Richmond Heights High School - Yearbook (Richmond Heights, OH)

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The high of the season was being rained out against Ignatius mid game . what to do? A disheartened Jack Vrh sits on the bench watching his team lose a close game to Berkshire, 8-6. Jack alter- nated with teammate Chris Courtney at playing first base. Man, it ' s cold! In the early part of the season when it was still a liit chilly. Coach Mervar stands with folded arms hoping that his team will produce a win against Orange. His hopes were not totally destroyed when his team tied 3-3. t • - ' ' ? fm l: Pi Baseball WE THEY 1 2 Euclid 11 2 Eastlake North 16 3 Orange 3 2 Gilmour 9 5 University- 9 7 St. Joe ' s ' 19 6 Perr ' 5 9 Aurora 5 1 Berkshire 7 6 Cardinal 20 2 Kirtland 3 16 Beachwood 6 3 Xewbun 9 8 Beachwood 4 ( Kirtland 24 2 Aurora 9 6 Berkshire 8 5 Cardinal TOURNAMENT 1 20 Farmington 4 Ashtabula St. John A 27 i Bovs Baseball 93

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oul Performances Silence Conference or two straight years, the Richmond Heights High School baseball team was on the edge of greatness. In 1982, a seventh inning grand slam kept the Spartans from the state plkyoffs. In 1983, an extra inning loss in the Regional semifinals ended another great sea- son. But 1984, as expected was a year at rebuilding, a year of new faces and a year of change. It was not a team of greatness but it was capable of handling its own. First year coach Joe Mervar inherited a very inexperienced team, suffering from the loss of six starters and the entire 1983 pitching staff to graduation. Senior captains Paul Mysyk and Nick Tibaldi were both u p to this point I had remained calm. Now I was angry. I still remember the pain in my stomach from the low blow he gave me in football . I took the stretch and made the decision . This would be a pitch to be remembered . 1 started the windup, ignoring all signals from the catcher. I hurled the ball .A thud was followed by the sound of agony. A mere case of fun- damental revenge. optimistic about the season, however. There ' s a baseball tradition in Richmond Heights. People just know how to win, said Tibaldi. The season started very slowly with five losses and a tie in the first six games. Coach Mervar had scheduled a very tough independent sched- ule to better prepare the team for ESC competition. Still, lopsided losses to Euclid, Eastlake North, and St. Joseph, all AAA power- houses, left the team feeling down. Spring break posed another barrier for the Spartans to overcome. Coach Mervar had scheduled three games over the vacation, and about one-third of the varsity team migrated to Florida for a little fun in the sun. JV players were called up to fill the void. Although two of the games were rained out, the loss to St. Joe ' s left Mervar very angry at the loss of his players. Next year I ' m not scheduling any games over the break. They would really help us get ready for league play, but it ' s not worth the trouble, stated Mervar. The losing streak was stopped with a 6-5 win at Perry, where the pitching staff workhorse Bob Potokar got his first win. Not only did Potokar get his first, but it was also the team ' s first victory. Potokar led the team in innings pitched, wins, and strikeouts. Probably the worst effect of losing was the joy on the other team s J .ii « tJ 9 l,t t I t - 1984 Boys Varsity Baseball Team: Front Row: Jeff Zitel. Chris Courtney, Steve Organischak, Jim Skernivitz, Dave Bill. Back Row Jeff Ma -field, Paul Mysyk, Bob Potokar, Bob Suszek, Mike Haas, Nick Tibaldi, Coach Joe Mer ' ar. And the pitch! Into his wind-up, Jeff Zitel pitches against a tough AAA St. Joe ' s. It was a hard fought game, but the Spartans lost 19-7. Go for it!? Rounding second base. Bob Potokar thinks about advancing to third. Bob advanced to third and scored on the next play but it was not enough as St. Joe ' s won 19-7. 92 Boys Baseball

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face after knocking off the once powerful Spartans. Teams always love to beat the guys on top, and until this year, it was us, said Haas. The ESC season started with a bang. The Spartans traveled to Aurora and beat the Greenman with Paul Mysyk ' s three run double. This win over Aurora produced the second win of the year and the first in conference play. The Spartan diamonders t hen lost three in a row, including a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to eventual league champions Kirt- land. That was the best game we played this year, and I really wanted to knock off those guys. said junior centerfielder Mike Haas, who had two hits in the loss. The low point of the season came in the second Kirtland game, when the Spartans blew a 5-0 lead and lost 24-7. We not only blew the game, but we also blew the chance to -stay in contention for the conference title, stated junior Bob Potokar. Even with the final 6-13-1 record and a drop to fifth in the ESC, the season held many good points. Nick Tibaldi made first team all-ESC at shortstop. Paul Mysyk, rightfielder, led the team in batting with a .347 average. Leftfielder Bob Suszek led the team with two homeruns (both in the St. Joseph game) and fifteen RBI ' s. Junior Mike Haas batted .500 in the league play and made second team all-league, as did junior pitcher Jeff Mayfield who pitched the game of the year in the season B ases were loaded. With a 300 average, I was up to bat and it was up to me. I stepped into the box and eyed the pitcher down . First pitch comes in. strike one! ow I was ready . Second pitch, crack! Stunned I couldn ' t move. The ball floated out of sight. I took off at a slow jog knowing this was my moment of victory . Here power was the ultimate fundamental . ending 5-1 win over Cardinal. Tournament time took the Richmond Heights Spartans to Farming- ton where the Spartans devastated the weaker Indians 20-4. Through an unlucky draw, the Spartans then traveled to Ashtubula to play the powerful St. John Heralds, one of the top A teams in the state. The Spartans inexperience was greatly exposed in the 27-0 pasting o f the Spartans, and hopes were directed towards the 1985 season. The JV team under first year coach Ed Baitt, the first in many years at RHHS, finished a strong 5-5 against tough competition to raise hope for the future. It was a very exciting season for us. We had a bad start but we finished out strong, states freshman Ricky Malinas. The team consisted of two sophomores and nine freshmen. David Molnar and Brian Schwenk, both freshmen, lead the team as co-captains. Brian played third base while David played behind the plate. w fr r . kMyi ' S V ■ • «e 8% gbf JO I li! ! n k y 1 1 Wind Up. Junior Jim Richards pitched many J.V. games. Upperclassmen often pitched J.V. because of the lack of pitchers. E-6. Dave Molnar keeps score during a varsity game. Underclass varsity players were given such tasks as keeping score. 94 Boys Baseball