Lutheran High School - Paw Prints Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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£ion Crown through winter and fall. Fly balls after ground balls after sliding after hitting practices continued; then games then league. The well practiced players learned in both bitter pre-seasons defeats and trouncing triumphs that victories weren ' t going to come easy. Their first Jeague game confirmed it. The Lions scratched out a 2-0 victory over de- fending league champs Pater Noster, squeezed by Bell Jeff 8-6, and out-fought St. Genevieve 2-0 and the pattern continues. At times when hitting slacked, pitching flourished and continued to be the backbone of the Lion strength. Junior Bob Goodyear headed the fine staff, hurling two no-hitters and a one-hitter within the first five games. This scrappy team broke record after rec- ord, as the Lions battled to secure Lutheran a chance of a Varsity championship in ' 71- 72. 1. Conferences like this kept both All-League candidates, pitcher Bob Goodyear and catcher Tim Warneke. on top of the situation. 2. Each game brought more work which book keepers and part time morale boosters Debbie Gosswein, Nancy Hoffman, Helen Eggers, Nancy Sarafolean, Roberta Hanson, Linda Miller, and Genie Rodgers masterfully took care of. 3. With one last lunge, Mike Muller slides into second base, to break up tne double play. 4. Intent on what ' s happening, the Lion bench watches the play on the field while managers Kevin Rooney and Daryl Beckstrand take charge of the dugout. 5. Handling the hardest position on the defense and heading the Lion offensive punch, captain Tim Warneke was an inspirational leader for Lutheran. 6. After the game a victorious Lion team heads toward the dugout.

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£ions in Quest of a Crown The talent started peeking through on the J.V. level two years ago, when freshmen and sopho- mores posted a 20-0 record, just learning funda- mentals. Last year the kids came to Varsity and the talent was still there, but the young players ' mistakes kept them in a humble second place. Finally after two years, the kids became veterans and matured into a powerful unit that has pro- duced a perfect record in their first five league games. Ironically, it was around the time when their head coach, Jim Young, roamed the field in an L.H.S. uniform, that the last C.I.F. baseball championship came to Lutheran. It isn ' t far fetched to forsee his well coached Lions return- ing the honor to Lutheran this year, if the team can use what talent it has. Many teams have talent, though, in the tough Olympic league. It is how that talent is developed that makes the difference. Practice upon practice improved stale skills that had lain dormant 1. Lead-off batter and second baseman Vernon Hemingway con- nects in a 2-0 victory against St. Genevieve. 2. A major part in Lutheran ' s tight defense, reliable first baseman Don Howard gets ready for action behind teammate Bob Goodyear ' s delivery. 3. One of two seniors on the young Blue roster, captain Rex Briggs sends a ball skyward with a hefty swat in a 13-2 victory against Harvard. 4. Rounding third base, speedy center fielder Allen (Flea) Felix comes home to score another run against Harvard. 5. In a tense predicament Coach Jim Young pensively falls into a rarely quiet moment of thought. 6. With no great homerun threat. Lions ' baseball strategy included a lot of heads-up running, which Bob Stubenberg often displayed.

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Battling to bend metal into shape and avoid being drowned in cement, a home was built for Lutheran ' s metallic hurler. After many construction errors and smashed fingers, rookie blacksmiths secured the last bit of fencing. The tin arm was rolled into place, the switches flipped and the first leather sphere was airborne. This pitch marked a new dimension in Lutheran High baseball. The long hours of hacking, pouring, stretching and hanging could now be used for correcting swings and gaining a batting eye (top left). It ' s value is ideally to add on points to the batting averages, but in their first three encounters with other teams the bats were silent until the Lions exploded for sixteen hits seventeen runs in a game against Villanova. Cage-work was only part of the preparation for a tough league schedule. Outfielders chased flyballs till they were exhausted. Infielders scooped up an eternity of ground balls while pitchers worked endlessly on control and endurance (below), hoping to work hard enough to earn a successful season. Members of a young hoi Chris Wahla, Alan Felix, Goodyear, Mike Muller, Warnekeand Rex Briggs. ns year include. Front: Vernon Hemingway, Lionel Brazelton. !itchey. and Don Howard. Back Row: Bob Stubenberg, Bob ards, Coach Jim Young, Tim Whitehouse. and captains Tim