Harvard Baseball Team Takes Twelve

Harvard's hardball heroes set up camp at the Montreal Expos training facilities in Daytona, Fla., and took on all comers. First Milligan College for a doubleheader, then Morehouse for four, Embry Riddle and Flager for variety and wrapping it up with a four-game series with Niagara.

The Crimson won all twelve games it played in Daytona, and while those colleges might not have been the southern baseball powers, the victories help pad Harvard's intercollegiate record.

But Harvard coach Loyal Park was not even thinking of those wins when he got back to Cambridge last weekend, because according to Park, that is not what the spring trips are for. "We went to Florida to get a look at everybody, and so we won't make those mental mistakes," Park said.

And while Park could not recall all of the games in Florida, he did remember the performances of his individual players.

"We were really hurt by the hockey injuries of Leigh Hogan and Jimmy Thomas," Park said. "Hogan didn't play at all and Thomas only played for the last four days. With those two out, we couldn't make the moves that you usually do in the spring. It slowed down our development."

With 12 wins, though, things couldn't be quite as bleak as Park depicted. "Yes, there were positive points," he said. "Tommy Joyce, our sophomore outfielder, and Mark Lineham [junior pitcher] played real well. It also looks like we're going to have a hitting ball club this year."

And. looking at some of the Florida scores, it certainly appears that way. While Harvard up against Milligan (4-2, 5-1), the diamondmen (8-1, 5-3, 11-3, 6-0). The brief interlude with Flagler and Embry Riddle was not much of a problem (6-4, 6-5), and it was Niagara that took the full brunt of the Crimson bats (14-10, 11-2, 10-4, 3-1).

Big Bats

Leon Goetz, who played first base in place of the ailing Hogan, Joe Sciolla, and Joyce carried the big bats for Harvard.

Goetz returned from the Daytona with an impressive .483 batting average. In the Crimson's second game with Niagara, Sciolla belted two homers and tagged two doubles in five trips to the plate, Joyce, playing in the outfield along with Sciolla, carded a .448 batting mark as he hit safely 13 times in 29 chances.

Another bright spot was the Harvard pitching. The twelve-game schedule allowed Park and pitching coach Norr Walsh a chance to check out the Harvard staff, all of which performed well.

While the Crimson did get a chance to play the Montreal Expos' AA team, most of the action was just five of six inning stretches, according to Park.

Harvard opens its frostbite schedule this afternoon at Soldiers' Field with Tufts under chilly gray skies. Milt Holt will be on the mound.