La Salle Academy - Maroon and White Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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Qxlllllfiffjywf, . I . 1' H E mo N A N r E W CW Ckgasedall 19323-3 PROLONGED session upon the throne as State Champions came to an end last June Qt for the La Salle baseball team when the umpire barked the last strike of the basef ball season. To the eyes of everybody the 532 squad had all the distinctive marks of a championship nine. They had experience, a snappy infield, comprised of men who could field and throw accurately, a hardfhitting crowd and they were grounded in the basic principles of baseball lore by Coach Jack Cronin. All signs pointed to the Championship, but other circumstances intervened to thwart the aspirations of the Maroon and White nine. Around the veterans, C'Donnell, Gaffney and Kane, Jack Cronin moulded his 532 squad. A change of Gaffney from shortstop to pitcher gave him needed strength in the hurling section. Then with Pyne, Cardillo, Gormley, Grady and Okolovitz, jack was ready to face the season. As in football so in baseball the new realignment of schools gave the team a schedule far more difficult than in previous seasons. Scattered among the competing teams were the best that the public high schools could put forth. Sixteen games made up the schedule. Cf these fourteen were won and two were lost. At the end of the season, a tyup among Cumberland, Pawtucket High and La Salle led to a playfoff. In the Hrst game Cumberland was eliminated. ln a meeting that preceded the series it was agreed upon that the two teams entering the playfoff would play three games, the state title going to the team winning two of the games. For some reason or other, Pawtucket elected to forget the agreement, and a chance win left the title in their hands. ln the allfstate selections honors went to: Grady, Cardillo, Gaffney and Pyne. The present season is underway. Already the 335 squad is showing its wares, and we hope that the title so justly deserved by last year's squad will be their reward at the end of the season. Ninety

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iflmffw, Y, .,Qiq,x'Xll1itJ1a1,,0j,,, V THE MAROONTIAN DiW1!TE W CBD ,X lf LMJC K EW there are who will forget the remarkable march of last year's Maroon and White sextet to the playfoff with Cranston High for the State Title. For years all hopes of such success were but the stuff of which dreams are made. ln the mind of jack Cronin, the coach, and in the hearts of his plucky squad, there must have been always the thrill that would eventually be theirs if the heights were reached. Last year their aspirations were realized and those of us who saw our courageous hockey squad rise from the depths will not forget the thrill with which they favored us. ' The squad of last year was composed of seasoned veterans. They had been under fire often and knew the game. Graduation destined them for other places, and Coach Cronin was faced with the problem of rebuilding the team that would uphold the record of last year. With but two veterans, Gaffney and Pyne, Jack began his work. In a short time he had organized a sextet fair enough to do battle with the best of them. A season of sixteen games, left them winning seven, tying four and losing five. The team made the playfoffs and were finally forced to play a team which failed to qualify. As usual it proved our nemesis. In the allfstate selections the newspapers selected the following boys from Coach Cronin's squad, Gormley, Pyne, Gaffney and Murray. No one is prouder of her hockey team than La Salle. lt came near the top after a hard season. In every game in which the squad played, they gave all that their plucky hearts had. Next year Jack Cronin and La Salle will miss the 'CSwede Gaffney, Pyne and Murray, but Jack will not be dismayed, helll hit the line again. Eightyfnine

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X mxxxian.f111W. , L THE ONLlkAN lTE K CID --ug V v-.wr 5 79 A I I ' if ol r 'I .Qtlf , , X HE world rewards the courageous and the heroic generally with some emblem that is significant of its esteem and admiration for the deed accomplished or the virtue that inspired it. This is so in all walks of life and in all helds of endeavor. Outstanding accomplishments really merit a distinction that will be above the commong a distinction that will arouse and inspire the ordinary and be a source of satisfaction to those who are capable of the courageous and the heroic. As a rule we are inclined to take the line of least resistance. We are born with an innate propensity to avoid whatever costs us effort and to dodge the hard and difficult things in life, As far as the ordinary duties of our everyday life are concerned we accept them, fulfill them and look askance at all things else beyond the pale of the obligatory. The soul of every man aspires to activity that is beyond the range of the average and the ordinary. Potentially all of us are capable of rising to the best and highest in life, but it requires courage and, at times, heroic effort to do so, and therein lies the distinction between what is common and heroic and what is prosaic and romantic. The mere inculcation of ideals alone is sufficient to motivate some of us to move from the monotonous routine of our life, but with most of us there must be a stronger and at times a more tangible incentive to attempt the courageous and the heroic things in life. Most educators realize the truth of the latter part of this proposition and have always made provisions for rewarding outstanding effort either in scholastics or athletics. At La Salle the former is duly considered and for general excellence in athletic participations, the Academy awards to the student the Athletic L, as a distinctive mark to show that he had the courage and the fortitude to stick at something that really was not required of him. To merit this distinction, he was subject to much that was difficult and trying. Practice sessions are no mere child's play. Physically it is an arduous time. For these reasons 'a student deserves some recognition other than the plaudits of a crowd. Nmetyfone