The most successful freshman teams were, as usual, the Yardling sextet with a 16 and 6 record and a 6-2 win over Yale, and the '61 squash team which had a 10 and 1 slate and an easy win over the Blue.
The Spring Sports
The Spring salved any and all wounds and even made some forget the football holocaust. The baseball team survived an early season hitting slump and went on to win its first Eastern Baseball League title in 29 years as well as defeating Yale 12 to 7. The crucial game was against Dartmouth and the Crimson valuted into first place by belting the Indian's star pitcher Pete Quirk, and winning, 5 to 4. The formula of victory can be found in the varsity's two fine pitchers, Dave Brigham and relief ace Gerry Emmet, a steady catcher in John Davis, and the combined hitting of Frank Saia, Kent Hathaway, Bob Cleary, and Tom Bergantino. No matter how the final two games turn out against Yale, this must be rated as Coach Norm Shepard's finest season.
After last year's disappointments, it was a particularly satisfying year for Harvard crew. The lightweights rolled over all their opposition and were a unanimous choice to go to Henley. The heavies went into the Sprints undefeated and only finished third by a stroke of bad luck. All told Harvard crew this spring won 51 out of 55 races. The record speaks for itself.
Coach Jack Barnaby's tennis team followed the idyllic spring pattern as it went undefeated to win the Eastern Intercollegiate League. The match of the year was the Crimson's outstanding 6-3 defeat of Yale which saw varsity Captain Dale Junta climax his Harvard career by defeating Yale's Donald Dell, one of the country's best young players in three sets. Between tennis and squash, Barnaby's teams amassed a 27 and 1 record for him this year. Again the record speaks for itself.
Joel Landau's four first places in the varsity track team's 85 to 55 rout of Yale must rank as the year's most exciting sports accomplishment by a Harvard athlete. Landau went on to win twice in the IC4A and should be well nigh invincible next year.
It was, then, a dismal fall, a good, winter, and a banner spring. 1957-58 will probably be remembered as the year of the Yale football game, but it was more than that. It was the year that Harvard had the best basketball, baseball, tennis, and lightweight crew teams in a long time. All one can hope for now is that John Yovicsin will be able to develop some kind of pass defense by next November