Sour End to Sad Season: N.U. Nails Harvard Nine

A long and miserable year finally came to an end for the Harvard varsity baseball team yesterday. Playing at Northeastern, the Crimson nine capped its uninspired 5-16 season up North with an equally dull 4-2 loss to the Huskies.

The Crimson, officially 17-18 (.486) for the season, sent its ace pitcher Larry Brown to the mound in the season finale, and staked the freshman to a one-run lead in the top of the second.

Paul Halas provided the early spark, drawing a walk and moving to third on a single by Tommy Joyce. Petter Bannish then contributed a sacrifice fly, and Harvard cruised into a 1-0 edge.

Keeping with Tradition

In keeping with a season's worth of tradition, Harvard promptly dropped behind in the third, the victim of a two-out Huskie rally. A catchable pop fly got things rolling for the home team, falling into right field for a double. A single, one stolen base, and another single followed, and the Crimson saw its last lead of the season vanish.

The Huskies padded their 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth, graced by a few more minor lapses in the Crimson defensive corps. A walk issued by Brown was followed by a single, and the run scampered home on the next play, when Harvard shortstop Halas couldn't get the ball out of his glove for the relay to first on a double-play grounder.

The End

The Crimson made it 3-2 in the next stanza on the strength of a Kevin Carr single and a Barry Cronin double. But not uncharacteristically, the squad then provided Northeastern with a gift insurance run in the seventh, and the season was near completion.

Following a Huskie double to right, Cronin muffed a throw to first base on a ground ball, allowing the run to score. Northeastern, 4-2.

The Harvard season ended with a whimper in the ninth, when Peter Bannish flied out with a runner on first, ending the worst season for Harvard in fifteen years.