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

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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.

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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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«fc: % There ' s nothing more important than a good serve. It takes confidence as well as many hours of repetitious practice. First man Greg Bowles, above, uses perfected form as he fires his shot into the waiting court of his opponent. Different Strokes for Different Folks Serve that ball as if it were your only chance. You ' ve got to make-believe that your first serve is the only one you get and then, if you miss it, your opponent may be nice enough to give you a second chance. You can ' t serve thinking to yourself that it doesn ' t matter if I miss it because I get another. These and other bits of strategy could be heard given by Coach Bob Dueker at practice, in the early part of the season, as he began conditioning his players mentally as well as physically. Tennis is a one chance game. You have to play as if every shot is the match point because tennis is a game of not only skill but also of the mind. If you can geta mental edge, if you can psyche your opponent and keep control of yourself, concentrating on every stroke, every overhead, every serve, and have confidence in yourself, then you have half the battle won. Of course mental control isn ' t the only thing necessary in tennis. To attain the skill that must accompany mental control, it takes hours of practice. It has to be an everyday thing so that you can keep the finesse on your stroke and the slice on your serve. , ?7