Richmond High School - Shield Yearbook (Richmond, CA)

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Tied for second place, Piedmont visited the Richmond campus to receive a thorough trouncing, but unfortunately the damage was done, for the Berkeley five defeated Alameda and won the championship. Immediately at the outset of the encounter the locals tossed in buckets galore. The Highlanders could not vie with the flurry of baskets. Les Scarsella again went wild, running up a total of 21 markers. Richmond was never pressed and walked off the floor with a 36-21 win. Piedmont was thereby shoved into third place and the Alameda five occupied the cellar. Les Scarsella, who led all A. C. A. L. scorers with 67 markers, and Paul Moitoza, second high man, having 41, were easily the outstanding pair in the league. Their passwork and defensive ability were flawless. Scarsella graduates, but Moitoza will return for another year of competition. Captain Reno Passone was what Phil Hempler classed as “the finest center in the league.” PeeWee controlled all the tip-offs, aided the guards considerably and was the leading scorer of the pivot men. He also has ended his final season of cage battle. Ed Masek, Weldon Lee and Kenny McPhee displayed marvelous guarding games after starting the schedule in mediocre style. Toward the conclusion of the tournament, Masek performed splendidly, so well that Coach Jack Eadie of Berkeley rated iin the superior defense man of the league. Masek leaves, but McPhee and Lee will be bulwarks of the guards next spring. Clayton Bowles, Marco Grignaschi, John Gerletti, and Louie Piziali were other members of the squad. B BASKETBALL Entering A. C. A. L. competition with the most capable team that ever repre- sented the Oilers as far as passwork was concerned, the locals proved not to be of title holder quality, for they ended in last place. Frank Ribbel had the small B’s, but he had foreseen a pennant winner and was disappointed at the failure of his cohorts. Making their first league appearance, the Blue and Red lightweights showed promise, as they came from behind to overcome the veteran Alameda five, the same bunch that captured the lightweight title. The Richmondites were trailing 12-10 at half time, but in the remaining two periods treated the Islanders to a merry chase to win, 25-17. Meeting the co-holders of first place, Berkeley, the locals were subjected to the worst beating they incurred during the schedule. The team was not clicking and, consequently, there was poor passwork, terrible bucket shooting, and numer- ous costly fouls which in turn were made good by Al Parker’s boys. Final results found the Yellow jackets the victors by a 22-15 count. Piedmont bowed to the “Ribbelets” in a slow, dreary contest at the Hill City to put the locals in the running again. Piedmont used a set defense which slowed the game to a walk. At half time the teams were deadlocked at f ive all. In the second half, the Oilers pulled away from their adversaries to win 18-14. Bill Brandau was the shining light of this triumph. The race was thrown into a four way tie as the result of the second Alameda game. The locals played nice basketball, but the Encinal squad, led by Bob Gardiner and ““Chug’’ Matacora, managed to make good their foul attempts and nosed the locals out, 15-13. In the afternoon the Highlanders walked off with a victory over Berkeley, so all teams had two won and two lost. Again the Ribbel squad was edged out, this time by the Cardinal and Gold of Berkeley in a close skirmish. The local mentor in an effort to instill the spark of victory sent in the reserves, who gave remarkable accounts of themselves. Thev brought the score to within one bucket, but a quite enough to gain a win. The gun ended the game, the score board reading, B. H. S. 18, R. U. H. S. 15. Mean- while Piedmont lost to Alameda. Utterly excluded from a chance at first place, the Highlanders and the locals tangled on the home courts in the last game. The visitors won by a 17-16 margin in an extra period of play. Alameda trimmed the Yellow jackets to merit the champion- ship ; Piedmont and Berkeley took a tie for second ; Richmond finished last.

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ah A A TS BASKETBALL Second place holders, but with a five that was every bit as good as the title win- ners, Richmond High basketball players climaxed a splendid A. C. A. L. season by capturing their annual Alumni game from a team that was heads and shoulders over them in experience and pre-game favorites. The basketball schedule was highly successful in all branches, but far happier because the locals gave Berkeley High their first defeat in three years of league competition. The Richmond B’s were a sorry disappointment to their ardent admirers, for they finished in last place when they had a squad that was of much higher calibre. In the curtain raiser of the A. C. A. L., the locals encountered the Alameda Hornets, who lived up to expectations by ending in last place, on the home pavilion. Coach Phil Hempler’s outfit ran up a gigantic lead, so large that Hempler used the reserves throughout most of the second period. At half time the R. U. H. S. five led 15-9. Scarsella, Moitoza, and Passone rang up several buckets to push the locals to a 22-9 third quarter advantage. In the fourth session, the cohorts of Carl Young came to life and mounted the score until at the final gun it read, Richmond 32, Alameda 22. Large crowds from both schools attended the contests. Rivals from Berkeley High met the locals on the home court in the second league game. The Yellowjackets had previously defeated the Piedmont aggregation in impressive manner. Richmond again started this game by tallying first. Through- out the half the lead see-sawed back and fourth with a 13-13 deadlock at the rest intermission. Passone and Moitoza led the home team assault. The locals led by five points at one time in the third quarter, but were caught and nosed out at the final whistle, 29-25. Poor guarding cost the Blue and Red this important fray. Piedmont proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back when they eked out a 27-25 victory on the Hill City floor. The game, which entered the extra period stage, found an inferior Highlander team taking advantage of the poorest exhibition of guarding put on by an Oiler five in many seasons. During the initial half, the local guards acted as forwards and, consequently, permitted the Purple and White to forge into. an 18-9 advantage. The Hemplerites came back with vengeance in the third and fourth cantos, not only to catch the Piedmonters, but to obtain a one marker lead with 45 seconds to go. Here a foul occurred and the “Binks” Rawling’s cager made it good to knot the count. In the extra period, Kash, center, netted a spec- tacular attempt to give the Clansmen a 27-25 win. At this juncture of the schedule, a Richmond winning streak was started; here- after the locals went undefeated the rest of the year. Alameda was the opponent in the second round of the league. The Hornets, led by their all-A. C. A. L. stars, Herman Pete and Bill Reid, were vastly improved, but not to the degree where they could take the Oilers. Hempler’s team put up a sorry exhibition and was forced into an extra period, after trailing the greater portion of the fracas. Scarsella, who went wild in this contest, tallied twice in the additional five minutes to capture the triumph for the locals. Critics of the Bay region were all talking of the poor lamb, the Blue and Red, being led to its slaughter by the Berkeley five. This sad outlook did not handicap the Hemplerites in the least; rather it proved to be the stimulus to goad them on to greater conquests. Hardly had Jack Eadie’s boys sunk the first point than the Blue and Red swarmed all over the Cardinal and Gold. At half time, though, the Yellow- jackets, through fine offensive work at the last moment, edged into the fore. After Hempler explained his attack for the last half, the Oilers took the floor and pro- ceeded to sink everything in sight. The huge Richmond crowd was jubilant as the locals opened the final period, leading 20-13. The B. H. S. contingent realized it would be their first beating in years, so they put on all they had. It was far from enough. The scintillating Richmondites took all the highly favored Berkeleyans had to offer and could have asked for more. At the conclusion of the skirmish, the gathering of local enthusiasts smothered the victorious cagers, congratulating all. “Smilin” Phil Hempler beamed with joy for the decisive 26-16 triumph repaid him ina small way for his faith and pride in his basketeers. The defeat was the only one incurred by the pennant winning Yellowjackets.

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BASEBALL After a fair practice season, winning four out of ten games, the Oiler ball team entered the ‘A. C. A. L. They finished the league in a tie for second place with Alameda, each having one victory and three defeats. Berkeley took the championship with four victories and no defeats. Richmond ‘started the practice season with three consecutive victories. Crockett was the first victim when the Oilers drove out 15 base hits to outslug the John, Swett nine, 8-6. The contest was played on the latter’s field. ‘Legs’ LeGault started on the mound for the locals, but was relieved by Roy Silva in the third canto. Silva chucked good ball for the remainder of the contest, and was credited with the victory. Lino Corazzo’s superb pitching and Les Scarsella’s hard hitting enabled the Oilers to win a 4-3 pitcher’s battle over Castlemont in the second tilt of the season. The game was plaved on the local diamond. Coach Phil Hempler’s aggregation completed the three straight triumphs with a 4-0 victory over University at Bushrod Park. “Pee Wee’ Passone was on the hill- top for the Blue and Red. Corazzo’s circuit blow with two men on was the big factor in the local win. Richmond was somewhat humiliated when the local school suffered three succes- sive defeats. R. U. H. S. took the first beating at the hands of the Hayward Farmers, 4-1, at Thrasher’s Park in San Leandro. Costly errors by Scarsella and Moitoza were largely responsible for the locals’ loss. LeGault turned in a masterful per- formance, allowing the Farmers but two hits and sending 11 batters to the bench. The Richmondites were trimmed for the second time by the St. Mary’s Panthers, 7-3, on the home field. A four run stampede in the second frame won the contest for the Pan thers. Eight hits were registered from the offerings of Passone, and six safeties were obtained from Raffanti. The Blue and Red returned after Easter vacation to taste another defeat. San Leandro bunched their blows to eke out a 6-4 win on the Cherry City diamond. Le- Gault pitched a fair game for the Oilers, yielding but 6 safeties. In a return game with St. Mary’s, Richmond was content with a 4-4 deadlock. A four run rally in the last half of the seventh with two out enabled the Panthers to tie the count. An additional inning was played but no scores resulted. Passone hurled good ball for the Blue and Red but received poor support. Coach Hempler’s cohorts remained superior over Crockett by smashing out a 5-2 victory. Corazzo and Passone alternated on the mound for the Oil City nine. In the final practice tilt before the first A. C. A. L. games, the Richmond pas- timers were nosed out of another win by Cal Frosh, 10-9, on Hillegarde field. Eight safeties from the offerings of LeGault in the last two frames gave the Frosh a victory. Richmond opened the A. C. A. L. by receiving a 6-5 defeat at the hands of Alameda on the latter’s diamond. Errors again proved the Oiler’s downfall. Muzzi was the heavy hitter of the day, garnering three for four. Corazzo pitched creditable ball for the locals, but he was not given full support by his teammates. R. U. H. S. scheduled a practice tilt with Diablo to prepare for the Berkeley game. The locals were trimmed by a 3-2 count. Coach Hempler started the second string and put the regulars into the fray in the last three innings. The reserves held their own with the “Red Devils,” but the first string booted the game away for Passone in the ninth. The Blue and Red nine was defeated, 5-2, by Berkeley in the second A. C. A. L. contest on the local diamond. Errors at critical moments cost the Oilers the ball game. The local aggregation scored their only runs in the ninth after two were out, but could not overcome the five-run lead held by the Yellowjackets. Corazzo was touched for 7 blows. Richmond chalked up the first league triumph by conquering the Alameda Hor- nets, 4-3, in one of the best ball games played on the Oilers’ diamond during the year. A new spirit and hustle aided considerably in the locals’ victory. A pitching duel prevailed when LeGault and Helmstein chucked shut-out ball for four innings. Only 11 hits were registered from both pitchers, LeGa ult allowing 7, and Helmstein, 4.