St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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M Y' X W , s Hot Corner Guardianjimmy Wilcs Y O'Bricn sharpcns up his cyc Mulhcrn beats the peg to Sullivan

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QED -Qs- Sr ! V . K .faq ' THE sports cycle of 1941-1942 was com- pleted when Baseball was sponsored in early spring. The candidates who presented themselves as varsity timber hardly con- stituted an imposing array of talent, but Coach Duffy went to work on us with vigor and determination. With a cage at our dis- posal it was not necessary for us to pursue training under Southern skies, instead we repaired to the gym day after day with enthusiastic faithfulness. Here, under the critical eye of Ted we engaged in pro- tracted infield drills and spirited batting practice. After a time, however, we chafed under the batting and fielding restrictions imposed by the indoor diamond, and we welcomed the ideal weather that greeted us on our return from the Easter recess. Two weeks of outdoor work gave Mr. Duffy a very definite line on our abilities and enabled him to decide upon a tentative lineup. Bob Baker and McCarron were given the battery assignments, Charlie catching Bob. The infield cordon was composed of Kickham, Scully, Barry and Collins, while R. Donahue, Marshall and Kelly tended the garden. These regulars were hard pressed by Dailey, D. and J. O'Connell, Carroll, F. Donahue and Eastwood. The schedule sent us out on the road to open our season, and we used our uniforms for the first time against St. Clement's of Somerville. We possessed plenty of en- thusiasm in our initial appearance but that was not enough to stem the tide of hits that welcomed us, and we found ourselves on the short end of an 11-1 score. We licked our wounds on the way home and found some balm in recalling the fact that Bob and Hank had garnered two hits apiece. Defensively, hui the gem of our day was contributed by Shaun Kelly who made an almost impossible catch and thereby kept the score down to a respect- able total. We tasted the cup of victory, however, in our next two encounters, defeating Presenta- tion 11-8 and Malden Catholic Seconds 9-3. In the former contest Barry and Scully led the attack, Hank getting 4 out of 5, and jimmy connecting on three occasions. Our second win featured Frank Donahue in the hero's role for that day saw him break into the batting order and then proceed to collect two safeties. May 12th saw us forced off victory road temporarily, defeat coming to us at the hands of the Blessed Sacrament Club from Jamaica Plain. The P. boys took kindly to the combined offerings of Bob Baker and Frank Dailey, and ran up a 12-4 total. We re- venged ourselves on the district, however, by defeating another Jamaica aggregation when we faced Angel Guardian and clipped their wings by an 8-6 verdict. The sum- mary credited Don Marshall with a perfect day at bat, while McCarron, Baker, Collins and Scully came up with timely bingles. The Angel Guardian game was our swan- song, and the triumph gave us a season's record of 3 wins and 2 defeats, for a per- centage of .600-which, we optimistically recalled, had been enough in some years to crown a major league pennant winner. We were not big leaguers yet, but a foundation had been laid and there were encouraging signs to indicate that, before many springs passed, we would be able to place our share of stars in the diamond firmament. The second season in Red and Black base- ball history was rather an abbreviated One.

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For this curtailment of diamond competition two factors were chiefly responsible-the first was the belated appearance of Easter, while the second was the closing of the gym or cage as our contribution to the fuel con- servation program. With the indoor turf unavailable and the outdoor diamond un- playable until late in April, Coach Duffy had few opportunities for intensive practice sessions. In the face of such circumstances, the worried mentor tested out his candidates as best he could and found that the nine which would represent St. Sebastian's in 1943 was substantially the same group that had formed our diamond aggregation of the year before. Two new names managed to break into the box score, however, and they were both outhelders-Dan O'Brien and George Gilbert. Scarcely knowing the feel of the bat and ball we opened our season against thej. V.'s of Brookline High School, and the Wealthy Towners apparently resented our temerity for they buried us under an avalanche of hits that consolidated into a 15-3 score. We sent three hurlers to the hill, but to no avail, in the meantime, Gustafson, the Brookline pitcher mowed us down with boring regu- larity. Our second appearance was more hearten- ing, for we had just enough of an edge to nose out Rivers 5-4. Our boys were begin- ning to find their batting eyes, and the now stream-lined Charlie McCarron came through with two for three, while Hank Barry garnered the longest clout of the day, a triple that was a major factor in our triumph. On the mound Bob Baker was making his first start of the season and he showed himself steady in the pinches. The Noble and Greenoughj. V.'s were our next opponents and we were forced to bow to them 7-1. joe O'Connell started in the box for us, but his inability to find the plate, together with a few timely hits by the Ded- ham lads, gave the enemy an early lead which our weakness with the stick never seriously threatened. Our next two starts equalized each other, for they produced a win and a loss. Our triumph was exacted from the neighboring Presentation team and came by a 5-3 margin. The loss was handed us by Angel Guardian and although we threatened until the last out in the ninth we were not able to draw abreast of their 5-4 lead. June 2nd found us concluding our extra- mural schedule and facing St. John's of Wellesley. The two teams matched run for run and the contest developed into a stale- mate with neither side being able to break a 5-5 tie. Baker, on the St. Sebastian mound, found real trouble in Dave May, the St. John's catcher, who came up with four out of four. In the closing intramural contests, Hank Barry's Reds took Dan O'Brien's Blues into camp on two successive days, Winning the plaque by 7-1 and 8-7 verdicts. In the former contest Bob Baker bested Richie Donahue, while in the latter jimmy Collins' hurling prevailed over Frank Dailey's. The season closed definitely with a Fac- ulty-Varsity game that drew a capacity audience. It would have been gratifying to have humbled the galaxy of professorial stars, but even that consolation was denied us. The combination of Fr. McKenzie's guest pitching, Fr. Flanigan's short-stopping and Fr. Keating's bicycle work in the garden was too much for us and the nine old men limped off the field with an 8-7 decision. Short but not sweet, the season of 1943 passed into the archives of history. Two victories and a tie in six starts' was not a record to brag about. However, there were extenuating circumstances that were beyond our control, so we left Nonantum Hill strong in the conviction that another year and more auspicious fates would enable us to taste the cup of victory more frequently. We returned to the baseball wars in the spring of 1944 to find ourselves under the tutelage of Mr. Murphy who was that year making his debut as our diamond mentor. His call for candidates was answered en-