Nine to Fly 2 Milk Runs As Regular Season Ends

With Harvard already the winner of the mythical Bike trophy for excellence in the Boston area, today's Greater Boston League game with Brandeis doesn't mean much. Since the record for the most wins in a season has already been broken, Saturday's game with non-league Springfield won't have much signifigance either.

The most the Crimson nine can get out of the season's final two contests is the pride of having won 15 straight games and upping the squad's record to a hefty 33-2, and a little practice before heading into the NCAA District I playoffs at the end of the month.

Crimson mentor Loyal Park and pitching coach Bob Lincoln will see to it that as many pitchers as possible get some work this weekend before the week-long exam layoff. "We'll try to get as many kids ready as we can," Park said yesterday. He's going to start with Roz Brayton against Brandeis.

After Brayton, it's all up in the air as to who else will pitch and in what order. Park and Lincoln will make a decision on that this afternoon. But no matter what, just about everyone will get a shot at hurling against the weak Judges and the unknown Chiefs.

Brandeis is a former victim of the streaking Crimson. The Judges lost a tight one on the 2nd of May by a 3-2 count. This was certainly no indication of either Brandeis's greatness nor Harvard's poorness. It's just hard to get psyched for every game and especially difficult when you're facing non-Eastern League competition.

Springfield, Saturday's opponent, remains untested. Park, however, has scouted the squad, watching them get mauled by Northeastern yesterday. The Crimson, by comparison, whipped the Huskies 9-5 earlier in the season. Park wasn't impressed by the comparative scores. "They're [Springfield] really not a bad team. They threw their number four pitcher against Northeastern, we're gonna get their best," he said.

These will be the last two regular season games for the outstanding group of seniors who have compiled an incredible 88-19 record over the last three years. This year is also the third straight Eastern League championship for the Crimson. It is only the second time in the 40 years of the league that a team has won the title three seasons in a row. Not bad for the veteran crew.

Finally, Park reported yesterday that the two injured Crimson stars, Ric LaCivita and Don Driscoll, should be returning next week. Jim Thomas will play the second base bag this weekend while LaCivita rests for the playoffs, and Driscoll will work out next week to regain the form that made him one of the top pitchers in the East. Things couldn't be looking better.