Stratford High School - Mnemosyne Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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PE F I wma . '2 , - , ' 1 4 4- x V X p -in J -4.-A 21 V -. , f -.n-xg, -5 tx . p 'V . 1 ... oz 4 . , .W , 3. A 1 , J ,'fQ,,..'f.?x1 , . ac. V:::.!,?fw',g5 , ,,.. - - -'zip-Q-I in ff -.1 . ' , oe -'-5'2o-- ' . .. -gawv-V .ff, 'r'.a, fer- -a - if .-4--C--4.--t A H ,.. . . '- gffonz-pc.. , ,Q I h M :U ,. t.-'5L'f 1' g .4-,w-v---Q.,-t., 1 ' , -- ping off the plate, Senior David Stu- prepares to throw the ball to the her during an afternoon practice. he highlight of he season was winning the Orange Tournament' eling to Beaumont, the team ed Port Arthur, Forest Park, Orange jasper, to win 16-4, , and 14-1 respectively. ause of the Orange Tourna- t victory, Senior Greg Koch , away games were a lot bet- A 2-5 loss to Robert E. Lee cluded pre-district play. he situation looked promising he team carried a 12-2 record district competition. The 15- mber team, composed of 9 iors, 5 juniors, and one soph- re started district with a 5-0 ory over the Memorial Mus- S. I' Lili-S! if -- 5 - t 11 P w f v x it ' V . v U 1 1. r T. a.,.t.,Ifm'.f 'WT '. tQiF:5dvm,,,3,5.Qf ia. ' . Q- ..-is-is vm. Senior Bubba Mattinson catches the ball at practice after school, as Senior David Stukalin looks on. Stukalin was chosen as the Most Improved player. Coach French considered bat- ting to be the Spartans' strength, and cited Seniors Craig james, Greg Koch, Bubba Mattinson, David Stukalin, and Brad New as the strongest swingers. The team fell into a batting slump near the start of district that they never really shook. Batting really was better at the beginning of the year, confirmed Greg. We lost to Westchester, 4-5, on a very controversial call, stated Coach French. From then on, things were shaky. He explained, We were a big part of the Orange Tournament, but after the loss to Westchester, we never had a string of consecutive wins. The combination of a batting slump, weak pitching, adequate fielding and a controversial call in the first Westchester game proved too much for the Spar- tans. They ended the season with a 2-6 loss to Spring Woods, and an even 7-7 district record. Four members of the team were elected to the All-District Team. These players were Seniors GHS- 'Aw' K 'I 3, 'i wggi vp' 5 as , , , . its me 'aka s 1-fm' ., One of 5 Iuniors on the varsity team, Craig Sing ey waits for his turn at bat against Memorial, in the first of 2 meet- ings between the teams. . ,L 1-1 uc '- gf i . ' , -rf -if A ,. W .gay-ffg 1 walk X 'N ,aww-pf:-: -, ' 'iff x - ' tus' -5 ' w ' . v , AA varsity lmasvhall 141

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eading 0 I first Firing the ball to a Memorial batter, ior Craig james tries his hand at ing. Usually a first baseman, james the Spartans over Memorial, 5-0. I n a sport where pitching is name of the game, the baseball team was picked in ' season polls to finish 7th in trict competition k according to Coach Bob Our pitching was weak. 5' 1' Despite this preseason N-an mism, the varsity finished J 4gf'51,s5 ,2 season with a record of 19-9 , C a 4th place standing in dis fgiffff Starting the season with a ,. ve ' 1 S ' against Northshoreinthe Tournament, the Spartans up 12 consecutive wins in district play. It began to look the Spartans would domin baseball as well as football. The highlight of the was winning the Orange T ment for the second con year, reported Coach F All District Team Member, Senior Koch, stands ready for the next Greg was 1 of 4 seniors chosen All District team. 140 varsity baseball 2 i

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reaki even - f 1 rw H, :rw M Fe.-.1 i MQI1-I .rig-E., rbi, I'- YW' asc-- -... , , V -'fwxg .,.,a,,,rr, Craig james, David Stukalin, Greg Koch and Brad New. Being the only sophomore on a varsity team would pose prob- 'Our main problem was inconsistency. ' lems for some, but not for Sopho- more Chris Larkin. He explained. To be a sophomore was easy because Bubba, Brad and Craig were all sophomores fon varsity two years agol and they know what it was like to be a sopho- more among all seniors. The Spartans finished the sea- son with a respectable 19-9 record, and according to Coach French, Our main problem was inconsistency. We couIdn't field or pitch when we needed to. 142 varsity baseball '-f-1'1 '- Connecting for a line drive up the mid- Senior -Craig james shows his dle, Senior Brad New gets one of many swing in a game against hits off the Memorial pitching staff, in a Spartans beat Waltrip twice during 12-7 Spartan victory. season, 61 and 5-4.