BASEBALL
Readers of this family column need not be reminded that it is the season of the great lull in athletics on the Hanover plain, when the winter sports are over and the spring sports have not yet begun. You will be reading this communique on or about the first of May, when baseball, lacrosse, track, tennis, and crew will be well under way, but there is not much to report at the moment except prospects. All of the teams had spring trips, of varied lengths, and we can give you only a brief resume of how things look after these trips have ended.
The baseball team had a jaunt of unprecedented activity and variety, in the course of which they played 11 games in the Middle South. Inasmuch as these spring contests are not played for keeps and are intended merely as conditioners, we shall not burden you with more than the fact that Dartmouth won three and lost eight contests. Suffice it to say that these games gave Coach Jeremiah a chance to look over his charges under battle conditions, so that the team has fairly well jelled as we write. The most newsworthy event of the trip was an unhappy one; namely, the injury to Captain Roger Frechette, who broke his ankle in a game with Norfolk Air Station and will be sidelined for the season. The doughty catcher will be sorely missed, for he is a spirited competitor and an able leader.
Behind the bat, the team will shape up with sophomore Dick Brown and junior John Boardman battling it out for the spot vacated by Frechette. Dick Brown is the boy who did most of the punting for Coach McLaughry's eleven last fall and is also a promising receiver. John Boardman is an excellent skier and performed for Coach Walter Prager this winter. Hence both leading contenders double in brass off the diamond.
On the mound, the colorful veteran Emil I-ludak is currently bothered with the misery in his pitching arm. This interferes with his throwing overhand, so that he is not in shape to start the season on the hill. Other leading candidates for the all-important hurling assignments are Frank Logan, Roland Barker, and John Sutton. As our readers well know, the league race is often won or lost with one outstanding pitcher and one or two others who can take up the slack in critical times. Whether or not this sterling performer is on hand this spring, only the next couple of weeks can tell.
The infield is the spot giving Coach Jeremiah the least worry. At first, a heavy sticker is present in the person of Ev Parker, who banged out three home runs on the spring trip. The veteran Bud Bray has been shifted from short to second and should have his best year at the new position. Ray Lindquist at shortstop broke into the lineup last spring as a sophomore and is one of the best infielders to wear the Green in years. At third base, the veteran Bill Ferguson is starting his third season, but he is heavily pressed by the brilliant sophomore Jackie Hart, who may beat him out before the season is over. Offensively and defensively, therefore, the infield is shaping up very well.
The outfield looks good on paper, but the boys in the outer garden have not been exactly lethal with the willow so far. In left is the veteran Joe Dey, a ballplayers' ball player, who looks quietly stylish in everything he does. In center is sophomore Jim Churchill and in right is another veteran, Whit Williams. The latter had to leave the spring trip because of a bad case of poison ivy, so his current status is somewhat in doubt. Coach Jeremiah is considering bolstering the hitting department by letting big Emil Hudak roam around in the outfield and in this way capitalize upon his powerful work at the plate, even though he can't throw his swift one from the mound as yet.
THIS CRACK INFIELD Is expected to be one of Dartmouth's big assets in the Ivy League baseball race this spring Left to right J Bill Ferguson '5O of New Haven, third base; Ray Lindqu st '5l of University Heights O shortstop; Buddy Bray '5O of Glencoe, 111., second base; Ev Parker 52 of Bath, Me (son of John Parker '29), first base; and Coach Eddie Jeremiah '3O. Lindquist, during the 11-game southern trip, stole 12 bases, including three steals home, while Parker hit three homers.
