1938 VARSITY BASEBALL

Rain, Rain, Rain, don’t you love it. Coach Fortney? What! With basketball players in the gym and puddles outside it’s no wonder coaches rate high in the suicide business. However, things are not as bad as they appear to be, for a fine list of pitchers, Welker, Hartman, Whitacre, Pennoyer and Strausbaugh, and catchers, Norris, Peebles and Cline have turned out to fill the respective positions. Hartman is a southpaw and may be called on to do plenty of relief tossing this spring.

At first base Coach Fortney has a capable holdover from last year, in Stoner. Yohn and Cline, both members of last year’s nine, are counted on to hold the third sack and short-stop positions, while second base is open. Plenty of candidates are wrangling over the field honors so these sports should be filled without to much trouble.

With Welker having the brunt of the pitching staff the team seems very likely indeed, but there is a weakness of hitters and unless a few sluggers are produced the boys will be forced to slide into home quite frequently.

(March 29, 1938 Torch)

A gray streak is flashing toward the plate. With the cry of "Strike one" the baseball season for 1938 is open. Mechanicsburg opened season at Middletown and the result was a loss from that town. Coaches Fortney and Frederick have been drilling their players daily and after a few games the team should begin to click. The team is made up of many newcomers, but, with the instruction of the coaches and with the aid of several veterans, the team should be a contender for the West Shore Title. Thus far this season the team has tasted the sting of defeat four times, twice from Middletown (who usually has the best team in this vicinity) and from Camp Hill and Boiling Springs. In these latter two games the team showed a batting punch and good pitching, but due to inability to field "fly" and ground balls has lost the games. In "Huck" Welker, M.H.S. has one of the best pitchers on the West Shore and with the proper backing, the team should finish on the top or somewhere near that. The boys that have participated in the games thus far are: Stoner and Hartman, first base; Vogelsong and Renard, second base; Kline, short-stop; Sadler, third base; Hart, Sherman, Beistline, Renard and Stoner taking their turns in the outfield; Norris and Whitman as catchers, and Welker, Rupp, Hartman and Whitacre on the mound. At the present time Sadler, Renard and Kline have proved to be the most consistent batters and Jack Heart has proved his ability as a slugger by hitting two long triples.

(May 4, 1938 Torch)

When the 1938 baseball season dawned to Mechanicsburg High School it found a comparatively green team taking the field for the first game with Middletown. Due to this and many errors the team lost this game to the tune of 13-2. As the season progressed the team improved, but they also lost the last three games-to Middletown, Camp Hill, and Boiling Springs, respectively. However, the next game was a different story, as the Wildcats finally hit their stride downing Marysville 14-5. This inspiration seemed to be all the team needed, for they won the next three games, which happened to be all league games. But again the Wildcat’s luck was doomed to change, for after playing Newport and Camp Hill they again found themselves in the losing column.

(May 21, 1938 Torch)