Batsmen Tip Sox Farm Club, Post 2-7 Record in Florida

The Harvard baseball team won just two of nine games during its vacation journey to Florida, but the second of those victories--6-4 in 10 innings over the Red Sox farm team in Winter Haven--made the whole trip worth-while.

First, the win was the 1800th in the Crimson's 115-year history. And second, the Harvard victory marked the first time any college team had beaten a Red Sox minor league squad coached by Eddie Popowski.

"It was a great thrill for the team." Captain Paul Chicarello said yesterday. "No doubt about it. It was the definite highlight of the trip."

Reliever Mike Smerczynski picked up the win over the Red Sox, after starter Bill Doyle kept Harvard in the game over the first seven innings.

Sandwiched around the win over the Sox and Eddie Popowski, the Crimson dropped two decisions to the minor-leaguers. On Thursday, the Red Sox bombed the Crimson hurlers for 10 runs and Harvard's lone tally came on a Vinnie Martelli homer. Saturday, in a game played at Chain O'Lakes Park--where the Red Sox' parent club plays its home spring training games--the Red Sox prospects prevailed, 8-4, despite a long home run by normally light-hitting Harvard second baseman Gaylord Lyman.

Against college teams in Florida, the Crimson nine went 1-3, splitting a doubleheader with the University of South Florida and dropping two one-run games to Eckerd College.

Doyle shut out USF, 4-0, in the first game, before the Floridians came back to win the second, 6-4. Against Eckerd, Harvard lost in straight sets, 7-6, 7-6, after double-faulting several times in the tie-breakers.

"A couple of breaks here and there and we could have won the two Eckerd games, Chicarello said. "We made some mistakes. But it's good for us to do that down there [in Florida]. We don't expect to make those mistakes up here [when the regular season gets underway]."

In the college games, which are the only ones the team keeps official stats for, catcher-outfielder Martelli (four-for-eight, six rbis), outfielder Bruce Weller (four-for-10), freshman infielder-outfielder Eliot Rivera (four-for-seven) and designated hitter Chicarello (three-for-eight, four rbis) led the Harvard batters. Freshman infielder Tony DiCesare had a home run in the second South Florida game.

In their only other outings, the batsmen fell to the White Sox farm team squad, 7-6, in 10 innings, and to the Pirates' minor leaguers, 5-3.

"We played well," Chicarello said. "It was very encouraging. The whole purpose of the trip is to make sure we're ready once the games are back in the East."

The Crimson opens its Eastern schedule with six non-Eastern League games, including the team's home opener tomorrow against lightly regarded MIT (Soldiers Field, 3 p.m.)

"Everybody laughs about MIT," said Chicarello, "but they always play us tough."