St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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home run to right center that put us ahead, 1-0. That lead was short lived, however, be- cause Ed Quirk came up in the second with a man on and drove out a four-bagger to left that made it 2-1 and that lengthened to 3-1 before the side was retired. Undis- mayed by that turn of events, we put together a Lane triple and a Joyce single to get one of those markers back in the fourth, before staging a real rally in the sixth, In that frame Fish walked and worried the pitcher into an overthrow that put him on second, Andy doubled over the bank in center to score his shortstop, Henry Lane powered a safety that the B.C. shortstop was lucky to handle, and then both Andy and Hank came in on Bob Joyce's line single to center that put us ahead, 5-3. Sad to say, we were not able to maintain the pace because the visitors came back to register four times on doubles by Carl Koury and Lenny Ceglaski that followed a walk, a wild throw and an interference ruling that gave the batter first base. With the exception of bingles by Kel in the 7th and Paul Carey in the 9th, we could not get another man on base and B.C. added two more runs in the 8th to ice the contest and make the final score, 9-5. The defensive gem of the afternoon was turned in by Billy Brooks in the 8th when he made a spec- tacular, falling, over-the-bank catch of a foul fly from the bat of Bernie Mulligan. Despite our nine safeties, on occasion we failed to hit in the pinches, as when Gibby led off in the second with a double, only to languish on the keystone sack. Our next opponent was scheduled to be Malden Catholic, but cold weather and rain caused the game to be cancelled, and we did not play again until the following Saturday, May 15th, at Hopkins School in New Haven. Once again our St. Sebastian team was treated royally by the host school and, after the long trip, the boys had a keen appetite for the buffet luncheon that was waiting for them on their arival, Since Andy had worked the B.C. game, it was McNabb's turn to toe the mound, but he came up with a tough first inning that put him in a 3-0 hole, Although he yielded only two singles, the combination of the bingles with two passes, a hit batsman, a wild pitch and two passed balls proved to be productive of three big runs. After that rocky start, Bob settled down to hold the foe at bay for the next two frames, only to be touched up for single markers in the fourth and fifth innings. That fifth chapter was notable also for a circus catch made by Bill Brooks directly in front of Bob Joyce after the pair had failed to agree on first call for lindriss' fly. Meanwhile, we were not having much luck in trying to solve the slants of Hopkins' Hammond, for our first safety was a McNabb double in the third, after which singles by Lane and Gibbons were wasted in the fourth. Kel started the sixth with a one-bagger down the third base line, but he was doubled off when Andy lined viciously to the pitcher, Once again, in the seventh, a Gibby single bore no fruit, yet we managed to break the row of goose eggs in the eighth on the strength of single base drives by Paul Carey and Bob Kelly. The defeat marred an otherwise most pleasant day, but it was cushioned to a great extent by a bountiful dinner at the Oakdale Tavern on the way home. After the string of three consecutive defeats, it was pleasant to climb back on Vic- tory Road at the expense of Browne and Nichols here on our own field. This time Andy McAuliffe was our moundsman and he unfurled a two-hit performance that kept the visitors from crossing the rubber in every inning but the second. On the other hand, we lost no time in tallying twice in each of the first two frames, Fish's triple, Andy's double and Lane's single accounting for the first brace, while a Grogan double, singles by Joyce and Kelly and 5 stolen bases featured the second. After that, our attack sub- sided temporarily, even though Joyce added another run in the sixth on a walk and some daring base running, but it exploded with a bang in the last half of the seventh. In that inning, after the Hrst three batters had reached, Henry Lane inserted a timely single and Gibby followed with a long double, To keep the ball rolling, Larry McAuliffe blasted out a safety and there developed an epidemic of errors, stolen bases and wild throws that resulted in ten St. Sebastian runs crossing the plate in a single frame. It was decided, at that point, to terminate the contest there and then and the only disappointed --1 167 1-.

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persons were the subs whom Vin had put into the line-up late in the day, In addition to limiting the opposition to two safe blows, Andy had almost perfect control, striking out the first two batters to face him on six pitches, and walking only three during the fray. Fifteen B Bc N batters whiffed the breezes, while our sluggers were having one of their good days, stretching nine bingles into a total of 14 bases. On the base paths, the Red and Black ran wild, Paul Carey capping the climax with a steal of home in the 7th. The following Friday, the elements intervened once more to wash out our game with Lawrence Central Catholic, yet we compensated for this disappointment by getting in a game with Thayer Academy on Monday, May 24th. Originally, the game had been arranged for an earlier date in the season, but, by the time that the Braintree club took the field against us, it boasted a string of 21 straight victories compiled over a two year period. Andy McAuliffe was Vin Murphy's choice for mound duty, and the mentor nominated Frank Hennessy to hold down the initial sack in place of the ailing Billy Gibbons. In their first turn at bat, the visitors made a neat bid for a score, but Fish came up with a nice stop to throw out Killoran at the plate and end the threat. Batting around in the same chapter, the Red and Black got off to a fine start with the help of only two singles by Kelly and Joyce, the rest of the assistance being provided by walks, Thayer errors and efiicient use of the squeeze play technique. Even in the second chap- ter Thayer had not shaken off the jitters, for we racked up two more scores without the semblance of a hit, Welch's wildness and infield miscues being chiefly responsible for our tallies. No further scoring was done by either team until the fifth, when the Braintree nine took advantage of Andy's wildness to score three runs on one hit, ,To return this favor, the visitors handed us two more markers in the seventh, Frank Hen- nessy's single being our only offensive blow, while errors and stolen bases were the main contributing factors. Unable to find the plate in the ninth, Andy forced in two runs and had to be relieved by McNabb who came in with the bases loaded and disposed of Merna and Killoran via the strikeout route. Although the game was marred by ragged play at times, the box score revealed that we had pounded out nine safeties, with everyone of our starting team delivering except Brooksie, although Bob Joyce made up for that lack by singling twice. Despite his wildness, Andy was effective until late in the game and his 12 K's against such opposition proved that his southpaw slants were puzzling. Our victory over Thayer served to heighten interest in our next game, the first athletic contest ever played between St. Sebastian's and Governor Dummer. Even though the South Byfield team did not boast as impressive a record as Thayer, it had only been defeated once in two years and that reverse had come at the hands of the Braintree team in 1947. In some respects, therefore, this game assumed the proportions of a. mythical private school championship affair and it was magnetic enough to attract the presence of four major league scouts who came to compare the mound work of our Bob McNabb with the hurling finesse of Dummer's Fritz Freeman. The visiting star had all the best of it in the first inning for he whiffed the first three men to face him, while Mac was victimized by an infield error that he accentuated by two wild pitches to give our rivals an unearned run. That we averted further trouble in the second was due in no small part to a beautiful, diving back-hand stab of Heath's drive by Bob Kelly and, encouraged by that, St. Sebastians came back in their half to take over the lead, Successive singles by Henry Lane and Bill Gibbons launched the attack, and although Freeman bore down to whiff Joyce and McNabb, Lane scored on a passed ball, while Gibby ambled home when Bill Brooks drove out a line drive double to right center. In the third, McNabb fanned the first two men to face him, and then suffered a temporary ascension during which he walked two and hit a third, However, with the bases loaded, he breezed a third strike by the giant first sacker, Heath, to end the inning. When Samborski doubled to open the fourth, the tension mounted again, but Jennings hit back to McNabb who threw out the catcher at third, so that Canepa's Texas Leaguer that followed did no damage. St, Sebastian rooters had a chance to cheer when 4 I-I me 1-1