1959 VARSITY BASEBALL
(No names could be located for this picture.)
The beginning ....
Baseball Team Expects Good Season
Mr. Cassell and Mr. Freed are in the process of molding this year’s baseball team into shape. They hope to better last year’s 7-7 record. The season opens with three exhibition games. On April 7th, they play host to Mr. Yost’s hometown, Biglerville, at Koser Park. On April 14th, the Wildcats meet New Cumberland. The league season opens on April 17th when the Wildcats play Camp Hill.
The boys out for the sport are pitchers Fred Baker, Barry Brandt, Bill Fortney, and Lee Atkinson; catchers Rick Kipp, Jack Norris, and Ralph Richwine; infielders Dave Fisher, Jim Sauve, Bob Gelwicks, Dick Rohrer, Don Rife, Ed Shank, Rich Harvey, Dick Hess, Dale Lehmer, and Al Donavon and outfielders Bill Snyder, Dick Brandt, Steve Shank, Bill Davis, Ed Armstrong, and Randy Hall.
(March 10, 1959 Torch)
The end ....
In baseball the overall season saw 7 wins and 5 losses for M. H. S. In the conference we broke even with 5 wins and 5 losses.
Statistics for the team leaders included the following:
Pitcher’s records: Fortney, 2 - 0; Barry Brandt, 2 - 2; Baker, 3 - 2
Leading Hitters:
Average: Ron Rife, .316; Fred Baker, .353; Richard Brandt, .412; William Snyder, .333
Hits: Richard Rohrer, 12; Richard Brandt, 14; William Snyder, 12
Doubles: Richard Brandt, 2; Lee Atkinson, 2
Triples: Fred Baker, 2
Home runs: Fred Baker, 1
Stolen Bases: Richard Brandt, 8
RBI’s: Richard Brandt, 9
Mechanicsburg To Enter Capital Area Conference
After fruitless discussions about changing the present structure of the South Penn League, several schools in the Harrisburg Area, Mechanicsburg included, began planning a new Athletic Conference. Member schools and their projected tenth to twelfth grade enrollments are:
Cumberland Valley -- 600; Hershey -- 700; Lower Dauphin -- 550; Mechanicsburg -- 550; Middletown -- 650; Palmyra -- 500; Susquehanna Township -- 600
The Capital Area schools now compete in either the South Penn, Lower Susquehanna, or Lebanon County Athletic Conference. The new league will greatly reduce the geographical distance and enrollment difference of the present conference arrangements. Thus a more keen competition with local interest can be provided.
(May 17, 1959 Torch)
1959 Varsity Baseball Scores
|
MASH |
Opponent |
|
|
Biglerville |
6 |
3 |
|
New Cumberland |
7,7 |
3,5 |
|
Camp Hill |
1 |
3 |
|
West Shore |
7 |
2 |
|
Boiling Springs |
8 |
3 |
|
Northern |
5 |
1 |
|
Susquenita |
9 |
7 |
|
Big Spring |
4 |
5 |
|
Cumberland Valley (8 innings) |
0 |
1 |
|
Enola |
0 |
7 |
|
Carlisle |
0 |
2 |
|
Season Record: 7 -- 5 |
What Is A Baseball Glove?
A baseball glove is a beginning and an ending, a child’s
first sure step towards adulthood, and an adult’s final,
lingering hold on youth. It is promise and memory.
A baseball glove is the dusty badge of belonging;
the tanned and oiled mortar of team and camaraderie.
In its creases and scuffs lodge sunburned afternoons
freckled with thrills, the excited hum of competition,
cheers that burst like skyrockets.
A baseball glove is Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle,
Jackie Robinson, Johnny Bench, Ozzie Smith and a
thousand-and-one names and moments strung like white
and crimson banners in a vast stadium of memory.
A baseball glove is the leather of adventure, worthy
successor to the cowboy’s holster, the trooper’s saddle
and the buckskin laces of the frontier scout. It is combat
heroics, and victory ... a place to smack a fist or snuff a rally.
Above all, a baseball glove is the union of family recreation
and togetherness; a union beyond language, creed, or color.