STORIES FROM THE PAST

teams as the 1968 race begins a six-game run Friday.

Lettermen and promising rookies give the Palo Verde Yellowjackets a co-favorite role. Palo Verde is in the same class with Calexico and Brawley. Each has an abundance of veterans.

Two IVL championships in the early 1960s have left Blythe fans hungry for another pennant.

Coach Guy Murray has the talent necessary to win. In his first year as varsity boss, Murray faces a pleasant problem. He can start veterans at every position.

Veterans Johnny Jones, Jay Heflin and Alex Naranjo return after a year’s absence. They didn’t play in 1967. Each lettered in 1966 and is back for another baseball campaign.

If Murray has a weakness on his varsity, it’s the pitching staff. Steve Castillo is the lone seasoned pitcher. But Castillo was bombed in some of his 1966 appearances.

Heflin and outfielder Reggie Smith are also on the pitching roster. Both can play the outfield. Smith was an outfield regular last year.

40 years ago

CALIPATRIA — Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday in Frye Chapel, Brawley, for a long-time Calipatria resident, L.L. “Jack” Lyerly, 88, who died Tuesday afternoon in his home at Sperry Road following an illness of six years.

A Pioneer Valley farmer and vegetable grower, Lyerly was born July 10, 1889, in Mount Ulla, N.C. He came to the Chino area in 1909 and moved to Brawley in 1912.

In Brawley, Lyerly was employed by the No. 4 Water Co., in existence before the Imperial Irrigation District. He owns a lot in the original drawing for land in Calipatria in 1914 and moved to this area in 1918.

He was married to the former Margaret Werve, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. A.T. Werve, pioneer Calipatria residents, in Calipatria Sept. 3, 1922. The couple built a home here in 1930.

30 years ago

The request by the El Centro Naval Air Facility to be upgraded to a naval air station has been rejected by Navy officials in Washington, NAF Capt. Mike Boston said today, but he doesn’t know why. Local officials expressed disappointment.

“I talked to a Navy spokesman in Washington (Monday) and he said the request was disapproved in the fall of 1987,” Boston said, adding that he received no official notification of the decision until he called a Navy spokesman on Monday.

20 years ago

BRAWLEY — The defense at times looked suspect.

The offense came through when it needed to.

But when the Brawley High baseball team needed it most, it was the pitching that stood firm in the face of adversity.

Credit that to Jermaine Lofton.

The junior hurler did what Coach Bill D’Angelo had asked of him, leaning against a comfortable lead for much of Friday’s showdown with rival Holtville. But when that lead shrank, Lofton’s confidence grew, allowing the Wildcats to hold on for a 6-5 victory.