The Columbia Record from Columbia, South Carolina • 35

saHOi is Checking Their Grips Infielders Engage in Pepper Game Four Columbia Post 6 pitchcrsdlsplay their grips un the balL Left to right Ronnie Ilcwilt Charlie White Steve Flaherty and Paul Kannaday (Record bat as Post lnflcldcra go through Oscar Allison (Record photo by are: photo by Underwood) Robinson Steve Adams and Underwood) right are: Bailey McClinton Stanley Columbia Post 6 Has Baserunning But Lacks Pitching Karl Myers supplies the a game of pepper Left to tion If he comes through we could be good" Soda Reilly of DentivUle wiU be used at second and short He's a good hitter ex-catcher but lacks high school experience Bailey McCUnton of Columbia High 15 is playing his first year counting on him to mako progress He's a better hitter than he is fielder Then we have Bobby Burnside of Lower Richland He was a shortstop this spring and is the youngest (15) on the squad and possibly the best prospect we have for the the coach said Metxe will play la left field and bat clean-up bas excellent potential as a hitter" Player said hits from the right side and can power Hewitt who bats left will be in center a good baserunner and the fastest on the the coach allowed Flaherty will be assigned to right field a good all-around player a smart base Player opined Two reserve outfielders are Karl Myers of Dentsvilie and Bubba Clough of Lower Richland is real good on defense but not a good hitter Clough is only 15 a good hitter already Two of Top Hitters Sonny Mctze (left) and Tommy Linton both of carry big bats for Mooney Columbia Post Underwood) Flora are counted on (o 6 club (Record photo by Worried Monopolizer Earnhardt Not By RAY BENSON Record Sports Writer biggest asset Is catching and Mooney Player coach of the Columbia Post I Legion Jii-niors said biggest problems are pitching and long-bail bitting have six boys we are considering using as pilch era" Player continued lack overall experience Charlie White of Flora Is the best we have but he has only one year of expert cnce and that was with the school team this spring one of our lefthanders White has a lack of speed Ia fact we don't have but one boy who can throw fast White has five different slow balls what you would call a junk pitcher He has good control and tries to keep the hitters off balance and Backbone Paul Kannaday of Columbia High au 18-year old who just joined the squad the same as White but a little stronger Steve Flaherty a 17-year-old from Denls-ville Is another slow ball pitcher but he has a real good curve Player Ronnie Hewitt a IT-year-old from Columbia who even play high school ball this spring the fastest thing we have but he lacks experience He's another Pitchers five and six are reliefers Sonny Metxe and Tommy Linton' both of Flora They will normally play other positions Both are righthanders Metxe is IS Linton 17 Behind the plate is Bernard Shlrer of Columbia High the wheelhorse of the ColumUa Post 8 team is strong in all three Player said throwing receiving and hitting the top of Columbia ballplayer on the team He gained valuable experience ia Colt and Ugh school ball also have Ed DuVall from Lower Richland a 15-year-old who is a real good prospect Then we can use Linton if necessary That's why I consider catching one of our Uggest Linton however will be playing first base for the first time has no experience at that position but learning His bat keeps him in there Oscar Allison (17) of Dentsvilie is our defensive specialist for first base Robinson (17 of Flora) win lead off and play second base for Player continued has lots of defensive ability and is a good hitter too Adams (17 of Dentsvilie) is our key man at shortstop He has to come through for us Our progress as a team will depend on his progress because he is in a key posi Club and a fine the coach said Coaching a 18 player squad is not an easy task when individual work Is needed For assistants Play-has Bill LaMotle of the USC Gamecocks and Jeff Gunter who will serve as baseball coach at Lower Richland next season have two youngsters who help a lot Player said Kelly keeps the score and Wayne Simpson bandies the equipment" Columbia Post I will actually play ony three games this season on its home field Player's boys will play all six games at Orangeburg but will be the home team three times They will play all six games against Cayce Post 138 at the B-C field but will be the home team three times Columbia Post 8 will play Its home games against Richland Post 8 at the Hospital field and play the other three at Capital City Park realise we will do more travelling than Player said we have lights at the Hospital and some of the boys just couldn't get to the day games early enough We might make a little more money run there anymore They say I monopolized it then and monopolize it Now fans in Hickory have to come to Columbia Speedway and other area tracks to see the Concord NC native race There are some drivers around the circuit who would like to see him run exclusively at Hickory as far away from the Columbia track as possible Earnhardt has won two main events at the Columbia Speedway this year in his 1956 Ford It is according to the crew-cut father of five lot of fun like to run against all the fellows here Dink (Wi-denhouse) Lee Roy (Yar- run was the only tally the 35-year-old southpaw needed Howard said he had any kind of luck he would have 10 wins right now had bad luck getting better as he goes along sharper than ever He's still throwing a good curve a Md fastball and a good slider now he's got First For LeMaster MILWAUKEE (AP)-Milwau-kee southpaw Denny Lemaster a hard-luck hurler in his first full season with the Braves last year appears ready to taka his a Hickory Speedway officials throw an anti-trust suit at galloping Ralph Earnhardt so they went one step further they banned him from further competi- -tion at the North Carolina track But you find Earnhardt a veteran of 15 years of racing' too upset about that because a testimo- nial to his amazing success that he was asked not to run there anymore After 22 wins in 24 starts at the Hickory track speedway officials feared presence in the field would possibly serve to drive off customers was a period of my greatest recalls Ralph let me RALFII EARNHARDT Wants Major Win brough) Joe (Penland) and Bud (Moore) all good drivers and you gotta be good to stay with My greatest success has come on the dirt tracks and like a lot of boys that drive the bigger tracks I still say dirt track racing is the best" Earnhardt began his racing career in Concord when boy in Kannapolis wanted me to help him build a racing engine When we finished it I got in revved it up and took off The man who owned the car (a 1934 Ford coupe) offered me a chance to drive it ran third in the heat race the first time I got on a track then won the consolation and finished fourth it if I keep pitching like The veteran right-hander is as tough as ever in his new career as a crafty pitcher The Roberts of the 1950s in Philadelphia simply mowed down He was a 20-game winner six straight seasons is a real solid club and could go all the Roberts said for 300 victories remember I'm 37 years old and I need 38 more victories so far in the future I think much about it these days I'll admit I'd like to reach it and 1 can if I keep this in the main event Back then radng was tough We ran third in 13 consecutive races and fourth in the 14th In the old days we could bang each other around and nobody got hurt didn't care if you got knocked off the track not back then but now things are different There's nothing to do now but drive to Earnhardt credits Vote with helping him in the beginning anybody have to credit for my he said would have to be Tappy He helped me get a real good engine and gave me a lot of good Earnhardt's greatest desire? to win a major he asserts have won but they didn't give it to me A few years ago in the Rebel 300 I was leading and I made a fast pit stop Well nobody passed me and I finished eighth We still figured that one out in 1961 Cotton Owens let me drive one of his Pontiacs at Atlanta in the 500 1 thought I won Cotton-said I won and even the scorers said I won But I get the money A cording to the final tabulation Bob Burdick finished first guess you just can't beat an educated Earnhardt will be among those seeking victory in tonight's main event at the Columbia Speedway beginning at 830 pm Some Frustration Hurlers Speaking But This Season's of Their Successes place among pitchers top dungeop curve is the big Lemaster said The fast ball still is my pitch but now I fool the batters with the slow curve I worked on it all spring but then lost my motion when the regular season started and got Roberts Wants 3N KANSAS CITY (AP)-Robin Roberts is off to a great start with a 172 earned run average and thinks more about a Baltimore pennant than his 300th vie- tory But he says can make ST PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS still the chairman of the board what always called catcher Elston Howard said unabashed praise was being lavished on New York Yankee pitching coach Whitey Ford who these days is his own best pupil With a sore hip from a pulled muscle he shut out Minnesota 3-0 on four hits Wednesday night for his fourth shutout and seven complete games this season He posted his sixth victory in seven decisions and lowered his earned run average to 153 Howard's fourth Inning borne 1 Bernard Shirer will have heavy duty behind the plate for Columbia Post 'In addition to being counted on to supply the power hitting for Mooney dub (Record photo by Underwood) I I.