Crimson Batmen Appear Strong Again

How can a team that lost an Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League batting champion, the best righthanded pitcher in the EIBL and a hard-hitting outfielder who kept putting the ball over the fence at the most convenient times, expect, or even hope, to repeat last year's string of victories leading to an Eastern crown and a regional title? But that is exactly what coach Loyal Park's 1974 Harvard baseball teams expects to do.

Last spring, the Crimson batmen charged to a 34-3 regular season record behind the hitting of Kevin Hampe, the pitching of Roz Brayton and the slugging of Hal Smith. This year, Park has to fill these mighty large holes in the lineup to hope to duplicate the 1973 success story.

"Our biggest problem this year," Harvard pitching coach Bob Lincoln said, "is to find a number one stopper and a number four starter. We've got to find that one man we can count on to go out on any given day and win for us. And we have to find a fourth man in our starting rotation."

Big Feet

The "number one stopper" will be filling in the oversized shoes left by Roz Brayton, first team All-East two years in a row for the Crimson and now in the Boston Red Sox organization.

Prime candidates for that mythical position are lettermen Mike O'Malley, Don Driscoll and Milt Holt. O'Malley, All-GBL last year, sported a perfect 6-0 record with a brilliant .054 ERA, the third lowest in the nation.

Driscoll opened the '73 season with a sterling arm, but was injured mid-way through the season and only resumed work-outs during the week of the regional playoffs. A strong return to form by Driscoll could go a long way to improving the Crimson title chances.

Holt, the only southpaw among the three starters, turned in some fine performances especially towards the end of last spring.

Very important in Harvard considerations is ace reliever Norm Walsh. A righthander, Walsh was called upon again and again in the 1973 title stretch to secure vital wins for the Crimson.

Lincoln will have to decide among a host of possibles to fill in the rest of the pitching staff. Terry Schlimbaum, a lefty, Steve Kitchen, a righthander, Frank LeBlanc, another righthander, Jim Harold and Tom Pura, two lefties, are among the leading candidates for positions.

Also in contention are southpaws Keith Butler and sophomore Bob Larsen along with righthander Nils Nilson, a junior.

Depth and Consistency

"Let's face it," Park said, "in this league it is pitching that wins or loses games for you. We are concerned with the depth of our pitching and its consistency."

"Our problems right now are trying to gain this pitching depth," Park said, "and to determine the number one catcher."

"Talking about pitching, we won those last three titles on the pitching," Park said. "We had someone like Brayton we could call on for the big games. The season before that, we lost by one game, and you guessed it, it was the pitching that did us in."

The heart of the Crimson's defense this spring will be the strong infield which is returning intact from last year's championship squad.

Defensive Strength

"Our real strength this year will be our defensive infield. We have everyone back from the unit that worked so well together last year," Park said.

Holding down the first base spot for Harvard again this year will be the duo of senior Joe Mackey and junior Leigh Hogan. Hogan sported a .308 season Eastern League average as the pair shared the duties last year.

Senior Ric LaCivita, All-Greater Boston League in 1973, is pegged for the second base position this spring. Second team All-East Ed Durso will be a shortstop and senior Jim Stoeckel will cover the hot spot at third.

Durso slashed out hits last year at a rate of .395, second in the league behind teammate Hampe. Stoeckel was voted first team All-EIBL in '73 behind his slick glove work and a .335 bat (fourth in the league).

On the Outfield Track

The outfield is still a little bit of a question mark for Park with four contenders for three spots. Returning veterans Jimmy Thomas and Dave St. Pierre appear to have the leading track for starting positions with junior switch-hitter Scott Adzik and sophomore Leon Goetz in contention for the remaining spot.

The receiving end of the battery will be held down by Dan Williams and John Friar. Williams saw back-up action last year behind Rich Bridich, while Friar sat out the year with a leg injury from football.

"We have the potential for two real strong catchers this year," Park said. "Williams and Friar are both big and strong and have good arms."

Flying South

The Crimson outfielders will get their chance to chase some real fly balls instead of just grounders and the pitching corps will have its first real test as the team moves from Briggs Cage to the warm playing fields of the sunny South over spring vacation.

"This year we are going to change our plans somewhat," Park said. "We're going to Atlanta first and play a few with Georgia Tech and then go on down to Daytona Beach where we were last year."

The Harvard baseball team traveled to Florida last year and came back with a sterling 13-0 record that left half of the coaches in this area amazed and the other half skeptical.

"13-0, that's a joke," Penn coach Bob Seddon said just before his team surprised Harvard, 3-2, in its first game after returning. "Harvard will be hearing a lot about that during the year," Seddon figured.

What many of the northeastern coaches did not really remember is that all of the southern schools begin their seasons the first week of March.

By the time the Harvard squad gets to warmer climates, all of those teams will have played as many as 10 or 12 games. That is quite a contrast from the Harvard players who have only donned gloves and carried bats within the cozy confines of Briggs Cage.

Playing the Field

One advantage that the Crimson batmen have over much of their northern competition, though, is that their season begins immediately after they get back from the South. Columbia, for example, charges south in the middle of March for two weeks only to have to return to indoor practices for two more weeks before the season begins. The Crimson, however, can go from playing field to playing field.

Eastern League outlook calls for a tight race again this year. Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Cornell and Brown as well as defending champion Harvard, all look to be in the thick of the battle come the middle of May.

"Penn has to be favored," Park said. "They have their whole team back this year." The Quaker veterans are led by one of the finest pitchers in the East in Andy Muhlstock.

Muhlstock recorded nine wins last year against two losses with a sizzling ERA of 1.69. He was the EIBL's leading winner and he pitched the most innings. He also posted a .344 batting average.

Cornell brought in a whopping 19 junior college transfers for this season and on that fact alone looks to be strong. It was on a road trip to Cornell and Army last year that Harvard won the title, but it will take a very strong performance to repeat that sweep this year.

Strong Arms at Brown

Brown is returning a veteran ball club led by junior shortstop sensation Bill Almon and outfielders Mike Cirullo and Ted Schoff. Almon was a first team All-East in 1973 beating out heavy hitting Crimson shortstop Durso for the spot. Cirullo and Schoff garnered positions on the second team All-EIBL behind their strong arms and impressive hitting.

Dartmouth will probably be right up there with the leaders in May. Traditionally a strong finishing club, the Green won 12 of their last 14 games last spring. Dartmouth had the best fielding average (.963) in the East last season.

Locally, the Northeastern and Providence squads appear to be strong. Both clubs made their way to the NCAA Region I playoffs held in Fenway Park last year and both have the capability to do it again.

Providence relies on solid pitching while Northeastern is one of the best hitting clubs in the area. In 1973, they had six men with season averages over .300.

The final standing in the Eastern League last year found Harvard ahead of Penn by a game and a half. Yale was three games behind Harvard's 11-2 pace-setting mark, and Cornell was three-and-a-half games back.

In the Greater Boston League, Harvard finished with a 6-1 record ahead of Northeastern's 5-2 mark in a race that narrowed down between the two teams in the final week of the season.

The Confidence Game

"I think this is probably a reconstructing year for us," Park said. "You know, I sure don't want to call it a rebuilding year--that is just what coaches say when they think they are going to have a losing year and they want excuses early--but we can't get too confident until we prove ourselves."

"Like I said, the potential is there, if we can just bring it out and all work together, we'll go a long way," Park said.