Curtin Being Watched; Ruggers Travel to Ivies

The man who discovered Rod Carew, Minnesota Twins' scout HERB STEIN, was on hand Wednesday to watch the University of Rhode Island beat the Harvard baseball team, 4-0. Responsible for all of New York and New England for the Twins' organization. Stein made the trip to Kingston. R.I., to get a good look at a pair of prospects. Crimson hurler JIM CURTIN and URI's sophomore backstop TONY CARLUCCI. But often as not, Stein admits, a totally unknown player will end up impressing him more than those he came to see. "Often, you come up with a better name," he says.

Besides Carew, whom he found "playing sandlot ball in New York--he didn't play in high school." Stein's signees include Danny Monzon and Sal Butera, both of whom eventually made it to the big leagues with the Twins. But even if he never finds another player. Stein says, he'll be satisfied with uncovering Carew. "That's a career right there," he says.

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Two-sport star MIKE SMERCZYNSKI has a tip. "The best restaurant in Boston," says the Peabody native, "is Tecci's, right behind North Station." Smuzz, a fullback with the football team in the fall and a relief pitcher with ALEX NAHIGIAN's batsmen in the spring, lists a dish called Steak Mafia as the house specialty, and calls the prices "very reasonable."

But a double-teammate of Smerczynski's. Winchester's DONNIE ALLARD, disagrees. "I like the Union Oyster House," the quarterback and right fielder maintains. Why? "Because of the clam chowder--I love clam chowder," he says.

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They've only got a 3-2 record, but KIT MORRIS's softballers have outscored their opposition by an incredible 91-26 margin so far this season. That output was helped by a pair of massive victories, 34-6 over Brandeis and 31-6 over Boston University. In the latter last Friday. RBI leader PAT HORNE and ELAINE HOLPUCH each slammed home four runs, while KAREN PELLETIER helped out with three.

In recent junior varsity action. VAL ROMERO notched 11 strikeouts to lead Harvard to an 8-3 win over Lesley.

Complete scoring for the 9-0, third-ranked-nationally Harvard women's lacrosse team: MAUREEN FINN: 29 goals, 15 assists, for 44 points; FRANCESCA DEN HARTOG: 34, 8, for 42; CAT FERRANTE: 13, 12, for 25; ANNIE MACMILLAN. 15, 4, for 19; JENNIFER WHITE; 8,4 for 12; KERRY BRYAN: 8, 0, for 8; WISTIE OPPENLANDER; 1, 4, for 5; CHRIS SAILER; 0, 2, for 2; ANNIE VELIE; 1, 1, for 2: SARAH SEWALL; 1, 0, for 1; ZANNE VINE; 1, 0, for 1; The laxwomen face their stiffest challenge since spring break Saturday when they travel to Amherst to face UMass.

Without ED TOMPKINS, SABIN WILLET, MARK COOLEY and GREG CAREY, the Harvard rugby club journeys to Brown this weekend for the Ivy Tournament. If you're wondering why the Ivies are taking place after the Easterns, which the ruggers captured last weekend in Blacksburg. Va., nobody really knows. And just for fun, next weekend is the New Englands.

Anyhow, Harvard is obviously favored to add Ivy mugs to its bright-yellow, Eastern Champion jackets, although Princeton will give the ruggers a fight. Oddly, the Crimson and Tigers will meet in the first round this year as they have for the last two seasons...a one-in-64 chance in a fair lottery. The whole thing is sort of strange.

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The Brown men's lacrosse team's victory over Harvard last weekend was especially sweet for two reasons. First, Harvard had nipped the Bruins by a 12-11 count last season, on its way to the NCAA playoffs. Second, Brown head coach CLIFF STEVENSON, the only men's lacrosse coach in Brown history, likes every win he gets against Crimson coach BOB SCALISE (Brown '71), whom he coached during his All-American years at Brown.

Harvard middle MIKE DAVIS separated his shoulder for the second time this season in the Brown game, which is bad news for Harvard. But on the brighter side, attack NORM FORBUSH, the leading assist man on last year's squad, returned from his separated shoulder injury in the same game. It's been one of those years for the laxmen, who square off against Yale today at the Business School Field at 2 p.m.

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Yesterday, the Harvard Ultimate Frisbee team defeated the University of New Hampshire, 21-18, in the first round of the Ultimate Players Association sectionals held at Harvard. Harvard erased a 6-point half-time deflcit to take the lead with three minutes left in the game.

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First, consistently windy conditions made things tough for BRIAN KEANE. LAUREN NORTON and the Harvard sailing team. Now, their latest problem is a loose boat house.

You see, the boat house is connected to the wall of Memorial Drive by a pair of metal braces, which are buckling because of cracks accumulated during the icy winter. The maintenance man can't fix them because there is no maintenance man--he quit. The team is trying to hire somebody new, but the University won't give the new man employee benefits because it is not a full-time position. Meanwhile, their boat house is floating away.

What they have done to temporarily alleviate the problem is connect the boat house to the wall with metal chains. This boat-house-on-a-leash can't escape, but it can continually slam into the concrete wall, not the safest of feelings when you're inside.

Amidst all the problems, the team is in the process of qualifying individuals for Nationals. Keane, one of the nation's premier sailors, should have no problem, and he will get his chance this weekend when the Crimson travels to the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., this weekend. If all goes well, the sophomore standout will journey west to Michigan...and have some place to come home to when he gets back.