Braintree High School - Wampatuck Yearbook (Braintree, MA)

Page 23 text:

Basketball JX PHA( ' TK ' K sossions, Coach Bill Erwin’s haskcthall scjuad showed j)roinisc of developing into one of the best teams in this section — and it did! Only two regulars retuined from last year’s team, hut then were many ( ' xpeii- enced men availat)le. The only thing the squad definitedy lacked was height, Johnnie 8niith being the lone regulai ' to reach the six foot mark; but the other boj’s made uj) for theii ' lack of size with s])eed and eleven- ball handling. The starting lineiqi found Johnnic ' Smith at center. Donnie Jackson at one forward post, Tootie Be-rgman and Paul ( ' heveiie altei-nating at the other, and ( ' aptain Diz Davis and Tommy Huleatt holding down the guard spots. Davis played his third year as a regular and developed into one of the outstanding players in these jmrts. Not only is Diz a wondei-ful defensive man, but he can l)e counted on to sink the baskets when they are m Hled. The othei- regular who returned fi-oni last year’s squad was Johnnie Smith. Besides being the chief scoring threat on the team, Johnnie distinguished himself by his work on rebounds. Jackson, Beigman, ( ’heveiie, and Huleatt were all members of the record team a year ago. so the game was nothing new to thian. They were all small as liasketball players go, but it is seldom that you will find such a combination of fine ball handlers on the sam ' team. Other boys to see plenty of action were Murray Smith, Bob Lundell, Jo))ie Jackson, Robert Johnson, Stewie Stevenson, Bud Davidson, Bob Mann, Johnnie DeCoste, Bob Harlow, Bob Mahar, (leorge Li-wald, fJei ' pa Littk ' - john, and X’ick Drinkwater. The season closed with an invitation to the M. I. T. Tournament and a bancpiet, with awards to coach and team members. PAGE 17

Page 22 text:

Cross Country J ACK of veteran mateiial failed to prevent Coach Aldo Chiesa from prodnciii” ' another winning cross country team as his harriers came out on top in five of their eight meets. The win and loss record, however, does not tell the whole stoiy. Two of the thrt ' e losses were by small margins, while the team was the first in the history (d ' the school to defeat both Quincy and North (Quincy in the same year. ( ' aptain Diz Davis was the outstanding runner on the scpiad, as h( lomiK ' d home first in seven of the eight meets. Against Rockland, Diz finished second when he was stricken with cramps and forced to reliiupush his lead. Diz won most of his races by good margins and in near record time. The suiprise ):)ackage of the year was Bill Lavery. Bill, who still has anotlu ' r year, iinjiroved with each meet, and ended the season in a blaze of glory as he tied with Davis for first place in the season’s finale against Quincy. Another junior and first year cross country man who was among the first to cro.ss the finish line in each meet was Stevie Stevenson. He and Lavery will be a hard pair to beat next year. Other lettermen were: Herb Nickerson, Don IMcKeever, Johnny .Smith, Joe ’alle, Loiing Britton, Tom Pitt.sley, Robert Harlow, Jobie Jackson, and Bill Sargent. Of these, the first foiu ' will be lost b}’ graduation. This still leaves a wealth of material when you consider that it onl}’ takes five men to make a cross country team. Other boys who were out there all year giving their best for Braintree High were: A1 DelPico, Pats} ' Leo, Leon Harris, Wessie Bean, Malcolm Phillips, and Fred Trapp. Over the Hills and Far Away PAGE 16

Page 24 text:

Baseball F tlu ' for( ' iuos?t ic ' ciuiivinent of a viiiniii{ ' baspball team is a good pitching staff, then this should be another banner year in lb H. S. base- ball history. The two alternate start- ing |)itehers of last year’s scpiad, Johnny Smith and Tony Avitabile, will once again toe the rubber for the Bine and White. A repetition of their last year’s pei-formanees alone would assure the team of a sneeessfnl season. These boys should receive a great deal of support from Art Bregoli and Phil iVIagaldi, veteran hnrlers from last year’s squad. The catching position finds Paul C ' heveri( ' , a veteran of last year, as the leading candidate. Paul is a hard-working snappy receive)’ and has ah’C ' ady made a name for himself in local ba.seball cii’cles. Because of theii’ hitting ability. Smith and Avitabile will altei’nate at first base when not pitching. Second base should be capably handled by co-eaptain Don Jackson. Don is a veteian of last yeai ' ’s squad and has aheady shown ability above the avei’age. The berth at shoi’tstop is wide op( ' n but light now it looks like a diaw between (leii’y Cloughei ' ty and Tommy Huleatt. ( ' o-captain Diz Davis, All-South Shoi’c thii’d baseman last season, and fielder exti’aoidinaire, should find little ti’ouble in holding down his favoiite position for the thii’d straight year. The Lewald and Arthur Wethers, are return- ing. Last, Vnit by no means least, let’s not forget Dick An- drews as team man- ager. Look at Those Eyes Johnnie, Let ’Er Gc outfield affords an opjiortunity for at least one new-comer to break into the starting line-u]i since only two veterans, (leorge Smack ’Em Down “Diz’