St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

Page 98 text:

thusiastically, and the now available cage became a hive of activity from the first of March until the day that gentle zephyrs attracted us outdoors. Some changes had been made since the campaign of the previous year, and it may have been fear of our slug- ging prowess that prompted Fr. Collins to make us hit away from the main building, rather than towards it, as we had in the past. A new backstop had also been erected and a steamroller had been brought in to level off the mounds of turf which were the sole relics of the previous winter's hockey rink project. The campaign got under way on April 12th with Rivers School providing the opposition. The lads who wore the spangles of St. Sebas- tian's that day lined up as follows: Collins and Mulhern, the battery, Wiles, Barry, Sullivan and Bullock in the infield, while McGrath, O'Brien and O'Connell patrolled the outer pastures. This initial contest proved to be only a warm-up affair, for we showed a potency with the stick that de- moralized the rival hurlers and caused them to be most liberal in issuing passes. When the totals were in, we had amassed a 14-3 count. The next two games were also chalked up in the win column. Angel Guardian visited us only to leave on the short end of an 18-5 count. It was Joe O'Connell's turn to toe the mound and he had no difliculty in hold- ing the Jamaica Plain boys at bay. Our third straight was taken rather easily also when Browne and Nichols accompanied us to B. C.'s Alumni Field and submitted to a 9-1 defeat. This occasion marked the high point in jimmy Collins' pitching career, for that day Mr. St. Sebastian's came within a step of admission to Baseball's Hall of Fame. Despite an occasional pass, jimmy breezed along for eight frames without allowing the semblance of a hit. To open the last half of the ninth he walked a man, but then proceeded to fan the next two batters in rapid succession. He seemed all set for no- hit glory until his hurling opponent, John Lyons, rifled a hit over the infield. To make matters worse the ball landed on the circular track, took a bad hop and thus enabled a run to register and deprive Jimmy of a shut- out as well. May 12th brought us our first defeat and we bowed to Noble and Greenough 7-4. Loose fielding on our part, together with very effective hurling on the part of Goodale, the rival boxman, combined to turn the tide against us. We snapped back into the win- ning column very shortly, however, and took revenge on the Brookline V.'s for the previous year's defeat. Joe O'Connell was on the hill, and, in spite of occasional streaks of wildness, was always in control of the situation and emerged a 12-7 victor. Against Roxbury Latin we presented an altered batting order, for injuries had necessi- tated changes. A new trio of gardeners made their appearance, Bob Baker, Mulhern and Phillips. Dan O'Brien was shifted to the hot corner and Charlie McCarron wore the mask and protector. The contest itself was a nip and tuck affair, until fate intervened and awarded the decision to our opponents on the strength of a home-run by Connors, a lengthy blow which we thought was patently foul. We had many chances to tie it up, however, but the Saints failed to capitalize on any of them, and we finished on the short end of a 7-4 score. Our longest journey of the year Was under- taken to cross bats with Portsmouth Priory, and we reaped the fruits of a 16-4 victory. Our long-awaited batting potential asserted itself, and, with every player essaying the hitsmith's role, Jimmy Collins coasted to an easy triumph. The next two starts had to be entered in the loss column, for we were forced to capitulate to Westwood High and also to Roxbury Latin in a return game. In the Westwood game Joe O'Connell suffered his first defeat of the season, falling victim to a third inning batting spree that was the major factor in the enemy's 9-5 win. The Roxbury contest was a 5-4 defeat that found us weak with

Page 97 text:

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-

Page 99 text:

MeCarron Gets One Down 4 A 4, It I . Y Hammex-ing Hank x jx gk 9 W Mulhern Lines One Out YY Put Out by Bullock