Ursich, and yours truly. spt

photo of san pedro today author Steve Marconi

Steve Marconi

San Pedro native Steve Marconi began writing about his hometown after graduating from high school in 1969. After a career as a sportswriter, he was a copy editor and columnist for the News-Pilot and Daily Breeze for 20 years before joining the L.A. Times. He has been writing monthly for San Pedro magazines since 2005, and in 2018 became a registered longshoreman. Marconi can be reached at spmarconi@yahoo.com.

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