Receiving a pre season build up as the leading contenders for the Eastern Intercollegiate championship, Coach Fred Mitchell's 1937 baseball nine went into an early slump and remains the mystery team of the League. By dint of three victories and one defeat, the Crimson has climbed to second position in the league standings and in the opinion of Andy Coakley, coach at Columbia will wind up in first place at the end of the current season.

As yet the Varsity has not tasted strong opposition, holding one win over Columbia and two over Cornell, while bowing to a mediocre Princeton nine. Erratic and woefully weak at bat, the Mitchellmen have only been able to break even in all their games, marking up six victories to the same number of setbacks. Rained out in their scheduled encounter with Dartmouth last Saturday at Hanover, the Crimson should be able to raise their percentage when they play the stumbling Penn nine here Saturday afternoon.

Weak batting is one of Coach Mitchell's most serious problems at present with the team hitting at a disappointing low mark of .226 in league contests, but recent games with outside schools increased the season's percentage to a presentable .286. Although only rated as a utility man filling in for Art Johns at second base, Dick Grondahl in three league games is the highest Crimson batter in the official standings with an average of .375. Lupe Lupien, colorful first baseman, is second with .313, followed by rightfielder Jim Sullivan who has batted at a .278 clip. Frankie Owen at third is hitting only .250 but holds the league lead in runs batted in with 10.

Hampered all year by an over-worked, one man pitching staff, Coach Fred Mitchell has found in Dave Shean, an outfielder who hasn't toed the stab since his days on the Yardling nine two years ago, someone to share the mound burden with Ed Ingalls. Until Shean was discovered a week ago, Ingalls has won the only games credited to the Crimson victory column. Although Shean has successfully held Brown and Northeastern in check, it is doubtful if his slow ball will baffle the hard hitting batters of the Yale and Dartmouth nines.

In order to become a serious contender for the championship, Mitchell must find or develop another pitcher. A1 Colwell, veteran catcher, has an excellent slow ball and slight curve, but his ability to last nine innings is uncertain. With Dick Walsh and Don Prouty evidently unable to make the grade, Mitchell's only alternative is Slim Curtiss, who hurled winning ball for the undefeated Freshman nine last year.

Behind the plate Colwell need bow to none in the league. His return to the lineup after an absence of two weeks has doubtlessly played a big part in the rejuvenation of the Crimson nine in the recent victories over Brown and Northeastern. In addition, Dick Grondahl, who has recovered from a cold, which kept him from playing for over a week, showed in the last two games that he will be a great asset to a weak hitting infield. At present Grondahl is at second base in place of Art Johns who is bothered by a spiked heel.

Hitting .479 in 13 games played, Lupien is the chief cog in the Varsity attack, dependably holding down the initial sack. The Bilodeau, Johns double-play combination at shortstop and second, and Owen in the hot corner complete probably the best infield in the league. But the outfield is at best erratic. The veteran Jim Sullivan in right is only an average batter and a good fielder. One of the surprizes of the season is the sensational play of Mal "Buster" McTernen in the centerfield garden. Always a go-getter, McTernen has become the hitting star of the recent games with St. Johns and Northeastern. Russ Allen, football captain-elect, at present holds the left field assignment, but either Grondahl or Bob Gannett might be switched to that position in an attempt to strengthen the team at bat.

Boasting an ace twirler in Ingalls and a sharp-hitting, classy infield, the Varsity nine must uncover another dependable hurler and strike new life into a weak outfield in order to survive encounters with Yale and Dartmouth, the two teams challenging the Crimson's claim to the League championship.