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

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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]

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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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— INTR AMUR ALS t W 2 REALIZING that physical training has been listed as one of the three essential departments of educa- tion, our faculty has most generously provided for this training through the various sports of the school. Realizing also that all students cannot be placed on the school ' s varsity teams, the high school officials have established a very unified system of intramural sports, by which an opportunity for physical development is given to every student who is interested in his physical training. PASS FOOTBALL — A new sport, pass football, was introduced into the intramural program this past fall. Teams were chosen from each room and divided into two Leagues, the Senior League, consisting of the teams from the Junior and Senior classes, and the Junior League, consisting of the teams representing the Freshman and Sophomore classes. By means of this division, eighty-eight students were given the opportunity of taking part in the Pass-Football League. Many a closely fought game was offered by the various teams to the anxious spectators, who in their excitement often crowded onto the playing field. After about two months of play 3B led the Senior League, while 2B triumphed in the Junior League. Warrick, J. Fournier, McQuade, Reger, O ' Connell, Rogalski, Steinmetz, Roesner, and Marshall comprised the personnel of the victorious team of 3B. The winning team of 2B was made up of Leyland, Higgins, Kanary, Lynch, Morrin, Alex, Speer, Whelan, Hackett, Pratt, Callahan, Burnor, A. Rapp, and Brazzill. BASKETBALL LEAGUE — After the conclusion of the pass football season, the next number on the intramural program was the formation of the Basketball League. In this League teams were chosen and divided as in the Pass Football League. Abount one hundred students participated in this league. Again the spectators were offered many a hard fought game. Each game was marked by some form of new excitement; each game saw a new star discovered only to have him fade into oblivion because of the outstanding play of another in the succeeding game. However, a few players showed outstanding play throughout the entire season. Daney and Rieselman teamed well together. This accounted for many of 3A ' s points. Long and Marshall, playing with the team that hailed from 3B, showed real proficiency in their offensive and defensive play. In the Junior League the most outstanding player from all observa- tions was Robbens, who also starred with the Midgets. At the closing of the tourney, 4A led the Senior League, while IB captured first place in the Junior League. BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT — For this tournament the school was divided into sixteen teams, each of the two leagues consisting of eight teams. One hundred and twenty-eight students participated in this intramural basketball tournament. The tournament was conducted on the elimination principle, until one champion was found in each League. The Musketeers took the championship in the Senior League. To gain this distinction, they were forced to overcome a great obstacle in the Tigers, winning the final game by a score of 23 to 17. In the Junior League the Lions overcame the Mud Hens by a score of 17 to 15 and thereby gained the distinction of claiming the championship. The Musketeers ' personnel consisted of Marshall (Captain), Koerber, Kelting, McPartland, Sindyla, Kitzmiller, and Mcllhargey. Sullivan (Captain), Speer, Young, Morrin, Schneider, McDonnell, and Eischen comprised the Lions ' team. The officials chose an all tournament team from the Junior divi- sion: Forewards — Sullivan and Speer; Guards — Koehler and Hille- brand ; Center — Balcerzak. High scores — Sullivan, 23; Speer, 20; Balcerzak, 19. Senior Division: Forwards — Marshall and Sindyla; Guards — Rieselman and Williams; Center — Journier, J. High scores: McPartland, 22; Condon, 22; Rieselman, 22. INDOOR LEAGUE — with the clear spring days comes the final sport in the intramural program — indoor. As soon as the campus dried off, the League began and was carried on in the same manner in which the other leagues were managed. Mr. Tracy, the manager, informed the writer of this article that about one hundred and twelve students participated in the league play. The indoor league will continue until the final bell for the school term rings, with each team striving with all its power to gain the much coveted position of first place. Owing to the keen competition, the writer cannot even conjecture how the leagues will end. With the completion of the Indoor League, we will end one of the most successful and enjoyable years of intramural sport that the school has ever had. May the succeeding years bring the same results. [31] ■■ ,. L i