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Crimson Nine Splits GBL Twin-Bill With Jumbos
The Harvard baseball team laughed Brandeis and its coach. Pete Varney '71--himself a former Stalwart on the Crimson nine--off the field a couple of weeks back, 25-2 However, when the Greater Boston League standings are in the books for 1982. Brandeis, not Harvard, will have the last laugh.
Defending champion Harvard guaranteed itself a second-place finish behind Brandeis yesterday by splitting a doubleheader with Tufts--falling, 5-0, before coming back in the nightcap, 7-6--in Medford, the team's ninth split in 11 twin-bills so far this season.
A final GBL record of 5-3 will not be enough for the Crimson to catch 6-1 Brandeis, which still has one game left to play.
And so the batsmen's frustrations in a season that started out with so much promise are only compounded by losing their title to a team the had left broken and embarrassed only two and a half weeks ago.
The Crimson had only frustrations for a good part of yesterday's doubleheader. In the opening game, the Harvard batters could manage only four hits off herky-jerky right-hander Pete Ballerini (3-4). For seven innings Ballerini and his hesitation motion did pirouettes around the Harvard bats, allowing just one Crimson runner as far as third base--on Bruce Weller's two-out triple in the third.
In addition, the Jumbo hurler had lots of help from his defense--especially shortstop Mark Harasimewicz (11 assists on the day), a converted right fielder--which played errorless ball.
Tufts got things going almost immediately against Crimson starter Greg Brown, still struggling to regain the form that made him one of Harvard's top pitchers over the last two seasons. Brown lasted only one third of an inning, giving up two hits and two walks and allowing three runs, two of them earned.
Jumbo centerfielder John Guisti led off with a single, left fielder John Andon followed with a double--sending Guisti to third--and then Brown walked Harasimewicz to load the bases.
After third baseman Mike Kreuger popped to Gaylord Lyman at third, Brown walked right fielder Jake Hart on a pitch that didn't miss by much, scoring a run. When the count went to 2-0 on the next batter, Tom Snarsky, Crimson Coach Alex Nahigian had seen enough.
Lefty John Sorich came in from the bullpen and after running the count on Snarsky to 3-1, got him to ground to shortstop. The ball, however, skipped up off the bumpy infield and ricocheted off Tony DiCesare's shoulder and into center field, scoring two more runs, all that Ballerini would need on this day.
For a while during the second game, Harvard seemed in for more of the same. The Jumbos built a four-one lead through four innings, and Harvard senior Jim Curtin, pitching the final game of his varsity career, had the misfortune of a blister breaking on his pitching hand in the second. He had fairly breezed through the first two frames allowing only one hit and recording two strikeouts.
But the Crimson scrambled back, tying the game at four in the top of the sixth, watching Tufts retake the lead in the bottom half of that frame, and then winning the game with a three-run seventh.
Captain Paul Chicarello led off with a single and was replaced by pitch runner Paul Scheper, who stole second on the game's next pitch Weller, trying to move the runner to third, pulled a grounder down from the first base line and was out, first baseman unassisted. Only problem was, Scheper didn't run to third.
"I lost the ball in the sun." Scheper dead panned after the game.
It didn't matter much, for after Brad Bauer flied to center. Vinnie Martelli with his fourth hit of the afternoon, a line single into center to score Scheper, Walks to Donnie Allard, Eddie Farrell, and DiCesare, and an error on Harasimewicz, give Harvard two more runs and the game.
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