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

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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

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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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72 J.V. Lions including, Front Row: Don Clements. Dom Manna, Steve Berg, Rick Leddy, Phil Hammond, Quinton Du Vail. Mark Goetz, Craig Renstrom Second Row: Sam Knight, Lee Estes, Dave Hoffman, Ed Wiggins, Roscoe Williams. Bob Horn. Roderick Du Vail. Doug Wilson, and Coach Randy Lowe. Not pictured: Albert Dukes, and Manager Dennis Fricke. f jriOT Building for the Future Raw talen,t is something in abundance on the Junior Varsity lumber wielders, with many freshmen swelling the ranks. It is there that confidence must be gained, fundamentals learned, and raw talent developed into future varsity material. Defense, always the hardest to teach, is one thing needed to secure a fight- ing chance in quest of victory. Offensive atti- tudes at the plate are something that must be instilled into players ' hearts, and they only come with encouragement, confidence, and practice. All this came to the test in an early season game with Carpenteria, which found the defense shy of perfection, giving up six runs. Offense seemed bashful too, until the late innings when leather started exploding off pine for basehits and runs, leaving J.V. ' s just short of a comback victory, with a 6-4 final. All this left quite an impression on head coach Randy Lowe, who then could see what had to be mastered for a successful ' season. 1. Contemplating his next move, Coach Randy Lowe paces in front of his team ' s bench looking for a winning combination. 2. Back to the sky, Craig Renstrom shows the form that won him a starting position. 3. Adding the finishing touches to the double play. Bob Horn releases a quick throw to first. 4. Camping under a fly. outfielder Don Clements clutches the ball after a running catch. 5. Con- necting soidly. Roscoe Williams sends a ball soaring toward the outfield.