Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 62, Number 82, Decatur, Adams County, 6 April 1964 — Page 7

MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1964

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LETTERMEN RETURN— Returning lettermen this season, in addition to the pitchers and catchers, are shown above. Left to right are Max Elliott, Jerry Egly, John Custer and Deane Lehman. — (Photo by Cole)

Yellow Jackets To Launch Baseball Season Thursday; Co-Champs Lost Regulars

By Bob Shraluka The Decatur high school baseball team opens its season Thursday, April 9, as co-champions of the Northeastern Indiana Conference —a title which may be hard to retain in this 1964 season. Coach Bill McColly will take his diamond nine to Va n Wert Thursday for a 4 o’clock encounter, and weather permitting, the team will get in eight contests prior to opening defense of the conference laurels of last spring. Graduation took its toll among the defending champs, but not so much that chances of repeating are slender. If a couple of players can come through, especially in the pitching department, the local crew could very well put another line reading “Decatur” among the past champions of the NEIC. ~, Several Losses McColly will need to fill several spots on the starting nine, including those of Bob Ladd, a .288 hitter and the team’s RBI leader last spring, Dave Gay, Tom Maddox, Bill and Jim Martin. Conrad, an outfielder like Ladd, and a .250 hitter, will be missed, along with Gay a .258 hitter who, in addition to playing shortshop, worked 31 inings with a 3-2 record on the mound. —Maddox, a- first baseman, h r t .215 and Martin, a fine utility in-fielder-outfielder, batted at .250 during the year. Pitching Strong Although probably not “deep,” the pitching will be strong once again this season, mainly because righthander Denny Cookson returns for his senior year. Cookson’ was little short of sensational last season, working 72’/3 innings and posting a. brilliant 9-1 mark, which included several “clutch” wins enroute to the conference championship. The fire-balling righthander fanned 52 and walked just 14, allowing just 27 runs and 33 hits in those plus-72 innings. He posted one no-hitter and a one-hitter. Whether or not Cookson will have to be the workhouse this spring, he was last year, will depend a great deal on sophomore lefty Sam Blythe. Blythe hurled just 12 innings last season, but looked real good in losing by a single run in a game at Marion. With some experience, which will add poise, and work on his control, Blythe could combine with Cookson to give Decatur one of the best one-two punches in the area. The development of junior righthander Don Feasel could also take some of the burden off Cookson. Feasel has good control and could turn out to be a pleasant surprise, esirecially in relief. But, any further prospects are almost nil. There will be no problem in the catching department if veteran Greg Ladd stays healthy. A .270 hitter last season,, Ladd is one of the best — if not the best — in the NEIC. Not only a powerful

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hitter, but a good defensive catcher, Ladd will be a good handler of the pitchers. Backing up Ladd will be a couple of inexperienced lads, but good prospects. They are John August and Gary Busse. Rick Sommer is another possibility in the backstopping department. Infield Question Mark The infield is a question mark, but has good potential. Blythe will more than likely be the first sacker when not on the mound. Strong defensively, his bat may become a big item in the Decatur hitting attack, as the big sophomore is a powerful youngster. With Blythe on the mound, big John Meeks will probably take over the ihitial sack duties. Meeks should be sound defensively, and with some experience could turn into a very good hitter. Second base will be handled by Jerry Egly, who, like several of his teammates is a real, all-around athlete. ,Egly had some problems with the bat as a sophomore performer last spring, hitting just .070 while sharing the job with Tony Reiff, but that year of experience should stand him in good stead this season. Senior John Custer looks to do the shortstopping this season. Custer, like Egly, had trouble with the stick last season, hitting just .173, but improvement is in sight. Cookson or Feasel. depending on which is hurling, will be guardians of the “hot corner.” Although he hit just .210 last spring, Cookson is a good hitter and will add strength to the attack. Elliott Back The. outfield too is a question mark, with the exception of center where ’’’Mighty Max” will be patroling. A tremendous athlete, Elliott’s speed enables him to handle Centerfield and about half of both right and left fields. Although Ke’’ hit just .217 last season, he led the team in runs, and will team with Ladd to give McColly some much-needed longball hitting. Evidence of the leftyswinger’s power was the mighty home run he blasted over the right- Centerfield fence to beat Columbia City and clinch a share of the conference title last year. Flanking Elliott will be a pair of untested but good-looking prospects, Bill Blythe and Deane Lehman. Blythe, like most of his teammates, is a veteran of the DecaLittle and Pony league system. He has the speed to be a fine defender in the outer gardens and could turn into a good man with

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MOUND GATHERING — The Decatur high school pitching staff huddles with catcher Greg Ladd for some signals discussion. Left to right are Denny Cookson, Sam Blythe and Don Feasel. — iPhoto by Cole)

the bat. Lehman, a senior, could also be a pleasant surprise with some experience. McColly lists Kenny Birch and Sommer as prospects for utility work in the outfield, and Tom Engle and Paul Mankey as utility infields. Some of the better may be moved up as the season prospects on the reserve squad progresses to lend additional strength to the bench. Two Twin-Bills The local nine finished last spring with a fine * 12-4 win-loss record, including a 6-1 conference mark. An 18-game schedule has been released thiS season by McColly. which includes 10 home games. After the season opener at Van Wert, Paul Conrad, former star athlete at Decatur, will bring his North Central of Ohio team in for a doubleheader at Worthman Field Saturday, April 18. The annual Martion twin-bill will be played here also, on Saturday, April 25. The Jackets open their conference schedule April 30 at Kendallville. and will also travel to Auburn, Columbia City and Angola for NEIC battles. Conference games at Worthman Field will feature Concordia. Bluffton and New Haven. Portland will be in for a night game on May 15. Season tickets, priced at $1 for adults and 50 cents for students, are now on sale and may be purchased from any of the players. The ticket sales will be used to defray expenses of a new pitching machine which has proven very valuable in the few outside work-, outs the squad has had thus far. Three reserve games are listed thus far, with Van Wert April 10 and at Van Wert May 7. On Saturday, May 9. at Worthman Field, the Muncie South reserves will battle the Decatur reserves prior to the varsity tilt. The varsity schedule is as follows: April 9 Van Wert T April 18 North Central, O. (2) H April 20 Huntington H 'April 23 Portland T April 25 Marion (2) H April 27 Van Wert — IT April 30 Kendallville* T May 4 Auburn* T May 5 Huntipgton T May 7 Concordia* H May 9 Muncie South H May 11 Columbia City* T May 14 Bluffton* H May 15 Portland (night) H May 18 New Haven* H May 21 Angola* T ‘—Denotes NEIC games

THE DECATUB DAILY DEMOCRAT, DECATUB, INDIANA

Pesky Aims At First Division With Red Sox (EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 19th of 20 dispatches on the 1964 prospects of the mar jor league clubs.) By SCOTT BAILLIE UPI Sports Writer SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (UPD— Manager Johnny Pesky of the Boston Red Sox goes into the 1964 season eyeing a first division finish with the same team that faded into seventh last year. “We’ll be battling in there with five or six other teams,” Pesky says.-—“ Our guys really hustled last year and we weren’t as bad as painted.” The second as late as July 15 before spinning out. Attendance increased by 209,000, the biggest rise in the American League. And one of the reasons for the turnout was casual Dick Stuart, who will be back at first base with his explosive bat and popgun fielding. Big Stu won the American League runs batted in crown last year, knocking across 118 tallies while hitting 42 homers 1 and batting *261. Yastrzemski Batting Champ Another big bat in the lineup belongs to left fielder Carl Yastrzemski, whose .321 average earned him the American League batting crown. Around the rest of the infield it is Chuck Schilling at second base, Ed Bressoud at shortstop and Frank Malzone on third. Schilling may get an argument for the job this year from Felix Mantilla. The veteran Puerto Rican hit .315 last season while Chuck slid down to .234 after exhaustion knocked him out of the .300 ranks. Bressoud, a .260 hitter and fine fielder, is ready to go again while Malzone is back from a season in which he batted .291 despite-a bad slump at the end. With Yastrzemski in left, the Sox are counting again on Roman Mejias in center and Lou Clinton in right. Mejias is under the gun to come back from a bad 1963 showing in which he hit .227 after being acquired from Houston. Geiger Recovering Gary Geiger, a veteran out-’ fielder, is recovering from surgery and will join the club late.',' Tony Conigliaro, a .360 hitter at Wellsville of the New YorkPenn Sylvania League last year with 24 homers in 83 games, could move in as a rookie whiz if Mejias or Clinton faded. Right-hander Bill Monbouquette (20-10) heads a pitching staff that was otherwise hurting for winners last year. The other starters shape up as Gene Conley (3-4), who is seeking to make a comeback; Bob Heffner (4-9), Dave Morehead (1013). and Earl Wilson <ll-16 >. The bullpen seems in top shape with Dick Radatz (15-6) and Jack Lamabe (7-4). Radatz, as the huge "short man-,” blazed to an earned run aver age of 198 last year. Lamabe, a throw-in in the deal that brought Dick Stuart to Fenway' Park from Pittsburgh, had a fine 7-4 mark and figures to work on a spot basis and as the “long man.” Jacket Golfers Open Season Here Tuesday The Decatur high school golf team, with seven returning lettermen, will open its season at the local golf course Tuesday. Leo will furnish the opposition for the season’s opener, the first of a 19-match card for the Decatur golfers. Harry Dailey and Stu Schnepf are the team coaches. The complete schedule will be released later.

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SENIORS HONOR COACH— The senior members of the wrestling team honored their coach, Gary Giessler, with a plaque at the annual D-Club banquet Friday evening. Giessler is pictured above receiving the plaque from, left to tight, Deane Lehman, Alan Kalver, Steve Hazelwood and Sam Baumann. The four were members of the original team three years ago.—(Photo by Cole.)

Celtics And Hawks Lead NBA Playoffs By United Press International The Boston Celtics and St. Louis Hawks will have nobody to blame except themselves if they fail to meet in the final round of the National Basketball Association playoffs. ‘ Both have the lead on their rivals and both have the home ,'coqrt advantage—alhough in the case of the Celtics the latter appears to be only an academic point. The Celtics took a 3-0 lead over the Cincinnati Royals with a 102-92 victory Sunday night while the Hawks went ahead, 2-1, in their series by beating the San Francisco Warriors, 113-109. The Celtics thus need only one victory in a possible four remaining games to clinch their series while the Hawks, having already beaten the Warriors at San Francisco, will win if wins occur on home courts as they so often do in NBA competition. Defense was the name of the game for the Celtics Sunday night—a stifling defense that disorganized the Royals’ offense and made Boston’s win at Cin* cinnati look easy. Bill Russell, 6-foot-10 rebounding genius, led the Celtics’ defense with 28 rebounds and re‘,<;eived brilliant support from K.C. Jones and Tom Sanders, 'banders held high-scoring Jack • Twyman to one field goal on .JU tries in the first half by which time the Celtics had a 55-37 lead. Jones was the digger, who forced the Royals ’into mistakes of which Russell was seemingly always on hand to take advantage. Wilt Chamberlain scored 46 points for the Warriors but missed two free throws that would have tied the score at 109-109 and Hawk Coach Harry Gallatin commented, “we did a great job on him —he's always tough.” The Hawks took the lead for good at the end of the third period, 85-84, on a basket by Chico Vaughn and the Warriors never tied again although they were within one point several times in the fourth period. Bob Pettit led the Haw,ks with 26 points, Vaughn and\Zelmo Beaty had, 22 each and Richie Guerin added 20. The Boston-Cincinnati series resumes in Cincinnati on Tuesday night while the St. LouisSan Francisco resumes in St. ‘Louis on Wednesday night. Taken In Custody On Wells County Charge Richard Cook of Bluffton was being held in custody today at the Adams county jail on a warrant from Wells county. Cook was picked up on the warrant for fraudulent check by deputy sheriff Harold ■ August in Geneva this morning. Bluffton were expected here today to return Cook to that city.

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Sports World Mourns Death _ Os MacArthur NEW YORK (UPI) The death of. General Douglas MacArthur could produce an adverse affect on the United States Olympic effort, although top amateur officials indicated today they would stand by the truce negotiated by the old warrior. It was MacArthur, answering an urgent plea from the late President Kennedy, who brought the AAU and NCAA together last year and ended the strife that had threatened to demolish the U.S. team in the 1964 Olympic Games at Tokyo, Japan. But even MacArthur realized that the truce was just that. A settlement had been reached and the U.S. was assured of sending its strongest team possible to Japan, but it was evident that the feud between the two powerful amateur athletic organizations was far from over. “Gen. MacArthur realized from the start h\zmission was to arrange, a temporary solution,” said Col. Hull, executive director of the AAU, upon learning of the general’s death. “And that is why he arranged for a later meeting with President Johnson has said he will abide by the sports agreements and commitments made by Kennedy. Walter Byers, who as executive director of the NCAA is on the other side of the war of Col. Hull, agreed with his adversary about the fine job of arbitration accomplished by -MacArthur; “He was a magnificent person of great intellect and I shall always treasure the opportunity I had to meet him.” Byers* said. “ATI the participants (in the AAU-NCAA discussions), particularly myself, were impressed by his ability to immediately grasp the issues and understand the problems and quickly reduce them to their simplest terms.” With the start of the Olympics just a few months away and faced by another enormous tussle with Russia for gold medals, it Ts assumed that the •good citizens of the AAU and NCAA will forget their differences for the time being. It is fitting that MacArthur should have played a major role in the coming U.S. Olympic effort. He was an avid sportsman all his life and as superintendent of the West Point Military Academy from 1919-1922 he adopted a formal intramural athletic program at the school that was the forerunner . pf_..._many„jimilar programs on other campuses around the country.

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Chicago, Montreal Lead Hockey Playoffs CHICAGO 'UPD — The Chicago Black Hawks hoped today that their luck hadn’t run out so they would be able to close out their Stanley Cup semifinal series against the Detroit Red Wings Tuesday night Luck star te d the Black Hawks toward their 3-2 win Sunday night when Ken Wharram’s unintential score tied the game and made it possible for Stan Mikita to score the gamewinner 11 minutes later. But the Hawks wanted some more of the same for the sixth game of their best-of-seven series, in which Chicago leads with three wins to two for Detroit, and the chips were down at the Olympia Tuesday. The Hawks have won only once in the last 13 games on the Red Wings’ rink and that was in an overtime Thursday. Should the Hawks win Tuesday night, they would advance to the finals against the winner of the Montreal-Toronto series, in which the National Hockey League champion Canadiens hold a 3-2 edge. The Canadiens were favored to down the Maple Leafs on Toronto ice Tuesday despite the fact that center Jean Beliveau and forward /’Gilles Tremblay will not play. If the Canadiens and Hawks both win, their series would start at Montreal on Thursday. Larry Merica On Ball State Roster Larry Mercia, a Monroeville high school graduate, is listed on the baseball roster of Ball State Teachers college for the spring season. ■> A six-foot, 185 pound sophomore at the Muncie school, Merica is listed as a righthanded pitcher. He won his freshmen numerals in baseball last season. Also listed on the roster are Steve Takats,' junior shortstop, and John Engle, junior third baseman. Both are from Portland and returning lettermen. Indianapolis Livestock INDIANAPOLIS (UPD—Livestock: Hogs 8,500; fully steady; 1 and 2 190-225 lb 15.25-15.50; 1 to 3 190-230 lb 14.75-15.25; 230-250 lb 14.50-15.00; sows steady; 1 to 3 325-400 lb 12.75-13.25 few 13.50; 400-550 lb 12.00-12.75, few 13.00. Cattle 3,200; calves 75; weak to 25 lower, bulk still unsold; choice steers 21.75-22.50, few 22.75; high choice and prime 23.00; good and mixed good and low choice 19.75-21.75; good and mixed good and low choice heifers 19.00-20.75; few choice 20.75-21.50; cows fully steady’ to strong and 50 higher; utility and commercial 13.00-15.00, few 15.50; bulls 50 higher; cutter to commercial 16.50-18.00, few 18.50; vealers fully steady; good and choice 25.00-30.00; choice 31.00-32.00. Sheep 100; few wooled old crop lambs weak to 50 lower; good and choice 20.00-22.00; few choice and prime 23.00.

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PAGE SEVEN

Julius Boros Wins Sudden Death Playoff GREENSBORO, N.C. (UPD— Summer came a little early this year for Julius Boros, who appeared as surprised as the next man that had had won the Greater Greensboro Open golf tournament. The next man, in this case, was Doug Sanders who bogied the 18th hole Sunday to finish in a tie with Boros and then bogied the next hole in a sudden death playoff. The warm - blooded Boros, whose game usually heats up with the summer sun, had a par to take the $6,600 winner’s share of the $45,000 prize money. Boros immediately began getting ideas about this week’s Masters tournament at Augusta, Ga. “I never won a tournament before May and I’d imagine this win -would really bolster my confidence tor the Masters,” he beamed. The Mid Pines, N.C., golfer watched Sanders’ finish on closed-circuit television. Sanders was eight under par and one stroke ahead of Boros heading into the 18th hole. “When I looked up there and saw Doug eight under par, I didn't think I had much of a chance,” said Boros. But Sanders’ drive went into a “gopher hole” and his twoiron recovery shot hooked into spectators about 50 yards from the pin. He took a bogey 5 to tie Boros at 277. Sanders had another bad approach shot on the extra hole and lost to Boros’ par 4. Sanders earned $3,800 and was followed by Sam Snead, who had a 278 and .pocketed $3,000. Snead, who has won here seven times, led through the first two rounds before yielding to defending Master’s champion Jack Nicklaus after 54 holes. Nicklaus was fourth with 279, became $2,550 richer and had some doubts regarding his ability to become the first golfer a to win the Master’s two years in a row. “Nobody has played well enough to win twice in a row down there,” said the 24-year-old Columbus, Ohio, golf great who has won $-20,500 so far this year. “But maybe that will be the necessary incentive,” Finishing behind Nicklaus, with 280, .was 1963 Almaden champion Al Geiberger. He was followed by Spain’s Roman Sota who had 282 and New Orleans Open champion Mason Rudolph the second leading money win ner, with 283. Behind Rudolph, each with 284, were Gordod Jones, Tommy Jacobs and Australian Bjlly Dunk. Bobby Nichols and Mike Souchak each finished with 285 —one stroke better than Arnold Palmer and nine others. Pro Basketball Playoffs Boston 102, Cincinnati 92 (Boston leads bast of seven series, 3-6). St. Louis 113, San Francisco 109 (St. Louis leads best of seven series, 2-1).

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