Long Beach City College - Saga Yearbook (Long Beach, CA)

Page 31 text:

' sfih 111 DOWNEY THOMAS Right Field GARY KORSMEIER Center Field VIKING PITCHER Mike O ' Connor lets go a fast one. CHARLES WILLIAMSON Left Field .nW .V - JOHN SHAW First Base DON KEEL Left Field BOB NEWMAN Third Base SYD O ' BRIEN Third Base 29

Page 30 text:

BASEBALL TEAM MEMBERS include, from left, row one: Bruce Lowell, Downey Thomas, Frank Smith, Gary Korsmeier, Mike O ' Con- nor, John Kalench, Jim Parks. Row two: Dave Moorhead, assistant coach; hiarold Martinez, Brian Stock, Richie Lawrence, Jack Corcoran, Tom Parker. Row three: Don Keel, John Shaw, Syd O ' Brien, Joe Stucker, Jim Jenkins, Steve Sunderman, Charles Williamson. Row four: John Gonsalves, Bob Larson, Nick Sramek, Joe Hicks, coach; Ron Griffin, George Steffan, Bob Newman, Bill Brand. BASEBALL ' 63 JOE HICKS Coach 28 Long Beach City College ' s track team was not the only Vik- ing athletic contingent to set records in 1963. Coach Joe Hicks ' baseball squad set a couple of its own. Not only did the baseballers win the Metro title with a 19-2 mark, but in doing so erased a 10-year old consecutive win-streak mark. Long Beach won 15 consecutive games before losing a 7-5 game to San Diego in the nightcap of a doubleheader. Long Beach cinched the Metro title ten days before the sched- ule had been played out. It entered the Southern Cal playoffs against Pasadena, and vvhipjied the Lancers behind the hitting of John Shaw and the pitching of Jim Parks. The Vikes returned the next day to edge San Bernardino 5-3 to notch their third Southern California crown. As SAGA went to press the baseball squad was on its way to Fresno for a best two out of three series to decide the state championship. Hicks calls the 1963 Vikes the smartest team he has ever coached. Void of so-called super stars, the Metropolitan Conference paid the baseball squad a su|ireme compliment by honoring the entire starting lineup with berths on the all-conference team. First team members included Downey Thomas (.311) in the outfield, John Shaw (.278) a unanimous choice at first, Syd O ' Brien (.344) in the infield, and Jim Parks (7-0) who was named the Metro Conference Player of the Year. On the second team were ovitfielder Don Keel (.372), catcher Frank Smith (.250), infielder Jim Jenkins (.260). and pitcher Joe Stucker (6-1 ). Stucker had the distinction of hurling the only no-hit, no-run game of the year in the conference. He also hurled the victory over San Bernardino to annex the Southern California crown. Second baseman John Cisco Gonsalves and centerfielder Gary Korsmeier were given honorable mention plaudits. Overall, the Vikes were 26-6, the second best won-loss per- centage in Long Beach baseball history. The first place finish also marked the sixth Metro crown for Joe Hicks. In 13 years at LBCC, Hicks ' teams have had only one losing season overall, and have never had a losing conference record.

Page 32 text:

VS «a V r t% FIRST BASEMAN John Shaw makes that long stretch to retire side. m m -1 MIKE O ' CONNOR Pitcher JIM PARKS Pitcher JOE STUCKER Pitcher STEVE SUNDERMAN Pitcher JIM JENKINS Short Stop JOHN GONSALVES Second Base A :=d rrikMf FRANK SMITH Catcher BRUCE LOWELL Catcher