Spring Sports
The Dartmouth varsity baseball nine wound up its season in something less than a blaze of glory as it dropped four out of the last five contests. The Big Green defeated Boston University 11-3, but then went on to lose to Amherst 3-0, Colby 6-5, Equitable Life 5-4 and the University of Vermont 5-0. Both the Colby and Equitable contests went into extra innings before the Big Green finally yielded, but a combination of generally undependable pitching and failure to hit in the clutches teas the main reason for the generally poor showing in the recent games.
Bob McGrath, brilliant second baseman and next year's captain, led the Dartmouth team in hitting with a .363 average, followed closely by catcher Buzz D'Avananzo with .360. Sophomore outfielder John Stoughton had a respectable .340 average with third baseman Larry Blades next with a .234 average and the rest of the team trailing. Extra-base hits were rather rare with Doug Melville, another sophomore outfielder, hitting three triples during the season, while catcher Buzz D'Avananzo led the doubles department with 14, followed by McGrath with 11 and first baseman Bill Beck with 10.
In the pitching department, veteran southpaw Dick Major led the Dartmouth mound staff with a 2-2 record in 41 innings pitched and an earned-run average of 1.10. Bruce Maclvor was next with an ERA of 1.48 in 24 innings (2 wins, 1 loss), while Captain Pete Mackinnon had a 2.68 ERA in 40 innings and a 2-1 record.
The season's record for the Dartmouth baseball team (exclusive of the spring trip) shows eight wins against eight losses, and fourth place in the Eastern Intercollegiate League with a 5-3 record. Coach Bob Shawkey had hoped for a better season, but the hurling problem and lack of hitting power were just too much of a prob- lem. With a team largely composed of juniors and sophomores and some help expected from the current freshman team it is safe to predict that next year's team will be better.
In lacrosse Coach Tom Dent's squad has played two contests since the last report, defeating Williams by a close 8-7 count, but going down to an 18-2 defeat at the hands of a strong Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute team. The contest with Williams was largely a defensive game throughout, with attackman Dick Gates scoring three goals to lead the Big Green attack. At R.P.I., the Engineers, who were co-champions in 1952, proved just too tough for Dartmouth and had little difficulty rolling up an impressive score. It was a disappointing end to a season which had otherwise been good, with five wins against only two defeats in regular play.
The top team on the spring record books was Tom Keane's varsity golf squad. The Big Green golfers wound up their season in fine fashion defeating both Boston University and Springfield by identical scores of 81/2 to 1/2 to run their victory skein to eight straight matches. Led by Captain Ward Hamm, the Big Green have displayed an unusually steady brand of play throughout the season and it is just too bad that the Intercollegiate Golf Tournament was played in early-May before the Dartmouth golfers had hit their stride.
The other two Dartmouth varsity teams, track and tennis, had both closed out their seasons when last month's MAGAZINE went to press. Tennis, unfortunately, had one of its worst seasons in recent years with only one victory in eight matches, while track had a 1-1 record in dual competition and a cumulative winter-spring record of four wins and five defeats in dual competition. In summary, then, the baseball team had an 8-8 record, lacrosse 5-2, golf 7-1, tennis 1-7, track 1-1 for a total for all varsity spring sports of 22 wins against 19 losses, which is just about the same sort of team record turned in by the fall and winter squads at Dartmouth. As we've noted before for the fall and winter sports, the general picture is one of rebuilding, and spring sports, like the others, must wait until next year for improvement. It seems safe to venture the general observation that this year will go down as one of the poorest in Dartmouth sports. Just how big an improvement will be made next year is difficult to estimate, but it will be an improvement. And speaking of next year, it is time to turn our attention briefly to the football scene and a preview of how the Big Green gridiron warriors will shape up next fall.
BASEBALL CAPTAIN: Bob McGrath '54 of Laconia, N. H., second baseman and leading Dartmouth hitter this season with a .363 average, who was elected to captain the Big Green nine next spring.
