BASEBALL

There's a bronze tablet near the fence surrounding Red Rolfe Field that honors the memory of Jeff Tesreau, the man who coached Dartmouth baseball from 1919-46. It includes the inscription, "All he ever asked was his share of the close ones."

That's all Tony Lupien wanted for his Dartmouth team this spring but until the final two weeks of the season it didn't look like he'd be so fortunate. Then things turned around. The Green won 10 of their final 12 games, including a string of eight straight. In the process, Lupien's team won three times by one run and twice by two.

The closing surge brought the final record to 15-21-1, the first losing record for Dartmouth's baseball team since 1961, but a significant improvement over the 5-18-1 mark the Green carried into the first week of May.

After beating Army and sweeping a doubleheader from Cornell that knocked the Big Red from contention for the Eastern League title, the Green overtook New Hampshire (3-2), swept a doubleheader from Springfield (3-0, 1-0) and wrapped up the season by taking three of five games from Brown in a late May finale.

Sophomore Kevin Kelley from Manchester, Mass., came into his own in the late stages. The righthander posted a pair of shutouts en route to a 3-2 record and a 2.58 earned-run average. He had to share the spotlight with Captain Jim Metzler from Lake Worth, Fla., who regained his form in the final weeks to post a 7-5 record. In three seasons, Metzler produced a career record of 16-6.

Metzler's performance has earned him a crack at professional baseball. He's signed with the Boston Red Sox and is working with Elmira in the Penn-New York League.

Dave Highmark, who was 0-2 this spring and has been plagued for two seasons with control problems (he walked 30 men in 10 innings this spring), has also joined the pros. The strong lefthander is now working in the Baltimore Orioles farm system.

Among the hitters the kudos go to sophomore Glenn Reed who came on rapidly as a pinchhitter and part-time outfielder to hit .474 in 13 games. He's joined by Bob Whelan, the captain-elect from Darien, Conn., who hit .306 and was the team leader in five batting departments, including runs batted in (17), doubles, triples, and total bases.

The people who proved to be the heart of this comeback team included third baseman Todd Keiller from North Haledon, N.J., who won the Cooke Trophy for overall contribution (he hit .271), shortstop Bill Deevy, and second baseman Mark Ditmar, plus catcher Tim McDonough.

"They've been a fine group of men," said Lupien. "They had their tough luck but stuck together and in the end things paid off for them."

The freshman heavyweight crew brought Dartmouth its first Eastern Sprint championshipand placed third in the national intercollegiate regatta.