Eastern Connecticut State University - Sustinet Yearbook (Willimantic, CT)

Page 170 text:

Maw- streak the season nonetheless opened on something less than an optimistic note. The Warriors hobbled home from their I0 game southern barnstorming tour looking more like the survivors from the battle of Wound- ed Knee than like the healthy limbed unit which had begun nine days earlier. Feet, arm, and shoulder injuries to hurlers Rob Nicoletti, Mike Stevens, and Tom Bongo respectively, desimated the pitching corpse, speedster Buddy Silva gathered more splin- ters than basehits after injuring an ankle in the early going, and catcher John Castodio was finished even before he started. with a fractured finger in a pre-season exhibition contest against the Naval Academy. Alibis have never played an essential role in the ECSC game-plan, however, so rather than hang their heads, the Warriors hung together. The pitching staff, led by Budner's unblemished 9-0 mark, rounded into one of the very finest ever. Redheaded Ray Royce, after a year's absence, forked his way to an important 8-2 record, fireballer Nicolctti, after shaking off his injury, hurled peas past baffled batters and finished with a nifty 6-l slate, and strapping southpaw Don Fusari strung together an amazing 33 and one third consecutive inning scoreless streak enroute to a team leading .26 ERA and perfect 4-0 mark. Not to be outdone by their pitching counter- parts, the Warrior batters rarely showed up on game day without their heavy lumber. After the timber had fallen, new records in 'I I,- , ,. 'Q-sl fr ,ff R

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42 vb 2 Ll lik BJ -43- ill Sitting L-R- Bob Cressotti, Ray Sullivan, Bud Silva, Bob Del-ucia, Mark Reimer, Mike Stevens, Bob Nicoletti. Second Row- Ken LaFrancois, Mike Griffin, Mike Armonaitis, Ray Royce, Lou LaVecchia, Jim Broadwell, Tom Bongo, Brian Murphy. Standing- John Risleyg Ass't Coach, Bob Wojickg Ass't Coach, Rick Hunter, Scott Budner, Mike Turgeon, Tom Powers, Don Fusari, Ken Hewitt, Steve Krajewski, Bill Holowatyg Head Coach

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uns, homeruns, RBI's and triples had een erected. Though glossy statistics and broken re- are many things, the essential things, I 4 :ords can tell a lot about a team, there Baseball Photos Courtesy Harold Hanka 1-22951610 Q 'Ili 'Q whim .0 Q Q 3' fi 'Sails-KEQSQXQ M i s: t I I la ,fwwgigntrl yig ,. f-.-M' ,f V ,, Wt ,f r,,,, 1' i,', f'j.1'1 . ' Age, in 'il ' T - up ,A er' r w a aa M' eww 'amfm e. ,, f ., . Ln: t . I W v - 'ii ' ' M 141 A , I ' which they just cannot provide for us There is no statistic which can measure the committment which forty players make to the game. Nothing can measure the amount which each player pulls for the other, how the team suffers through each defeat and rejoices in each win. Whether this spring's club will match last year's performance is uncertain, but one thing is for sure: The pride and class instilled in each of Holowaty's ball- players give ECSC a decisive edge which no opposing team has yet come close to. This, alone, virtually guarantees another successful season for the 1978 Eastern Connecticut State College baseball team.