Crimson Edges Northeastern, 4-3; Rossano Retires 13 in Relief Role

Varsity pitcher Ken Rossano relieved Bob Kessler with two out in the fifth inning and retired the 12 men he subsequently faced to win a 4-3 decision for the Crimson over Northeastern yesterday at Brookline.

Rossano struck out four and allowed only two Huskies to smack the ball out of the infield. The varsity's winning run was scored when Matt Botsford singled Don Butters home from second in the seventh inning.

The victory was the Crimson's fifth straight in Greater Boston Baseball League play, and brought it very close to the title, Boston College is the only other unbeaten team in the League, and a win over the Eagles a week from today would virtually assure them of the championship. B.C. has compiled a 2-0 record thus far.

Butters Connects

The Crimson scored first yesterday when Butters smashed an outside pitch for a 820-foot home run in the second inning. It was his fourth of the season. But Northeastern came back with a run in their half when Angelo Toylas tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly.

Botsford scored the Crimson's second run in the fourth after reaching first on an error by Northeastern shortstop Clyde DeWolfe. Bill Chauncey moved him along to third with a single to left, and he scored when DeWolfe fumbled George MacDonald's grounder.

Botsford scored John Simourian from second with a line single to center in the fifth to put the winners ahead 3 to 1, but Northeastern retaliated in their half again with two runs to tie the score. They only made one hit off Kessler, but he walked four before Rossano put out the fire.

Sharp Crimson fielding kept the scoring down in the first and third innings. In the first, centerfielder Chauncey made a running backhand grab of a liner to right center.

The Harvard summary:   ab  r  h  po  a  e Hoffman, lf  4  0  3  0  0  0 Simourian, 1b  5  1  0  7  1  0 Cleary, ss  4  0  0  3  3  0 Butters, 3b  5  2  3  2  1  0 Botsford, rf  5  1  2  5  0  0 Chauncey, cf  4  0  2  2  0  0 Hastings, 2b  4  0  0  2  3  0 MacDonald, c  4  0  1  6  0  0 Kessler, p  2  0  0  0  1  0 Rossano, p  2  0  0  0  1  0 Totals  39  4  11  27  10  0