Butler High School - Magnet Yearbook (Butler, PA)

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THE MAGNET 27 One strong factor in the continued success of our team is Coach Price, whose unremitting, never-say-die spirit has undoubtedly been a big cause of the championship being brought to Butler and retained here through so many different years. In the past six years in which he has had charge of the basket ball team in Butler High, he has won four championships of Western Pennsylvania. Three of these have come in the last four years. And now, as we stand on the threshold of another season, knowing nothing of what the future may hold for us, we, as a class, earnestly hope, and believe, that the teams which represent the Gold and White in time to come will be of that high calibre which has always marked the teams of Butler High School in the past. FOOTBALL. Football, though not supported so well as basketball in Butler High School, is, nevertheless, an all-scholastic game and is worthy of much greater consideration. The team representing Butler High in the season of 1912, the first to pass under our observation as Freshmen, played a hard schedule of six games, winning half of them. This team was captained by Mel Craig, who played tackle. The team of 1913, under the direction of “Hap” Parker, was one of the most formidable and best-balanced gridiron machines which has ever represented the Gold and White. The team went through the season winning five out of six hard-fought games. The one defeat was administered by New Castle on their own grounds, who trounced us by a 6 to o score. The other teams on the schedule fell before Butler High’s warriors by decisive scores, and as a season’s record, B. H. S. rolled up a total of 118 points to their opponents’ 9. Jennings Young, of basketball fame, played in enough games to earn his letter, and is the sole representative of our class on this memorable team. However, two of our classmates, Thompson and Ross, played on the “scrubs” and were strong factor in whipping the Varsity into shape. The season of 1914 was not much of a success. The team representing the school that year did not win a single game out of a schedule of six, and as such things are best forgotten, we will let it pass at that. However, two stars on the team were Young, at half back, and Thompson, at guard, both of whom are members of our class. The season of 1915 was a success in many ways, although no great laurels were heaped up by the team. “Bill” Younkins, of Washington and Jefferson football fame, was appointed coach, and, working with Capt. Winters, a team was produced that won 4 out of 7. The “B” men were Capt. Winters, Bliss, Mort-land, Young, Aiken, Barbary, McBride, Miller, Campbell, Shanor, McDowell, Lowry, Thompson and Heinzer. Young and Thompson were again the repre-resentatives of the Class of January 1916, and both played good football, the work of Thompson, at guard, being especially commendable. Three of our class were members of the second team, and were a great aid to Coach Younkins in rounding the Varsity men into form. These were Ross, Keefer and Cunningham. BASEBALL. Baseball, as a major sport in Butler High School, has always been marked by a decided lack of interest on the part of the student body, and each season encounters its own financial troubles. Nevertheless, there have been some good teams placed on the field in the past four years. The team of 1912 was captained by Don Emery and coached

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26 THE MAGNET Especially, so, the class the January 1916, because they have done much toward the development of athletes for at least two of these championship teams. However, there is but one varsity representative, Jennings Young, who will graduate with the class of January 1916. The other varsity men who have graced our class have either quit school or have graduated with other classes. When we entered the high school in January 1912 the basketball season of that year was at its height. This team, under the leadership of Carl Cleeland, went through the season without a defeat and won the championship of Western Pennsylvania for the season of 1911-12. This was one of the fastest teams which have ever represented Butler High School, as some of the best teams in Western Pennsylvania, including the strong Central High and Kiski Academy teams fell before their onslaught. The quintette was composed of Cleeland, Bernlohr, Wise, Ketterer and Thompson. Under Captain Fred Bernlohr, the team of 1912-13 played a hard schedule of fourteen games, losing but four of them. Two of these defeats were administered by the strong Kiski Academy team, who completely out-classed every Prep, school team which they met that season. The team which won the championship of 1913-14 was made up of Young and Douthett, forwards; Wright, center ; Lewis, McCandless and Watson, guards. This team, under the captaincy of first Lewis and later Wright, went through the entire schedule with but one defeat. The team ended the season in a blaze of glory by twice defeating Peabody High in post-season games. The class of January 1916 feels especially proud of this team because of the fact that four of the five regular letter men were members of our class at that time. These were Wright Watson, McCandless and Young, of whom Young alone remains to graduate with us. With McCandless, Young and Watson as a neucleus, Coach Price built up another championship team for the season of 1914-15. McCandless was chosen captain. Winters and Byerly were chosen by Coach Price to fill up the gaps which were made in the team of 1913-Y4 by graduation. However, ill-luck seemed to pursue the quintette from the very start, and the first two league games were dropped to our old rivals, Peabody and Central High of Pittsburgh. Right on top of this double defeat, Byerly received a badly sprained ankle and was forced to retire for the rest of the season. Soon after this, Young got his foot hurt and was kept out of several games. But, not daunted by all these misfortunes, Coach Price set about to rebuild the team. The thorough way in which he did it was clearly shown by the wonderful record which the team made during the remainder of the season, and what we didn’t do to Peabody and Central on our home floor isn’t worth mentioning. The team finished the regular season tied with Peabody for first place. The game to decide the championship of Western Pennsylvania was played off in Trees Gymnasium, Pittsburgh, March 20. Two special car loads of rooters accompanied the team to the Smoky City, and the aggregation from Butler completely out-played, out-guessed and out-cheered the Peabody crew, and we were finally returned champions of Western Pennsylvania by a 22 to 20 score. The team which won the second successive championship from Peabody lined up as follows: McCandless and Young, forwards; Watson, center; Winters and Barbary, guards. Because of the fact that different men were placed at the basket guard position at different times during the season, only four regular men earned their “B’s.” Three of these, Young, McCandless and Watson, were members of our class.

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28 THE MAGNET by Prof. Bingham. The season was not as successful as that of former years, due to the inexperience of the material. In the lineups of that time appear the names of three former classmates. There are Wright, who did part of the hurling, and McCandless and Cruik-shank, who were seen regularly in infield positions. The season of 1913 was, in many respects, the most successful which Butler High has had for many years. The attendance at the games was good, and the team was able to finish the season free from all financial difficulties. The team was captained by Fred Bernlohr, who also did the receiving behind the bat, the team being coached by Mr. Price. Our former classmates, Wright and “June” O’Donnell, did the twirling. Watson and McCandless, both former classmates, held down regular infield births. In 1913 admission was gained to the W. P. I. A. L., and league baseball was played in the spring of 1914. The battery was composed of Wright, O’Donnell and Watson. Wright was chosen captain, and also did the bulk of the pitching. The season of 1915 was marked by a decided lack of interest on the part of the student body. The powers in charge of the sport decided, at one time, to suspend baseball as a major sport. But their decision was reversed when Butler High defeated the Wilkinsburg team, twice champions of the league by a 3 to 2 score. At this time prospects were good for a winner, and the schedule was played out, with fair success. O’Donnell, captain, did the hurling, while Byerly was stationed behind the bat. CLASS ATHLETICS. Although the class of January 1916 has never won the championship of either the basketball or baseball class leagues, they have always been contenders for championship honors and have been con- sidered worthy opponents by the other class teams. When we entered the basketball league in the fall of 1912, our team ended the season tied with the class of June 1913 for fourth place, having won three out of six games. This team was captained by John Byerly. The team representing the Purple and Gold in 1913 was the fastest which has ever been placed on the floor by our class. This team would, in all probability, have won the championship if it had not been for a stringent rule which says that when a class league player makes a Varsity position, he will not be permitted to play on his class team. This rule did great harm to our team in 1913, as three of our best players, Young, Watson and Wright, were chosen for the Varsity by Coach Price. Their places were ably-filled by Cyril Barr, Bryson Ross and Coral Cunningham. But this new combination was unable to keep up the fast pace set by our former classmates and by the other teams of the league, and the best we could do was to finish in a tie for first place with the classes of January 1914 and June 1914. In the play-off for the championship, the class of June 1914 beat us by a small score, thereby putting us out of the running. That class next defeated the team of January 1914 and were returned the champions of the league. The team which represented our class as A Juniors did not show any true form and the best they could do was to finish in the cellar position, having been defeated in every game. In our A Senior year, when our hopes were soaring high, they were blasted by the announcement that the powers that be had decided that we could not be represented in the league. This was due to the fact that the candidates for the school team needed a great deal of practice to develop players to take the places of those who had been graduated or had left school.