With Big Green Teams
Baseball, Track and Lacrosse Prime for Spring Schedules; Dartmouth Basketball Team Drops NCAA Final to Utah
Our guest Sports Editor this month is Charles B. (Hafey) Arthur '34, hockey coach and assistant to Director of Athletics William H. McCarter '19.
FOR THE 26TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR the Dartmouth baseball team is preparing for its opening game under the discerning eye of Coach Jeff Tesreau. The season will open officially at West Point on April 29 with an Army team which is. exceptionally well fortified with baseball talent this year.
The 1944 spring schedule, with four double-headers listed, will place a severe strain on the Big Green pitching department. The usual difficulty in uncovering two capable starting pitchers for Eastern Intercollegiate League competition is augmented this season by the minimum of previous acquaintance Tesreau has had with his hurling hopefuls. Carl Meurn, who was ineligible for participation last summer, is the leading candidate for starting honors. Southpaw Wilfred Rinkor, a gigantic trainee who has seen previous service with Seton Hall and St. John's, is counted on to furnish valuable aid. There are several other candidates who are in line for mound duty but it is too early for prognostications about their possibilities.
Coach Tesreau seems to be well supplied with catching talent. Joe Quig, Dartmouth's regular receiver of last spring, is available for duty, although his hitting ability may make it advisable to shift him to the outfield. Other capable candidates for backstop service are Bill Sutphen, former Columbia catcher; Hal Clayton, the husky youngster who saw service in the Big Green backfield last autumn; and Fred Barry, a transfer from Bates College.
Jack Sayers and Walt Snickenberger, who have seen previous action in the Big Green baseball wars, are leading in the contest for starting infield positions. Sayers is again displaying his artistry around firstbase and Snickenberger, assigned previously to utility roles, is at present playing shortstop in the first infield group. Chuck Sweeney, who played first-base on the summer nine which represented Dartmouth, will give Sayers a battle for the first-base job and there is a definite possibility that Jack may be shifted to the outfield to augment the offensive punch of the team. Art Young, a Springfield College transfer, seems to have the hot corner clinched, and Bob Delano from Bates looks like the best of the second basemen.
The limitations imposed by the cage on Coach Tesreau's outfield selections makes any forecast difficult. Jim Kilgallon, formerly of Indiana, and Vin Destifino have had experience in outfield play which will guarantee them serious consideration.
The schedule is as follows: April 29 Army at West Point May 6 Yale at New Haven 13 Princeton (DH) at Hanover 20 Cornell (DH) at Ithaca 27 Williams at Hanover June 3 Columbia (DH) at New York 10 Pennsylvania (DH) at Hanover
EARLY-SPRING LOCALE for baseball practice is the indoor cage in the gym, where Jeff Tesreau's squad worked out for the opener with Army on April 29. Fred Barry, Marine trainee, is shown at bat, with Hal Clayton '47, leading catcher, behind the plate.
