1941 VARSITY BASEBALl

Front row:  Woll, Cline, Martin, Rupp, S. Sadler, Biddle, Reed.  Back row:  Coach Fortney, Edwards, Kahn, W. Sadler, Ward, Werner, Wertz, Williams, managers Reynolds and Kreitzer.

                Sluggers’ Season By M.H.S Baseball Team:

They Make Memorial Park Look Like Comiskey Field or Shibe Park

Around the corner comes spring and with it America’s Favorite Pastime, baseball.  And among the participants in this game is coach Fortney’s combination, which is always a contender for top honors in the West Shore Baseball League.

 The Squad members were:

Catchers: Bill Biddle, that unforgettable blocking back of the football team and the long distance slugger of the outfit (M.H.S. fans remember the tryout last summer) and “Toby” Beitzel, the second-string catcher, who spent his first season on the squad.

Pitcher: “Bess” Sadler, last year’s standout third baseman, one who is now doing a fine job of slapping the ball over the plate; Frank Baker, a Substitute last year, also one of the local mound starters.  Other candidates for pitching roles were Sylvan Rhodes and Earl Rife.

First Base: “Chesty” Rupp, a newcomer to the squad, got the nod of Coach Fortney over Bob Dixon, also a first-year man, at this position.

Second Base; Bill Williams, a holdover from last year, held down the keystone sack this year.  Pressing him for the job was Frank Ward.

Shortstop: Glenn Renard, a brother of a former star on the local diamond, did his duty at the shortstop position.  His only contender for this position was “Sonny” Fleagle, the tallest lad on the squad.

Third Base: Raymond Bowers covered the “hot corner” and did excellent fielding but his batting could have been stronger.  Bill Wertz was a sure hitting third baseman, but his fielding seemed to keep him off the starting nine.

Left Field: “Ed” Ward who last year played at shortstop and Dick Edwards also a holdover from last year both patrolled the left side of the outfield.

Center Field: “Mike” Horning, a freshman, covered the center field grounds with food speed.  His hitting needed a bit of polishing but “Mike “ still held his own on the team.  “Bess” Sadler of Frank Baker when not pitching were inserted in this slot to give the team an extra bit of power at the plate.

Right Field: Bollinger, a new man on the squad, captured the right field spot shortly after the season opened and seemed right at home in that position.  When not playing center field,  “Mike” Horning shifted to this position.  Dick Rupp and Robert Crowl were reserve outfielders on the squad and either could be used in the starting nine. 

MHS Nine tops Boiling Springs

                On Friday evening, the Mechanicsburg Wildcats tangled with the Boiling Springs Bubblers.  This was a league standing.  “Babe” Woll and Mark Werner both batted out home runs in leading Mechanicsburg to a 9 to 1 victory over the Boiling Springs team.

Wildcat Tossers Come Through Victorious in First Two West Shore

League Games of Season; Rupp Winning Pitcher in Both

                Playing its first home league game last Friday evening, Mechanicsburg forced New Cumberland into the losing column for the first time this year by shellacking the Tigers 13-5 in a free scoring game.

                Mechanicsburg’s ace pitcher “Bob” Rupp collected his third win of the year in holding New Cumberland to five scattered hits.  Rupp’s teammates put him well ahead in the fourth inning when the Wildcat sluggers produced eleven runs.  Mark Werner pitched the last two innings for Mechanicsburg and held Coach Pieffer’s boys hitless and scoreless.

                New Cumberland used three pitchers in a desperate attempt to stop the Mechanicsburg sluggers but the Wildcats were on a hitting spree and couldn’t be stopped.

                “Sam” Snell, who collected three singles in four times at bat was the leading batsman for the Tigers, while “Bess” Sadler, Biddle, Woll and Cline each collected 2 hits for the homesters, one of Woll’s hits being a two-base blow.

                An excellent pitching performance by “Bob “ Rupp helped Mechanicsburg win its first league game at the expense of Boiling Springs.  Rupp allowed the “Bubblers” only one hit while striking out eighteen.  The Maroons collected seven hits off the offerings of  Warren, Boiling Springs pitcher, three of those hits went for extra bases, a two base hit by “Babe” Woll, a three base blow by “Ed” Ward and a round-tripper by “Bess” Sadler.

                Herr collected the only hit and only run for Boiling Springs by getting a safety in the fifth.

                Mechanicsburg collected two runs in the second inning when “Bess” Sadler slammed out a home run with one aboard.  Mechanicsburg collected three more in the sixth when “Bill” Biddle circled the bases on an outfield error.

                The win put Mechanicsburg’s tossers in a first place tie with Lemoyne and New Cumberland.

Rupp Pitches No-Run Game

            The Mechanicsburg Wildcats met the New Cumberland Tigers on the latter’s diamond on Tuesday evening.  The batteries for New Cumberland were Hauck and Rockey while those for Mechanicsburg were Bob Rupp and Bill Biddle as usual. Both pitchers yielded only three hits.

                One hit was taken from Hauck by Bill Biddle in the seventh inning. With one away, Biddle stole second as the second man was retired on strikes. Rockey, the Tiger’s catcher, who had already thrown out two men at second base, threw into center field in an attempt to tag out Bill Biddle. The ball hit the center fielder, McDermitt, on the knee, thus giving Briddle ample time to continue around the bases for a marker.

                In the last half of the seventh inning Sam Snell, New Cumberland first baseman, reached second but Rupp retired the side with his usual coolness.

                The one and only double play of the game was credited to “Chuck” Cline, Wildcats’ second baseman who tossed to shortstop, Woll, who threw to Reed on first, completing the well timed play.

Baseball Scores Season of 1941

Coach—Boyd M. Fortney       Faculty Manager—J. Maclay Kelley     Student Manager—Arthur Kreitzer

Lettermen: R. Edwards, Wm. Sadler, Sylvester Sadler, Bill Biddle, R. Woll, Ray Martin, Robert Rupp, Lester Reed, Lloyd Cline, Mark Werner, Edgar Ward.

Pitching Notes:  Robert Rupp – 4 year record: 19 – 11; 225 strikeouts; 203 1/3 innings; 2 no-hitters