THE MICHUIGAN DAILY ophomores, uniors Hold Fortunes of l "1 VIA By FRED KATZ the NCAA championships at Oma- chigan's baseballers started ha during June. Until the playoffs season with a flourish but Western had lost only six games I with a frustrating fizzle. including the two to Michigan. predominately sophomore Fisher's Last (15 of the 24 men to see It was a year that was unique a were first year men), it was in several ways for the Wolverines. :ted to cause little stir in the The 1958 outfit was the last of 38 Ten race. The 7-8 record in Michigan teams to take the fi'eld Conference shows that the under the keen tutelage of coach erines followed the form chart Ray Fisher. He was only the second 7 closely, diamond ;coach in Michigan's his- e season's overall mark was tory, the first being Branch Rickey, i more impressive at 18-12. who has since gone onto greater of the non-league wins came glory in the najor leagues. ist Western Michigan, the Unique, and rather untimely, that represented, District 4 in too, was the fact that the Wol- verines finished in the second divi- sion for only the second time during Fisher's tenure. Michigan ended in a sixth-place tie with Indiana. The weakness that Fisher said would be his team's downfall - shoddy pitching - evidenced it- self in the middle of the season against the sturdy bats of Western Conference hitters. Almost every hurler on the squad seemed to have his difficulties sometime during the pennant drive. And many of the difficulties stemmed from sore arms that didn't heal fast enough in the Florida sun. Then, too, Fisher was relying on eight sophomores of a 12-man mounds corps, and their inexperi- ence at times proved disastrous. Liakonis Tops Michigan's outstanding flinger in Big Ten play proved to be Nick Liakonis, a bespectacled right- hander from Detroit, who compiled a 3-1 record in his first varsity season. Liakonis was second to workhorse John Herrnstein in strikeouts as he set back 29 enemy hitters. Herrnstein, of course, was the mainstay of the pitching staff through most of the season. How- ever,nhewas frequently incon- sistent and toward the close of the year was not nearly the pitch- er he was at the beginning. The honor of appearing in the most games went to a sophomore from Woodville, Ohio, Al Koch. Although used in relief a great deal of the time, Koch was the Wolverine's third starter and showed a lot of promise. Theeright-hander found Michi- gan State a soft touch, also, and beat them on four hits, 2-1,- im- mediately following Herrnstein 's win. The winning run" in the con- test was knocked in by Jack Mock in the bottom of the seventh. Mock's hit was dramatized by the fact that he had just been brought up from the reserves. in order to strengthen the right-handed hit- ting. It was his first hit in a Wol- verine uniform. Rough Time Koch had a difficult time of it. through the rest of the season, but finally picked up his second win-by relieving Herrnstein in the year's finale against Iowa. The 6-5 victory provided Mich- igan with a doubleheader sweep. against the Hawkeyes after they had won the opener, 7-3, and end- ed Fisher's career on an appropri- ately happy note. Two'senior southpaws saw limit- ed pitching action in winding up the last of their three years each on the squad. Dean Finkbeiner The infielders supplied the hit- ting power. The five regulars, four of whom should return next season had a combined average. of . .310. The next two foremost hitters be- hind Brown were catcher Jim Dickey with a .342 and sophomore first sacker Bill Roman with .327. Dickey, chosen to the Big Ten All-Star team, was also first in the runs-batted-in department with 125. Double-Play Combination Completing the infield were the double play combination of Ernie Myers and Bob, Kucher. Myers, the smooth-fielding senior short- stop, finished at .230 while Kucher completed his first season for the Maize and Blue with .274. The outfield, combination last season was never a fixed one. It depended on who was pitching for both the opposition and Michigan as well. About. the only real fixture was Ralph Hutchins, the 1959 captain-s elect, who thrilled Ferry Field fans7 with several stunning grabs of] sure-fire homers. Once, during the Purdue game,' Hutchins raced to the fence in left field for a line shot. The ball, was several feet above his head; he leaped for it and at the same1 time going over the fence. He hit the other side with a perfect som- ersault the sphere still in his glove. Hutchins also hit a highly re- spectable .295. In centerfield was Herrnstein, that is, when he wasn't pitching. Herrnstein was five points below Hutchins with .290, but always was dangerous because of his long-ball. threat. Other Fielders Alternating at both center and right was the left-handed hitting Sealby who finished at a .256 clip. Also sharing right field and avail- able for pinch-hitting roles were that is needed to turn it in Neil McDonald and Mogk. They real championship outfit. hit .333 and .291 respectively Only two regulars will be n s.. r e a ing .from the lineup, Myers What does the coning season Sealby, and they were the have to offer ,"M" baseball fans? with the lowest batting aver From the evidence of last year's An excellent crop of fresh squad which always had the poten- indicate that the job of the tial but seemed lacking in its base- coach, whoever he may be, wi ball savvy, experience is about all one of bliss. Try FOLLETT'S First at BARGAIN PRICES 'New Books if You Prefer STATE STREET at. NORTH UNIVERSITY BIG SWING-Dave Brown, Junior third baseman this next spring, takes a hefty swing at a fastball."The catcher for Western Michi- gan is set td throw to second, as gone of Brown's- teammates attempts a steal. WELCOME STUDENTS BILL ROMAN .. ..sophomore slugger finished with a 3-2 record, made mostly against non-conference op- ponents. Bob Sealby, who was used primarily as an outfielder, didn't allow an earned run but failed to figure in a decision. Surprise Hurler The surprise of the pitchers was the squat rightie Bob Stabrylla, The senior, who has played every position except first base, sat .on the bench until the Purdue game when Michigan was trailing by an insurrmountable amount. Stabrylla ambled to the mound, threw three excellent innings, and the Wolverine's most 'effective re- liefer was uncovered. The con- fident little hurler still has'a year's eligibility left despite his, senior status, but hasn't yet decided whether to usee it. Rounding out the mound staff were five sophomores who were used primarily in relief and show- ed excellent potential. Two of them, Jim Bradshaw and Ron Jernigan, actually sported the top records on the team, 2-0 apiece, but pitched' only 17 and 163 in- nings respectively. Other Pitchers The other three were George Weemhoff, Larry Hearing and Danny DenHouter, who threw a total of 10 innings between them and posted a composite 2-1 record. In the hitting department three regulars boasted above .300 batting averages with third baseman Dave Brown leading the club at .376. The team's overall percentage .of .288 showed where its real strength Jay. SAWBOOKS You will find our store specially equipped to supply you with LAW case books and Supplies. Our LAW section is staffed by. law students to assist you on your requirements. THE LAW BOOK STORE . 1, Freshmen, ask your classmates Keep your hair neat and well groomed during your 4 years on campus in our air-conditioned shop, Phone NO 3-4436 715 North University 1216 South University i if ' I 4 Q U A L I TY.. prime characteristic of WINTHROP SHOES r' F-r