St Johns High School - Knight Herald Yearbook (Toledo, OH)

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i 4fcV5 BASKET BALL — DeVilbiss, Jan. 26 — The DeVilbiss Tigers took the measure of the Knights on the Upton Avenue lioor in one of the slowest games of the season. The final score was 21 to 15. Joe Wrobel stole the show with a basket from the opponents ' foul line. Central, Feb. 9 — The Irish again whipped the Knights in an overtime period at Westminster. St. John ' s led throughout, but owing to a last minute rally, Central came out on top by a 27 to 26 score. St. Wendelin ' s, Fostoria, Feb. 16 — The Knights returned to form by beating the St. Wendelin ' s outfit in a poor game, by the score of 22 to 14. Scott, Feb. 16 — The Scott High Bulldogs came through to victory in a shoddy battle with the Knights. Scott ran up a 3.3 to 22 score. St. Joseph ' s, Fremont, Feb. 24 — The Knights again felt the jolt of defeat at the hands of St. Joseph ' s, Fremont star outfit. This, the last game of the year, was a hard fought battle, but finally the game ended with St. John ' s on the short end of a 34 to 27 score. Tournament, Rossford — The aggressive Rossford outfit was the Knight ' s first opponent in the sec- tional tournament. This was a hard-fought contest and was dominated by the flashy play of Johnny Higgins. The final score was 18 to 17, our victory in an overtime period. Tournament, Woodward — In the second night of play, the Knights met the Woodward five in a game- that was filled with as many thrillers as the game of the first night. Whitey Lawson, although playing with an injured leg, shone forth as the star of the evening. The final score was 23 to 22 with the Knights bowing to the Bears. At the close of the basketball season, Joe Wrobel was named honorary captain of the 33- ' 34 team, and John O ' Connell was elected to captain the Knights of ' 34- ' 35. Thus the Knights closed one of the most successful seasons, winning eleven and losing five games. The Knights boast the best defensive record in the city, holding their opponents to an average of seventeen points per game. Much credit for the splendid showing made by the Knights during their past season goes to Coach Johnny Tracy, who moulded green material to form a team that proved to be one of the best in Toledo. LIGHTWEIGHTS:— We wish to congratulate the Lightweight Basketball Team on their splendid fighting spirit during the past season. The Lightweights gained much valuable experience through struggles with other teams. The Varsity was scrimmaged night after night by these ardent workers. A great deal of the success of the Varsity team should go to the Lightweights. Much material was devel- oped by Coach Tracy, and we are sure that the Varsity of next year will obtain much material from the Lightweight squad. O ur Lightweight Club was not successful in contests with op- posing teams. Although they displayed excellent fighting spirit, the record shows but one victory in seven starts against teams from the other city schools. MIDGETS: — This year under the guidance of Mr. Paul O ' Con- nor, S. J., the Midgets displayed as fine team work as any team in the school. They commenced with their winning streak at once and never once during the season did they lack real style. Opening their season against St. Agnes, they defeated them and seemed to possess an unbeatable ball spirit. The Midgets ran up a season score of 657 points to their opponents ' 301. Out-sized and out-weighed, they showed that they could play ball in a fashion that brought them a victorious season. In the individual scoring, Robens held the lead with 170 points, followed by Alex with 146 points. Next came Sullivan, Rapp and Irvine, with 98, 74 and 50, respectively. Others who showed fine play during the season were Koehler, Kelting, Mc- Millen, Thompson, Kuebler, Yarton, Lauer, and McDonnell. The average weight of the team was 103 pounds and the height was 5 ft. 4 in. COACH JOHN TRACY [29] ■ f ' «- 4 3En T— ■ ' 1 i- 1 ' -

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Z 0W £ BASKET BALL i » j MX. BLANCHARD, Dec. 1 — The Knights, displaying a fine passing attack, won their opener by the overwhelming score of 38 to 4. The crack eye of Whitey Lawson, which aided him in scoring fifteen points, was the sensation of the game. St. Paul ' s, Norwalk, Dec. 8 — Our team won their second game of the season quite handily, by the score of 32 to 21. This encounter was not the walk-away that the first contest was, but the close guarding of the squad led by Biniak, showed that the St. John ' s boys would worry many an opponent, before the season was finished. Perrysburg, Dec. 16 — The squad displayed their true caliber by defeating Perrysburg, 26 to 14. Warrick was the outstanding player in this game, continuously being fed the ball, while standing under the basket. Woodward, Dec. 22 — The Woodward Bears were little trouble for the Knights in this long contem- plated battle. The score, 31 to 22, did not even intimate the superior play of our boys who overwhelmed the Bears. In the first two periods that he played, Lawson scored fifteen points. Wauseon, Dec. 29 — Again the Knights showed their fine all-round play by lengthening their long string of victories at the expense of Wauseon, by the score of 22 to 9. Gerrick was the outstanding player in this game. Sylvania, Jan. 2 — The rough and tumble squad from Sylvania High tasted defeat at the hands of the Knights to the tune of 35 to 10. Wrobel displayed very aggressive and heady ball and shone for the Knights. Central, Jan. 9 — The fighting Irish of Central Catholic took toll from the Knights for the first defeat of the season. This game was an overtime contest and ended with Central on the long end of a 20 to 15 score. Waite, Jan. 12 — The team returned to stride, by outclassing the Waite Indians, ni an encounter that never had anyone worried even for a minute. The consistent play of Harry Biniak again led the team to a 22 to 12 victory. Libbey, Jan. 19 — The St. John ' s cagers won their third intra-city game by taking the Cowboys by a 15 to 10 count. Close guarding throughout, was the main interest of the game and kept everyone on edge until the final whistle. BASKETBALL TEAM BACK ROW: Biniak. Lawson, O ' Connell, Coach Tracy. SECOND ROW: Fluge, Warrick, Gerrick, Higgms. FIRST ROW: Kitzmiller, M. O ' Neill, Wrobel, A. Rapp, Long. [28]

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ZJ f J) BASEBALL d X 9 URING the present Spring season, St. John ' s h in been represented by a baseball team. The late April rains which this year were longer than usual, prevented the much needed outdoor practice. However, steady practice sessions were held inside the spacious gymnasium. Coach Johnny Tracy has been working hard and as a result, the players know both the fundamentals and fine points of baseball thoroughly. The outfield of this year rates much better than that of the last year and the pitching staff is composed of more competent men. The infield has practically all the infield players of last year and all have had some previous experience in amateur baseball circles. The regular pitching staff consists of Jim Fournier and Joe Cousino. Both these boys have control and much speed, together with the required change of pace. They also possess ability to hit. Kanary and Ferguson form the receiving end of the battery. The infield is composed of Rapp, Marshall, Rogalski, O ' Connell, Wrobel, and Condon, while the slugging outfield carries on its traditions through the representation of Higgins, Balccrzak, Haley, Blank, Daney, and Brazzill. Thus far Coach Tracy has been devoting all his practice sessions to good infield plays and proper hitting, which is shown by the fact that four players are batting much over 300 per cent. In all events, St. John ' s has a strong representative team against their opponents and much encouragement can be had from the fact that the whole team, with the exception of Wrobel, will return next year. St. John ' s met Waite at Waite in the first encounter of the season. O ' Connell started on the mound but owing to fatal errors by the other members of the team, he was relieved in the sixth inning, when Jim Fournier replaced him. Fournier at once proceeded to make short work of his opponents, but owing to the previous score piled up by Waite, not much could be done. The Knights met Libbey, their second inter-city adversary, at Highland Park. The team got off to a bad start but played fine heads-up ball after the second inning. St. John ' s touched Donahue of Libbey for six hits while Fournier allowed seven bingles, six of which came before the third inning. The Knights did not hit in the critical moments and so the final score was 7 to 1, favor Libbey. In their third game of the year, St. John ' s defeated Clay High at Clay field by an overwhelming score of 12 to 4. Balcerzak, pitching the whole game, had the opponents at his finger-tips. The Knights hit freely, Balcerzak connecting for two homers and a double. Condon, the Knights ' third baseman, walloped a double and a triple, besides playing a wonderful defensive game. St. John ' s Baseball Team traveled to Blissfield and lost. Cousino pitched but although he hurled a three-hit game, four errors in the fourth frame erased the two-run lead that St. John ' s held. The Knights got five hits but since they were not had at the proper time, they were at the short end of a 5-2 decision. St. John ' s displayed its true form when it crushed its old rival. Central Catholic. Fournier pitched a splendid game, allowing the Irish only three weak hits. The entire Knight squad played an errorless game. The turning ponit of the game came in the third when the Knights punctured Central ' s defensive and got away with three safe bunts. Balcerzak came to bat and smashed out a sizzling triple. This was repeated in the fourth when Higgins sent out another screaming triple, scoring Wrobel. The whole team co- ordinated with the result that St. John ' s was at the long end of a 6-2 score. BASEBALL TEAM HACK ROW: Balcerzak, Lawson, Cousin... FIRST ROW: Rogalski, Condon, Marshall, A. R.ipp, Coach Tracy. THIRD ROW: Haley, Krazzil, Kanary, blank, Rier. SECOND ROW: Daney. Fournier, O ' Connell, Higgins. [30]