PAGE SIX
Lions ' Meet
Diamond Opener Is First
Of 21 Scheduled Tilts
Coach Joe Bedenk will send his baseball team into action
tomorrow afternoon as the 1953 Penn State diamond season
officially gets underway. The Lions will meet Lehigh at
Beaver Field in the first of its 21-game card. The game is
slated for 3:30 p.m. •
Saturday afternoon Nittany fans will get a Second look
at the
,squad marked with many new faces this year
When top-notch Villanova moves
into town.
Although the Lion skipper
hasn't named his starting lineup
yet, he did indicate .his starting
pitchers. Fire-balling Keith Ves
ling is slated to open for the Lions
against the Engineers, with Larry
Bayer getting the assignment
against Villanova. Vesling, a right
bander, turned/in a 5-2 record last
year, and boasted a respectable
2.11 earned run average.
Hampered by Rain
Bayer is a new member on the
Lion mound corps, and has been
pitching well this spring. He'll
be facing the team that the Lions
dumped, 9-6, last spring to clinch
a spot in the NCAA champion
ship playoffs in Omaha, Neb. The
Wildcats, however, had whipped
the Bedenkmen earlier in the
season, 12-1.
The Lions, althoUgh hampered
by rain and wet grounds, man
aged to get some practice after
vacation had started, and returned
to the campus three days early
with plans for some heavy work
outs. The rains came again, how
ever; and practices were limited.
Yesterday, Bedenk put the squad
through its paces, and plans an
other workout this afternoon.
When the Lions take the field
tomorrow several regulars from
last year's club will be missing.
Hard-hitting: Bill Hopper, the reg
ular right fielder last season,, has
been graduated, along with' in
fielders Bill Mihalich and Carmen
Troisi, outfielder Chris Tonery,
and hurler Bill Everson.
Leonard Returns
The presence of five regulars
on the fie 1 d, however, should
brighten Irospects quite a bit. Be
side Vesling, Bedenk has right
handed Jack Krumrine, a tricky
curveball artist who won three
and lost one last season and
boasted• a 2.90 ERA. Bedenk has
indicated that he will use him
mostly in relief this season 'and
in some spot starting assignments.
The Lion mentor also has pow
erful Bill Leonard back in the
catching position, and Captain Sil
Cerchie will be back in the outer
gardens. Cerchie, an ever-danger
ous man with a bat, and a strong
armed} centerfielder, should add a
lot of punch to the Lion batting
order.
, Hard-hitting Hubie Kline will
be back at third base. Last year
he belted the ball at a .347 clip
to lead the team in hitting.
Russo, Nerino at Second
In the outfield, several men
have been showing a lot in spring
workouts. Bob Schoellkopf, Matt
Yanosich, Pete Cherish, Tom Wer
ner, and Rex Bradley, may all see
a lot of action.
At second base, Chuck Russo
and Al Nerino are both gunning
for starting berths, while Don
Shank and Pat Kennedy are fight
ing it out for the first base job.
Ron Weidenhammer appears to
have the shortstop position nailed
down.
Following the Lehigh and Vll
lanova contests the Lions will
meet Western Maryland at Bea
ver Field on April 14, and then
will travel to Lafayette and Rut
gers before returning home to
meet American University April
22.
Staley Goes Route
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., April 8
(A") Veteran Gerry Staley be
came the first St: Louis Cardinal
huller to go nine innings today
in _a 10-0 triumph over the * Little
Rock Travelers.
Rookie Ray 'Jablonski led the
13-hit St. Louis attack, slamming
his fifth spring home run and a
single to drive in three runs.
Stan T"..' • ' • -Steve Bilk o
in t apiece with
a pair of hits each.
By DICK McDOWELL
Matmen
Won't Enter
NAAU's
According to a report to the
Daily Collegian yesterday, Penn
State's unbeaten EIWA and NC
AA wrestling champs will not
have one entry in the NatiOnal
Amateur Athletic Union mat
tournament to be held in Tol
edo, 0.
Penn State's lone entry last
year was Jerry Maurey i.vho was
runner-up in the 136.5 Olympic
weight division.
This will make the first time in
three years that Penn State did
not enter at 'least one grappler.
Two years ago, Coach Charlie
Speidel's 130-pound matman, Dick
Lemyre, was sent to the NAAU's.
Bellefonte's Larry Fornicola,
Coach Charlie Speidel's 130-
pounder, notched the 147-pound
championship in the AA U
wrestling tournament held at
Warren, Pa., Saturday.
The tournament wa s under
the direction of Homer Barr,
former Penn State heavyweight
wrestling great and now wrest
ling coach at Warren High
School.
Fornicola, who wrestled at
130 and 137 pourids for the
Lions this seas o n, took two
matches in order to claim his
title.
'Penn State's only )other en
try, Hal Byers, was runner-up
in the 125-pound class. Byers'
bid for the 125-pound crown
was halted in the final by
Clearfield's Dean Trip oney
when the latter scored a near
fall in the final period for a 6-5
triumph.
There is no team champion in
the NAAU's, only individual
champs.
Undergraduate regulations re
quire that any student wishing to
participate in any athletic event
not conducted under intercolleg
iate or collegiate auspices of rec
ognized character must secure
permission in advance from the
Senate Committee on Athletics in
order to maintain amateur stand
ing and eligibility to participate
in intercollegaite athletics.
The regulations also state that
a student failing to receive per
mission in advance may be de
clared ineligible for membership
on, College athletic teams.
Pickeroonie Ace
Glad to Be Back
PITTSBURGH, April 8 (JP)
Ralph Kiner, the last Pittsburgh
Pirate to' report at ,spring training
camp in Havana, 'arrived in', the
Steel City tonight and said he
was "glad to be back home."
Kiner left the team at Atlanta,
Ga., flying here with his business
agent, Bob Prince, to attend to
some personal business. The re
mainder of the Buc squad is on
a train scheduled to arrive here
tomorrow a few hours before an
exhibition game with the New
York Yankees.
Restringing by Robinson
SAVE TIME ... SAVE MONEY
Will pick up and deliver rackets
DICK ROBINSON, Theta Xi ',
Ph. 6928. or 2161
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANTrI
CAPTAIN OF the 1953 Lion baseball squad and centerfielder for
the Bedenkmen the past two campaigns is stocky Sil Cerchie. The
strong-armed gardener clouted a lusty .294 and smacked two home
runs for last year's club. Cerchie, a product of Elkland, is the only
returning outfielder from the 1952 team, which finished third in
the College World Series at Omaha, Neb., last June. Chris Tonery
and homer-hitting Bill Hopper were lost to the diamondmen via
graduation.
Spring Grid Drills Start;
Comicaptain Rados Absent
Approxima cely 90 football candidates trotted out on Beaver Field
yesterday afternoon to open spring drills but Coach Rip Engle was
minus his quarterback and co-captain elect, Tony Rados.
The Nittany. Lions will open their football season against the
Big Ten co-champs, Wisconsin. The Badgers received the nod- to
the Rose Bowl only to bow before a mighty Southern .California
eleven, 6-0.
Rados, a long-shot artist in the
passing department, underwent a
knee operation a few months ago,
and has been advised to take it
easy for at least a few more weeks.
• Rados on Offense-Defense
Dr. A. H. Griess, team physician,
claims the operation had been
completely successful but that
"Rados would be taking an undue
risk if he rushed into heavy work
immediately."
Engle's hope to begin Rados'
conversion job—to operate both
defensive and offensive quarter
backing—will be delayed.
The Lion mentor's main objec
tive during these practice sessions,
scheduled for the next three
weeks, will be to get his men
ready to play both offense and
defense in order to comply, with
the new limited substitution rule.
The ruling will, go' into effect this
fall.
Other notable absentees in yes
terday's practice session were
guard Don Sharik, end Jesse Ar
nelle, halfback Matt Yanosich,
back Pete Fuhrman, and halfback
Keith Vesling. . The - lattec stal
warts will be performing for
Coach Joe Bedenk's basebaltnine
this season. . '
Starting his fourth season as
Penn State grid coach, Engle ex
pects to hold daily drills for the'
full 20 days permitted under
NCAA rules.
The sessions will close out with
a one-day clinic and the Blue-
White intrasquad scrimmage on
Saturday,- May 2. The clinic will
be open to schoolboy players,
coaches, and officials.
The Nittany Lion gridders
sported a 7-2-1 record during the
1952 campaign, losing to Michi
gan-- State and Syracuse.
Lehigh
* * *
Engle's 4th Season
Tothottow
* * *
Ex-Coach - Higgins
No ReseMblance
To Jim Thorpe
Jifn Thorpe's death reminde•
Bob Higgins, former Penn State
coach,- of the day he undertook to
impersonate the erstwhile Carlisle
Indian in a professional football
game at Cleveland, 0.
Thorpe and Higgins were team
mates on the. Canton, 0., eleven,
and Cleveland fans turned out in
droves to see not only ,4he fabu
lous Bulldogs but the equally
fabulous Thorpe.
When game time drew near and
Thorpe had not yet appeared, Hig
gins was rigged out in his uniform
and literally swathed in adhesive
tape in a frantic effort to conceal
his identity.
"But the first time I dropped
back to punt," Higgins recalls,
"some guy in the stands with ,a
fog-horn voice shouted:
" Vho's that bum in Thorpe's
uniform'?"
: The ruse ended then and there.
Golf Managers
There will •be a meeting' of
all sophomore candidates for
assistant managership of golf
at 4:30 p.m'. today in the golf
shop.
_Bring in , your
Easter vacation films
10 to 5 Service
'Centre County Film Lab
122 W. Beaver-Ave.
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1953
,Sports'
Briefs:
Ham)ner' Wins, 2-1
RICHMOND, April 8 (q)—
Shortstop Granny Hamner riut
on a show for his hometown folks
here, today as he led the Philadel
phia. Phillies to a 2-1 triumph ov-.
er the Boston Red- Sox in an• in
ter-league exhibition • ball game.
Hamner belted two, home zuns.
It was the' National Leaguers'
fifth straight victory over the
Bostonians. •
Hamner belted one over the
centerfield wall in the second in
ning and the other over the wall
in right in the- fifth.
In, the ninth when the Arneri
can Leaguers had ,the tying run
on second base r Hamner ended
things by snaring a line drive
Gus .Niarhos, Boston catcher.
S!ants Win;\ll-10
NASHVILLE, , Tenn., April 8 (A')
—ihe New' York Giants with
stood a four-run rall y by the
Cleveland Indians in the ninth
inning to squeeze out an 11-,10
victory over the American Leag
uers today.
Rookie Daryl Spencer of the
Giants was a casualty of a Mike
'Garcia pitch which struck him in
the head in the first inning. Spen
cer will be out for fwo weeks as
the result of a slight fracture of
the left cheek bone and cuts on
the upper and lower lip that re
quired nine stitches: He had been
slated to start the season at. third
bathe for New York.
Ward Blasts Pair
TOPEKA; KanS., April 8 (T)—
The battle of spring home, runs
between the touring St LOuis
BroWns and the Chicago Cubs
was won by the Bruins in today's
round for a 7-6 exhibition game
triumph.
Preston Ward slugged a pair of
the Cubs' big blows while Dee
Fondy and Bob Addis contribut
ed one apiece.
Mangrum Cards 63
AUGUSTA, Ga., April .8 (r!')—
Lean Lloyd Mangrurn, the dapper
mustached Texan address,
uses Niles,
111., as his golfing address, shot an
`almost unbelievable 63 in prac
tice today to establish himself as
favorite in the 17th Masters Tour
nament, starting tomorrow. .