Monday, July 27, 1953
GATORS GOBBLE UP SOUTH ISLAND FIRST LEAGUE FLAG
Two old rivals from the South Island Second League moved up this year to the South Island First League and it was the same old song, but a different verse... last year St. Dominic edged out the Guedon Gators for the pennant, but this year Guedon exacted a little revenge and snatched it from the Saints in a season-long battle that ended in a sudden-death playoff... the Gators edged the Saints 4-3 in 10 inning for the league crown.
In the early season the Opelousas Lions leaped to the top of the standings and led until May (7-2), but the Lions swooned badly in May and June (1-8) and fell out of contention and wound up in third place... Guedon and St. Dominic played steady ball throughout the year and replaced the Lions by June 1st... last year's SIFL champion Labadieville stumbled out of the gate (3-6) and finished fourth this year in a disappointing season... Guedon won it with better hitting and solid pitching... St. Dominic did not hit very well at all and it's pitching staff had a down year... none of the teams in the SIFL play good defense... they are all mediocre with the gloves.
1st Place: Guedon Gators (14-7)
In Guedon's first two years in Island baseball, they were second in the SI Second in 1952 (11-9) and won it this year (14-7) after being promoted to the SI First... pitcher Chris Charlet (11-2/2.74 ERA/13 starts) was the key this year... he made the difference in the race... another prime reason was the Gators' batting order was chocked full of solid hitters with the likes of left fielder Jean-Claude Jolissaint (.388/1 HR/19 RBI/14 R/0 SB), second baseman Anthony Stassi (.345/1 HR/20 RBI/14 R/2 SB), right fielder George Thomas (.323/1 HR/12 RBI/25 R/17 SB), center fielder Charley Comeaux (.282/3 HR/16 RBI/14 R/7 SB) and third baseman Jimmy Donahue (.288/1 HR/13 RBI/8 R/5 SB)... they easily topped the SIFL with a .286 team BA.
2nd Place: St. Dominic Saints (13-8) (1 GB)
The Saints could stay with the Gators on the mound, but not at the plate... they hit only .232 this year, but scored well because they easily led the league in steals with 70... St. Dominic needs better hitters... still they have done well with a pennant in 1952 (12-8) and came in a close second in 1953 (13-8)... they could have won the pennant outright on the last day of the regular season, but they were upended by the last place Des Allemands Eagles... pitcher Paul Amiss (8-6/3.12 ERA/19 starts) was the pivotal player, but he did not do as well this year as in the pennant-winning season... Amiss had a brilliant year in '52 with a 9-4 record and a splendid 1.78 ERA... also St. Dominic sorely missed its fine shortstop Mickey Retif, who only played 6 games at the tail end of season due to an injury... Retif hit .354 in '52 with 15 RBIs, but wasn't the same this year in the batter's box or in the field, ending up with a pitiful .040 batting average (1 hit in 25 ABs)... the Saints only had three players to carry the offensive load: star center fielder Bobby Taylor (.413/5 HR/22 R/32 R/23 SB), second baseman Connie Ryan (.299/2 HR/11 RBI/19 R/16 SB) and rookie shortstop Johnny Kitchens (.282/0 HR/18 RBI/15 R/7 SB)... Kitchens filled in very well for the injured Retif.
3rd Place: Opelousas Lions (10-10) (3.5 GB)
The Lions have played two seasons in the SI First, winding up third both times... 11-9 in '52 and 10-10 this year... after a quick 7-2 getaway in March and April, the Lions lapsed badly and didn't win a game in May (0-5)... lousy pitching was their problem... they tried 6 different hurlers, none of them successful in the least... Raymond Colbert (5-2/4.90 ERA/9 starts) was the best of the worst... the starters posted a disasterous 6.02 ERA... Opelousas didn't exactly hit the cover off the ball, batting a poor .238... top hitters were catcher Adrien Duval (.317/1 HR/14 RBI/13 R/0 SB), center fielder Jozef Zelazny (.294/15 RBI/15 R/14 SB) and left fielder Leon Rousseau (.294/16 RBI/2 HR/11 R/1 SB)... the Lions have a lot of holes to fill to complete with Guedon and St. Dominic.
4th Place: Labadieville Pelicans (9-11) (4.5 GB)
the Pels went from the proverbial penthouse to the outhouse in '53... they ran away with the South Island First last year (15-5), but fell to 9-11 this year... terrible pitching will do it every time (5.29 ERA)... 1952 star starter David Bosley with a 10-3 record and a 3.40 ERA, slipped to 1-4 and a whopping 9.33 in 1953... 'nuff said... Jean-Claude Moreau (5-3/4.06 ERA/10 starts) righted the ship somewhat at midseason, but it was too late... Moreau is still not the answer... Labadieville will have to perform much better on the hill to compete with Guedon and St. Dominic... however, the Pelicans can still bang the ball, led by center fielder Leon Renoir (.333/8 HR/24 RBI/18 R/12 SB), the SIFL leader in homers and runs batted in... also helping out immensely were rookie shortstop Gator Davidson (.333/6 HR/17 RBI/20 R/9 SB) and second baseman Raphael Fournier (.387/3 HR/17 RBI/9 R/2 SB)... the Pelicans led the league with 25 roundtrippers.
5th Place: Claiborne Cardinals (8-12) (5.5 GB)
The Cards are headed for the South Island Second League... they will be relegated along with last place Des Allemands (7-13) next season... Claiborne had a winning year last year (11-9) and finished in a three-way tie for the second spot in the standings... poor pitching played the biggest part in their fall from grace (4.59 ERA)... Tyree Trahan (3-5/3.48 ERA/9 starts) and rookie Artie Shaw (3-3/5.79 ERA/5 starts) were the best of the lot... the Cardinal offense was pretty good, paced by third baseman Bill Belliveau (.329/3 HR/20 RBI/13 R/0 SB), first baseman Andre Dumas (.295/5 HR/16 RBI/16 R/1 SB) and center fielder Luke Arceneaux (.282/3 HR/13 RBI/16 R/11 SB)... also helping the cause were second baseman Adam Clement (.306/12 RBI/11 R/5 SB), right fielder Jeremy DeLosier (.237/4 HR/13 RBI/14 R/2 SB) and left fielder Benjamin Pardue (.250/1 HR/15 RBI/14 R/9 SB)... Claiborne wound up second in homers with 21.
6th Place: Des Allemands Eagles (7-13) (6.5 GB)
The Eagles had some good pitching in 1952 and tied for second place (11-9), but it dropped off this year and they tumbled to last place (7-13)... the club will be demoted to the South Island Second League... the bats also declined this season... the Eagles were pathetic at the plate with a league-worst .220 batting average, led by mininal efforts of center fielder Kurt Fischer (.273/2 HR/11 RBI/11 R/1 SB), rookie left fielder Carl Dailey (.265/3 HR/15 RBI/11 R/0 SB), right fielder Hans Hildebrandt (.247/3 HR/16 RBI/12 RBI/10 SB), rookie shortstop Dickie Hammond (.247/4 HR/9 RBI/18 R/4 SB) and catcher Dieter Heinberg (.256/2 HR/9 RBI/12 R/7 SB)... starter Otto Ostwinkle (4-6/3.21 ERA/11 starts) was the the most effective, but not as good as he was in 1952, when he was 8-7 with a fine 2.60 ERA.
