The Harvard baseball team took its Brush Hill Sightseeing Shuttle across Cambridge yesterday. Here's what the Crimson saw en route to the 9-7 victory over MIT that lifted Harvard's record to 19-3 overall, 5-1 in the Greater Boston League.
*A scrappy Division III club running around to shouts of "Beaver ball, Beaver ball."
*A small metal hook which, when pointed towards the mound and rotated to science fiction sounds out of "Lost in Space," was supposed to unnerve the visiting pitcher. Explained one bench-warming Engineer. "It makes him think he's gonns get the hook."
*A circle, drawn in the dirt with a bat, with the opposing pitcher's number inscribed. "An ellipse will do just as well," the Engineer said. "We had a six-game losting streak until we started with the hook and the circle," he added, MIT is now 7-8.
The hook didn't seem to bother either Crimson starter Paul Vallone or relief ace Chris Schindler, who were too busy getting used to standing on a pitcher's mound to pay attention to Beaver hijinks. Vallone, a night fielder, and Schindler, a first baseman, aren't exactly the team's most experienced hurlers.
Vallone said he has thrown "a little b.p. [batting practice] in the cage" since tossing two thirds of an inning last year. That appearance--a two-run outing against Boston College--was his college debut.
MIT didn't get to him until the fourth, when the Engineers batted around to stake a 4-0 lead. Aside from that, Vallone threw five shutout innings and yielded just three hits.
"I'm gonna get to start both games against Cornell," the sophomore quipped.
The four-run inning startled Harvard, which had managed just two hits in the first four frames off Beaver hurler Mike DiChristina. It wouldn't become the top-ranked team in New England to fall to a Division III school.
Walks to Bruce Weller and Jim DePalo and singles by Bobby Kay and Mickey Maspons halved MIT's advantage in the top of the fifth. In the sixth, a Gaylord Lyman single, a Chris McAndrews double, two errors and a DePalo single chased DiChristina and gave Harvard 6-4 edge.
A Lyman walk, a Weller double and a Kay single got two more for Harvard in the seventh, and Lyman's first home run of the year, a shot to the power alley in left, closed out the Crimson scoring.
Schindler, who didn't pitch at all last year, finished things up and got his first save. He struck out three in as many innings.
How does it feel? "It hurts," Schindler said. "Right here."
"My slider-wasn't working, my curveball didn't break and my fastball was erratic," he said. "My other pitches worked great."
THE NOTEBOOK: MIT is 2-3 in the Greater Boston League. The Beavers beat Northeastern, which best Harvard. What does it mean? Not much. Princeton is scheduled to make up its doubleheader at Harvard Tuesday. The teams' April 15 date got rained out. They were going in why it April 23, and Harvard rescheduled a game with Brandeis to clear the date. Princeton backed out. Tuesday's twin bill could came problems, as the Crimson is scheduled to face Cornell tomorrow and Army Saturday. Game--Winning RBI--DePalo. LOS--Harvard 10, MIT 7. E--Schinder, Hosha, Rothman. DP--Harvard 2, MIT 1. 28--Weller, McAndrewn, Hosh, Polle, Switzer, HR--Lyman, Martinall. SB--Kay 2, Lyman, Rivera. CS--Kay, Rothman. Vallone faced one batter in seventh. DiChristina faced five batters in sixth WP--Vallone, DiChristina A--27. T-3:05
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