Boston University - HUB Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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Conaty saw considerable action at the shortfield last spring but sophomore Thomas, who has already re- ceived letters in football and basketball, will provide sparkling competition. He was probably the best freshman prospect on the yearling nine last season and it is not unlikely that he will replace both Cummings and Conaty at shortstop this season. At third base Charlie Blood will probably win out over the other can- didates seeking that post. Blood substituted for ' 'Yama Quinn in several tilts last year when the ineligible cap- tain-elect was moved over to shortstop. Blood will re- ceive his keenest competition from Walt Carroll, last year's Pup third sacker. There seems to be plenty of promising ma- terial to form a strong outfield trio on the Ter- rier nine. Among the outer-gardeners upon whom Coach Mel Col- lard is depending are John DiNubla, Bob Hall, VARSITY BASEBALL who won two and dropped two last year, is the outstand- ing returning hurler. In four games last spring he de- feated Boston College and New Hampshire but was shelled twice by Harvard batters. The Crimson nine won the opener 44 to 1, although Braun allowed only 'five hits. The Jawns took the second tilt in which he pitched, 5 to 3. Veterans Charlie Red Hoar and Clement Mackay will aid Braun in carrying the hurling burden. Newcomers who have looked good in practice are Bill DeMerritt, Dan Lieberman, and Larry Harris. With Captain-elect Johnny Quinn ineligible, the Terrier baseball squad is without a field leader. Coach Mel Collard intends to have members of the diamond team elect a captain for each of the fifteen con- tests since there are so ff, many seniors eligible for l a ? the honor. Four games have been dropped from last year's schedule which contained fourteen opponents. The s Walt Williams, and Bud Hines. Hines and Di- Nubla are veterans from last year and if Johnny Chambers is returned to the outfield, Collard will have three veteran field- ers ready to step out on the diamond. Hall and Williams should give this trio plenty of fight be- fore any of them clinches a regular outfield berth. Several clever receivers are ready to step into the first-string catcher's post vacated by Johnny Walker, regular backstop for the Scarlet and White baseball squad for three years. Johnny O'Connell is the most experienced of the group and will probably open the season as varsity catcher against the Brown Bears on April 13. O'Connell re- ceived catching experience last year when he replaced Walker and caught the last half of the schedule when Johnny was injured. Other promising candidates shooting for the catcher's job are Jim McCuddy, trans- fer from Dartmouth who has shaped up very well in the opinion of Collardg Duncan McLennon, veteran under- study from last year, and Morrie Levine another trans- fer, have both looked mighty good in practice. Graduation of three veteran hurlers, Captain Bob Leahy, Dave Abrams, and Stan Stocklosa somewhat depleted the group of experienced pitchers Coach Col- lard could count on. With the additional losses of Gus Kieronski, Mel Sidmore, Johnny Wedemeyer, the hurl- ing staff has been practically shattered. Carl Braun, l Uncorking the scrrewball 307 quartet of baseball squads which the Ter- riers will not meet this spring is Colby, Worcest- er Polytechnical Insti- tute, New Hampshire, and Springfield. In the present line-up five new teams have been carded for the '40 diamond nine. New squads which the Scarlet and White bats- men play this season are Brown, Middlebury, Vermont, Norwich, and Wesleyan. The team will go north on a four-day trip to play Middlebury on April 26, Vermont at Burlington on April 27, and Norwich University at Northfield on April 29. The Terrier nine will play six of its Bfteen games at Nickerson Field. Ed. Note: Because the State's aqueduct project through Nickerson Field at Weston had made it im- possible for the varsity squad to get any outdoor prac- tice, the athletic department has been forced to cancel the opening games of the season. Tilts with Brown, Rhode Island State, and Tufts which were carded for April 13, 16, and 17 respectively have been indefinitely postponed. Athletic authorities of the University doubt whether it will be possible to ply these games later in the season. At the present writing Coach Mel Collard is desperately hoping that he can take the squad out to Riverside for its first outdoor practice Monday, April 15. But even this will give the B.U. nine only five days before the contest with B.C. on April 20. We mustn't be surprised if B.C. smears us. I

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VARSITY BASEBALL Henry Gus Kieronski, Jackie Rotman and Captain- elect Johnny Yama,' Quinn all have retired from col- legiate baseball activities this season. Of this quintet, three are proven hurlers who would have bolstered the Terrier mound staff considerably. ltiel Sidmore, Johnny VVedemeyer and Gus Kieronski are all veteran pitchers. Jackie Rotman, who captained the basketball squad for lVIel Collard this past Winter at guard, has also quit baseball because of his activities in independent basket- ball after the Terrier court season was completed. He also desires to devote more time to his studies. Having played regularly at second base for the past two years, Rotman was slated to again hold down that position this spring. Yama Quinn, who had been regular shortstop and third baseman on the Scarlet and lvhite nine for the past two years, is ineligible for intercol- legiate competition since he signed a professional con- tract with the Boston Bees. They shipped him to the Hartford team last summer where he played regularly. Both liierrill Sidmore and Gus Kieronski have decided to forsake baseball and devote their time to studies. These boys were both valuable to Collard on last sea- son's diamond line. Johnny Wedemeyer's ineligibility because of scholastic difficulties was one of the severest setbacks Coach Collard received during spring practice. VVedemeyer was expected to be one of the finest hurlers in eastern intercollegiate ranks this spring and his failure to turn out will undoubtedly cost the Terriers quite a few victories. Last summer, he twirled for the Casey Club in tl1e Boston Park Department League and pitched his way to ten triumphs and two losses. He fol- lowed up this great record by winning the three playoff games to give the Caseys the city title. In addition to being a brilliant moundsman, Wedemeyer is also a Home sweet home Biting the dust powerful hitter. It is probable that Collard would have inserted him in the outfield when he was not pitching. Somewhat offsetting these heavy losses to the squad is the return from academic probation of Ralph Datt- man, brilliant outfielder of two years ago. Dattman is a lusty hitting fly-catcher who can be depended upon to come through i11 a pinch. At the beginning of the season Collard had first, sec- ond, third base, and center field open. As THE HUB goes to press approximately a week before the opening game with Brown on April 13, none of these positions is definitely settled. In addition to the fact that the Terrier squad needs outdoor batting and field practice, Coach Collard hopes to have his team out as soon as possible because he intends to do a great deal of shifting about of available material in order to find out for which positions each candidate is best fitted. At the present writing, Paul Halloran, who is a grad- uate of last year's Pup nine, on which he held down the initial sack, is the leading contender for the first base position. Halloran is a strong hitter and an excellent fielder. Bill Garvin, Charlie Blood, Jack Connolly, Johnny Chambers, Charlie Thomas, Whitney Cum- mings, J oe Conaty, and Walt Carroll will battle for the three remaining infield posts. With Jackie Rotman not reporting for baseball practice, several other candidates are fighting for starting honors at second base. John Connolly, a senior who has been on the Terrier squad for the past two years, veteran Bill Garvin, and Johnny Chambers, who played both the outheld and second base last year, are the leading candidates for the posi- tion. Whit Cummings, Joe Conaty, and Charlie Thomas will fight it out for shortstop. Both Cummings and H3061

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VARSITY BASKETBALL Collard Conch, DeMerritt '42, Cassidy '42, Purbeck '42, 1KIcCuddy '42, Hutchings '42, Leighton '42, Porshin '40 Mgr. Thomas '42, Williams '42, King '40, Rotinnn '40 Capt., Olson '40, Pnutano '41, Schenk '41 COACH COLLARD called his men out for practice this winter even before the football season had ended, and although many of the players were still with the grid- iron team enjoying the Florida. sunshine at Tampa, much was accomplished. Looking over his squad, there was some excellent veteran material in Captain Jack Rotman, John King, Norman Alpert, and George Pantano, while sophomores fairly flooded the B. U. gym when the football season closed. As had been the case in football, the varsity newcomers were either going to break or make this varsity team and from tl1e outcome of the first game it appeared to be the latter. After Coach hlerrel Collard had brought Boston University its best season ever a year ago, it was good to see the court Terriers start the season off with a thrilling 40-39 victory over Harvard at the Crimson gym in Cambridge on Dec. 16, just before the Christmas recess. The final outcome of this battle gave B. U. undergraduates added hope that the Scarlet and VVhite hoop teams would no longer go through 13 and 14- game campaigns showing just. three or four victories as had been the case altogether too frequently in the past. Jim lNIcCuddy, a sophomore who played the left forward position, proved to be the hero of the initial game when he sank a foul shot with 30 seconds left to play to give his team a. one point. margin of victory. Just a few seconds previously, lvalter VVilliams, sophomore center whom we heard so much about on t.he gridiron last fall, had knotted the score. VVith several weeks of rest behind them, the basket- eers opened their home season by meeting the Brown Bruins at the B. U. gym, Jan. 6. The victory over Har- vard gave the Collard quintet added confidence in it- self, perhaps too much, for the final score read 42-29 in 308 the visiting tean1's favor. The Brown five was rolling on all eight cylinders this winter having gone through five encounters without a defeat. The Bruins played a new kind of basketball which called for set shots and expert passing, the guards doing most of the shooting. On Jan. 10 the Terriers drifted into tl1e north country of Durham, N. H. to meet the State University's quin- tet. At the start, two young gentlemen of New Hamp- shire named Harold Monica and Herbie Adams put the Wildcats out in front. Captain Rotman and VVee VVillie VVilliams of B. U. couldn't stand by and see such things going on, however, and by halftime these two lads had cut the lead to 19-18. Then in the second half the Scarlet and VVhite saw red and brushing the Cats aside, rolled up enough points for a 41-35 victory. Three days later the Terriers met Tufts, and put on an identical show as against Harvard, winning by a 44-43 score largely through the efforts of Walter Wil- liams, who sank two foul shots in the last seconds of the game. There wasn't a great deal of action in the first half and Tufts was leading at half-time 16-14. In the second half a regular fast and furious, nip-and-tuck battle ensued with B. U. taking the lead only to fall back again. Williams was then allowed two shots, and the rest is history neatly tucked away in Terrier sports annals. VVith three victories and one defeat to its credit, Boston University's basketball team went to post, an odds on favorite to defeat Worcester Polytech Institute on the Alumni Gymnasium court at Wforcester, Jan. 20, but the Engineers were first across the finish line with B. U. trailing a good nine lengths. The final score was 57-48 with the Terriers showing nothing but their good sportsmanship. Coach Pete Bigler had his quintet in 1