St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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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

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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

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the willow when a base hit would have changed the entire complexion of the tilt. The season ended on a triumphant note, however, with victories over Rivers and Westwood. In the former clash we put on a power exhibition paced by Collins. Baker, Mulhern and Phillips. -Iimmy's total com- prised a homer, double and singleg Bob Baker's offering was a triple and two doubles, while Phillips and Mulhern were content with hitting for the circuit. The adding machine made our margin 19+6. Against Westwood we showed flashes of hitting power and we had enough of an edge to be given the 8f7 verdict. Intramurally, the high point of the season was reached in the Red-Blue game which gave Mul's Blues a 5-4 margin. Jimmy Collins was on the mound for the luclcless Reds, while Hank Barry satisfied a life-long ambition by serving them up for the winners. Paul McGrath's home run was the high- light of the afternoon and made Collins a losing captain once more. The annual Faculty game was a disap- pointment from the point of view of com- petition, and we humbled our eminent tutors by the gridiron score of 22-6. It must have been that they had aged considerably since the last time we had met, for we laced the horsehide to all corners of the garden and Fathers Stapleton and Flanigan reported that the left side of the infield was like the re- ception at Tarawa. Thus we come to the end of the diamond chronicle of 1944 and find it highly successful. Opponents of high caliber had been encoun- tered and we had come through with a 7 out of 11 record. It is unfortunate that a printer's deadline makes it impossible to include a record of our 1945 efforts, but, in view of the showing made in our Junior year, our swan song should be one of sustained triumph. Certainly the returning veterans, who weathered the campaign of 1944, augmented by a galaxy of new stars, promise great things and lead us to expect a pennant winner as the crown of our baseball achieve- ments at St. Sebastian's. SCHOOL CHAMPIONS OF 1943 The Faculty Team that edged us 8-7 Front Roux' Fathers Keating, Murray, Julien, Stapleton, Flanigan, Meehan Rear Rau-.' Fathers Cuffe, Sennott, McColgan, Collins, McKenzie and Coach Duffy