Willi the Big Green Teams
BEYOND any doubt, the pitching staff on this year's varsity baseball team deserves a great deal of credit for the team's surprising success to date. Though few in number, the Big Green hurlers have proven that they have both the talent and determination to forge a winning season. Faced with a long and concentrated schedule, with brief respite to regroup forces, Coach Tony Lupien has turned a sturdy group of baseball players into a winning team.
Returning from the South with a 4-7 record, the Indians' 1968 diamond season looked less than bright, for several very obvious reasons. As a team the hitting had been poor, and there were too few experienced pitchers to make up for this type of deficiency. Two regular season opening games which the Green split settled little in the minds of coach or players; the test still lay in the future.
When the team moved into its heavy schedule, everything began to mesh. Gene Ryzewicz, Captain Bob Thomas, junior Terry Light, and soph Bruce Saylor began to hit. Dolph Highmark held opponents at bay with a brave pitching effort, and sophomore lefthander Greg Pickering came on very strong and very fast. The combination proved to mean good things for the Indians. Highmark led the club to an easy 8-1 victory over Williams, with Saylor supplying the hitting, including an impressive 400-foot homer to right. On Friday of the same week the Green faced St. Michael's, prior to a Saturday date with surging Pennsylvania. Five home runs on Friday swept the team to a 15-0 rout, as swift second baseman Gene Ryzewicz added two stolen bases to bring his total up to 14 for 16 games. Against Penn the Indians settled in for a real test, as the Quakers had been highly successful against other league foes in earlier action. Coach Lupien need not have worried, however, as Highmark pitched his second victory of the week, 6-1. Light and Thomas both homered to provide solid support for the pitching.
Next to fall before the rapidly maturing Big Green nine was a determined Amherst squad. Jumping off to an early lead, the Lord Jeffs went down fighting, 9-7, as Indian sophomore Jon Nistad turned in a superb one-hit seven-inning relief performance. Outfielder Light ended the last Amherst threat, with a precise throw to the plate to close out a bases-loaded third frame, after taking a long sacrifice fly. Dartmouth started off quickly at Brown, but Bruin catcher Dan Stewart uncorked a high home run with two on to tie the game 3-3 in the fourth. Thomas nudged the Green out in front again in the sixth with a solo homer to right, sparking a Dartmouth rally which saw three more runs cross the plate in the inning. From there it was Dartmouth right into the ninth when the Bruins mounted a final threat by scoring two runs. Pickering came on in relief and shut the door with the score at 8-6.
The Big Green leaped briefly into the E.I.B.L. lead with a 8-2 drubbing of Princeton. Saylor, who had a double and a pair of singles against Brown, moved his batting average to .436 with another pair of hits against the Tigers. Greg Pickering earned the victory, keeping the Orange and Black scoreless until the bottom of the eighth.
All good things, or so it seems, come to an end. So it was with the Indians when they ran up against a streaking Harvard club out to capture the league title. Hurler Gary Peters baffled Dartmouth sluggers, taking a 17-3 victory back to the Yard as Harvard bats spoke loud and often. Ryzewicz was on to Peters, however, as he notched a homer, a double, and a single for the Green. Soph Bud Dagirmanjian smashed a long fly in the fifth which nearly put the Indians back in the game. Harvard out- fielder Carter Lord made an impossible catch to stop a likely rally. The loss dropped Dartmouth to 4-1 in the E.I.B.L., one game back of Harvard. Apparently untracked, the Green dropped their next contest to an average Yale team, which had a fine day at the Indians' expense, 10-2. Terry Light re- turned the first Eli pitch for a home run, and it looked like a bright afternoon for the Big Green. From there on, however, the Bulldogs out-pitched and out-hit the Indians very effectively.
Dartmouth returned to its winning ways, when righthander Glenn Culbertson hurled a 2-0 shutout against Columbia. ]Striking out nine through nine innings of play, Culbertson came on strong for the Indians. Against New Hampshire, Light blasted a two-run homer to put the Green ahead 3-2 in the seventh. Thomas followed suit with his fifth homer, in the eighth, to give the Indians their winning 4-2 margin.
Back in league action, soph Pickering continued to demonstrate that the switch from Pea Green to Big Green ball was to his liking. Last spring he was undefeated on the frosh mound. Giving up only five hits, Greg worked the full nine innings for a 4-0 shutout over Cornell's Big Red. Don Bigda slashed three hits, one a homer, with hurler Pickering claiming two. Finishing up their E.I.B.L. schedule, the Big Green outlasted Army for a 3-2 victory in 18 frames. The Cadets scored first, in the first and seventh, but Saylor lofted a two-run homer in the Dartmouth side of the seventh to tie things up. Culbertson remained on the mound through the seventh when Pickering took over. Senior Highmark moved in at the 11-inning mark to keep the Cadets in line. Both teams played errorless ball, with Bruce Saylor scoring the winning run from third on a wild Army pitch.
Having proven that they can take the pressure, Indian pitchers must still stand the strain of the last hectic weeks of the season. Middlebury is followed by home and away dates with Holy Cross, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Springfield. At this point the Big Green has far exceeded pre-season expectations, and there is every reason to believe that they will continue their fine play.
Veterans Gene Ryzewicz '68 at secondand Captain Bob Thomas '68 at first aretwo strong spots in the Big Green infield.Among numerous awards at Wet Down,Ryzewicz was voted the 1968 Barrett Cup.
