Saturday, July 15, 1961
GREEN GIANTS HAD A JOLLY GOOD SEASON, WON SECONDARY LEAGUE CROWN ON LAST WEEKEND WITH SWEEP OF STOUTS
It was a thrilling finish in the South Island Secondary League this season... 3 clubs battled down to the last weekend before the Joliet Green Giants took charge and created their own destiny... Joliet (18-10) tamed the third place Cherrywood Stouts (15-13) twice and nabbed their first crown in 5 years of play in the South Island Leagues... the St. Dominic Saints (16-12) wound up in the runner-up spot... the Pelham Oaks (15-13) were the other club in the top half of the league... Joliet will now return to the Supreme League where it first started in 1957... the Green Giants will be promoted to the Supreme League next year... the last place team in that league, the New Yerby Yankees, will fill Joliet's spot in the Secondary League next season.
The South Island Secondary League was filled with 8 ballclubs that were fairly evenly-matched... no one stood out above the others very much... except in one respect, perhaps on the hill... Joliet had 3 productive moundsmen... its two main rivals, St. Dominic and Cherrywood, could not match them... otherwise the Secondary League was filled with parity.
Joliet (18-10) had an even-keeled season with no bad stretches... the Green Giants played consistent baseball throughout the year... they had 3 quality hurlers in Rufus Turner (8-4/2.75 ERA), Ellis Schexnaydre (3-2/3.29 ERA) and Sid Landry (5-3/3.74 ERA)... Turner was voted the 1961 South Island Secondary League Most Valuable Player... shortstop Phil Richard came in second in the MVP poll... bats were aplenty for the Green Giants, sparked by Phil Richard (.279 BA/2 HR/27 RBI/18 R), first baseman Alphonse Guidry (.280 BA/8 HR/23 RBI/25 R), left fielder Ronnie Fleming (.315 BA/2 HR/18 RBI/21 R)... second baseman Ralph Varricchio (.331 BA/11 RBI/23 R) and catcher Teebo Chargois (.322 BA/13 RBI/23 R) were also standout hitters... Joliet will return to the Supreme League... they played one season there in 1957, finished dead last and were relegated to the Secondary League, where the Green Giants had little success until this pennant-winning season... overall in its South Island history, Joliet stands only 37-43.
The St. Dominic Saints were doomed by a slow 3-7 start the first 5 weekends... but they did come on strong down the home stretch and almost caught league champion Joliet... the Saints suffered from a lack of good starters... only one Max Rommel (7-2/3.21 ERA) was effective most of the season... they lost Jean-Paul Renoir (3-2/2.92 ERA) in late May with an arm injury... he would have made a difference in their season... they didn't find a replacement for Renoir... like most of the teams in the league, the Saints had pretty good offense... top performers were center fielder Norm Manchester (.350 BA/6 HR/19 RBI/21 R), third baseman Larry Arbour (.292 BA/4 HR/19 RBI/17 R), first baseman Gil LaGrange (.298 BA/2 HR/12 RBI/23 R), catcher Clement DeHavilland (.333 BA/16 RBI) and right fielder Blaise Lapeyrouse (.250 BA/4 HR/18 RBI/16 R)... as far as team history, St. Dominic began play in 1957 and lasted 3 seasons in the Supreme League... the Saints were demoted after the 1959 season to the Secondary League... the team record is 39-40 for its 5 years in the South Island Leagues.
The Cherrywood Stouts (15-13) and the Pelham Oaks (15-13) deadlocked for third place this season... like St. Dominic, the Stouts played poorly at the start of the season, lagging behind with a 3-7 mark... they turned it around and got back in the hunt for the league pennant, but Joliet shattered their hopes by sweeping a twinbill on the last weekend of the season... Dave Schulman (7-6/3.32 ERA) was the only steady starter this year... Austin Pride (6-4/4.53 ERA) was inconsistent most of the season... on occasion he shined and did well... the Cherrywood bullpen was lousy... at the plate the Stouts did fine, led by first baseman Tony Armstrong (.349 BA/5 HR/24 RBI/15 R), left fielder Lester Atkins (.387 BA/3 HR/19 RBI/23 R), shortstop Rick Fargnoli (.322 BA/20 RBI/13 R) and center fielder Robert Wheeler (.274 BA/1 HR/17 RBI/22 R)... in the club history, Cherrywood has always been in the Secondary League, but has done well in recent seasons... they lost a playoff game to Grin Hill in 1960 and missed out on being promoted to the Supreme League... the Stouts were under the .500 mark only in its debut year 1957... they are now 43-37 over 5 seasons.
The Pelham Oaks (15-13) rank high in all categories and look like the best team in the Secondary League... the Oaks standout at the plate, on the hill and with the gloves... but they swooned in June and dropped 4 straight games... the Oaks never recovered from that slump... yet they did tie for third place and winded up just 3 games behind champion Joliet in the pennant chase... Corey Wyatt (7-6/3.68 ERA) and John Wright (4-5/3.99 ERA) were two dependable starters and the bullpen was fairly good, too... scoring runs was a sore spot... Pelham possess only one .300 batter... that was catcher Doug Patterson (.350 BA/2 HR/12 RBI/20 R)... right fielder Matt Lucas (.298 BA/2 HR/13 RBI/20 R) and third sacker Mike Henson (.287 BA/4 HR/18 RBI/16 R) were the only other productive bats in the lineup... looking at the Oaks' past history, they have been in the South Island League for all 7 years... Pelham began in the Supreme League and did well for the first two seasons... the Oaks were the league champ in 1956, but were demoted a year later to the Secondary League... they have been mired there since then... Pelham has a losing mark with 47 wins and 52 defeats in its history.
The Parkland Perfectos (14-14) have an abundance of talent, but have only managed an overall 39-40 record in its 5 seasons, all in the South Island Secondary League... Parkland wound up fifth this year... they are very consistent and very average... their only losing season was the first year in 1957... and they were 5-7 that season... with better pitching this season, the Perfectos could have been a serious contender... if they had just had a decent bullpen, they might have challenged for the pennant... Parkland can hit the ball... they play good defense... the starters Denny Lee (4-6/3.61 ERA) and Jeff Veltre (6-4/4.44 ERA) do pretty well, but relief corps is abominable (6.96 ERA)... the Perfectos are the top team offensively, paced by shortstop John Strauss (.321 BA/26 RBI/18 R), left fielder Vincent Jeansonne (.343 BA/2 HR/23 RBI/21 R), Aaron Kettering (.295 BA/8 HR/22 RBI/24 R), right fielder Bruce Bundy (.313 BA/16 RBI/16 R), Ballhawk Bannen (.227 BA/1 HR/17 RBI/16 R) and third baseman Mike Jones (.333 BA/9 RBI/16 R).
The Bar Harbor Acadians (13-15) have been a mediocre team for all of its 7 years in the South Island League, 6 of them in the Supreme League... this year the Cajuns were demoted to the Secondary League and they were still mediocre, winding up in sixth place... Bar Harbor began the season very well running up a sensational 7-1 mark in the first month, then they went on a hellatious 10-game losing skid that ruined the year... the Acadians can't hit a lick... they depend on shortstop Mike Allen (.274 BA/2 HR/19 RBI/19 R) and first baseman Andre Martel (.289 BA/5 HR/16 RBI/18 R) to put runs on the scoreboard with some help from third baseman Jeff Grubin (.336 BA/1 HR/14 RBI/11 R) and right fielder Warren Gravois (.366 BA/9 RBI/11 R)... the Cajuns have posted a 48-52 record and never has won a league flag...the closest they ever came was in 1956 when Bar Harbor (7-3) ended up second to Supreme League champion Pelham (8-2).
The Littleville Supermen (11-17) were a .500 team in April and May, then the bottom dropped out as they went 1-9 and tumbled near the bottom of the league standings and just barely escaped last place in the last game of the season, when they beat last place Billings in the second game of the doubleheader... Littleville can hit homers, have two fairly solid starters, but not much of a bullpen... Carlo Fresina (6-7/3.75 ERA) and Billy Pate (4-5/3.43 ERA) are quality hurlers, but the relievers rarely hold the lead late in the games... the Supermen have some potent bats in third baseman Jay Danley (.348 BA/9 HR/19 RBI/25 R), right fielder Dusty Brennan (.369 BA/3 HR/17 RBI/17 R), left fielder Billy Daniels (.282 BA/4 HR/16 RBI/18 R) and second baseman Denny Farmer (.229 BA/3 HR/17 RBI/17 R)... historically Littleville has never recorded a winning season in its 7 years, all in the Secondary League... in 1956 and 1957 they did break even... the Supermen's league record is a very poor 40-59.
The last place team in the South Island Secondary League this season was the Billings Rams (10-18)... the Rams have been pathetic in the Secondary League for all 7 years with an overall 40-59 mark... however, Billings has had 2 winning seasons, 1957 and 1958... they broke even in 1960... the Rams have never come close to winning or even challenging for the Secondary League title... once they came in third in the standing, 3 and a half-game behind the league winner... that was in 1960... Gaspar Marini is a jack of all trades... a fine pitcher with a 6-6 record and impressive 2.91 ERA and the team's regular second baseman... he is batting .306 with 1 homer, 7 ribbies and 14 runs... third baseman Ralph Ziegler (.306 BA/3 HR/14 RBI/18 R) and center fielder Mike Mitchell (.262 BA/2 HR/14 RBI/13 R) also help out.
South Island Secondary League Batting Leaderboards
