South Jersey Baseball History:
Dateline: April

Sunday, April 2, 2000

By Charlie Schick
South Jersey Baseball Historical Society

Dateline is a diary of South Jersey baseball that highlights area players, games, events, and outstanding accomplishments in the past history of the great game of baseball. The April dates and facts listed below are taken from the manuscript entitled "A Day's Walk Through South Jersey Baseball."

April 1, 1960.   In his first ever varsity game, Ernie Bauman of Pemberton High pitched a no-hitter against Central Regional High. The Pemberton ball club captured the contest by the count of 5 to 0. Bauman completely dominated the Central line-up, allowing only for base runners in the game - two on walks, and two via errors.

April 3, 1946.   Pleasantville High's ace hurler Ernie Sutton, tossed a no-hit no-runs game downing Millville High 6 to 0. The dominant Sutton fanned 8 and yielded just 2 walks in twirling his no-no. His teammates put the game away in the very first inning, when they tallied 4 runs. All State shortstop Len Fox, 3 hits, and first baseman Bob Horn, 2 hits, were the winner's offensive leaders.

April 4, 1997.   Depford High's Kyle Jenkins and Ron Solomone teamed up to hurl a no-hitter as their team routed Schalick High 14 to 0. Starter Jenkins was spectacular, fanning 12 of the 15 batters he faced. The contest was decided early as the winners manufactured 4 runs in the 3rd inning and boosted their lead to 5-0.

April 5, 1940.   In their first varsity baseball game in history, Lower Camden County Regional (Overbrook High) defeated Hammonton High 11 to 6 in 9 innings. Regional took advantage of 10 Hammonton errors and collected 8 hits to produce their 11 runs. The winner's offense was led by Stewart and shortstop Holloway with 3 hits apiece. The winning hurler was Sherwood.

April 6, 1979.   In a 5-inning game called because of darkness, Maple Shade High's Joe Fiume hurled a no-hit no-run game to lead his team to a lopsided 15 to 0 victory over Woodrow Wilson High. The winners pounded Wilson pitching for 9 runs in the 4th and 5 more in the 5th. First baseman Randy Read saved the no-hitter with a spectacular catch to end the game.

April 7, 1933.   Moorestown High's All Star catcber Todd Powell went 5 for 5 with a triple and 3 RBIs to help his team to a 9 to 8 victory over Burlington Township High in 8 innings. Township took the lead at 9 to 7 in the 5th, but Moorestown, thanks to Powell, rallied to tie the contest and send it into extra innings. Winning pitcher Mike Havers then singled in Powell for the win.

April 10, 1968.   Don Money, of Vineland New Jersey, made his major leagne debut with the Philadelphia Phillies. He went 1 for 3 with a double and drove in both runs in the Phils 2-0 win over the Los Angles Dodgers. Money would flnish the year with a .231 mark in 4 games.

April 11, 1950.   A one man show was put on by Woodbury High's Bill McKinney, as he single handedly led his mates to a 4 to 3 extra inning win over Woodrow Wilson. McKinney's big day featured his team's only 3 hits, a 5th frame homer to tie the game and a steal of home to win the contest in the 11th inning.

April 14, 1910.   Lena Blackbourne, Riverside New Jersey native, started his major league career by playing for the Chicago White Sox. His first season in the major leagues would be as a backup infielder playing in 75 games with 242 at bats, 42 hits and a .174 average.

April 16, 1940.   Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame right-hand pitcher Bob Feller hurled an Opening Day no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox. The contest featured outstanding pitching on both sides as the Indians only win 1-0. Columbus New Jersey's Eddie "Gorby" Smith is the hard luck losing pitcher for the Sox. Smith went on to finish the season with a 14-9 record.

April 17, 1954.   Ray Narleski, of Collingswood New Jersey, made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians. Ray would go on to develop into one of the top relief pitchers of his day. He pitched 5-years for the Indians and one season for the Detroit TIgers. Major league lifetime numbers showed 43 wins, 33 losses and 58 saves.

April 19, 1960.   Fire-balling right-hand hurler Dick Harris of Haddon Heights High, pitched a no-hit no-run game to lead his teammates to a 8-0 victory over Pemberton High. Harris fanned 11 Pemberton batters and walked just one in hurling his masterpiece. The win kept Heights in first place in the Colonial Conference with a 3 and 0 record.

April 20, 1945.   Gloucester High's star right-hander Keith Staats struck out 16 P=Paulsboro High batters, as he shut out Paulsboro 8 to 0. Staats had perfect control in picking up the victory, as he walked none and surrendered only 2 hits over 7 innings. The winners plated 3 runs in the very first inning to give Staats all the support he Needed.

April 22, 1960.   St. Joseph's of Hammonton Sophomore hurler Sal Igemi became only the second pitcher in the school's history to pitch a no-hitter. Igemi accomplished the feat wben he shut down St. James High 3 to 0 with 8 strikeouts. St. Joe second baseman Sam Rodio had a perfect 3 for 3 day at the plate to lead the winner's offense.

April 24, 1973.   Ted Malinoski, Pitman High right-hander, pitched a perfect game as he blanked Penns Grove High by a 1 to 0 score. Malinoski did not allow a ball to be hit in the outfield during the game, however, two outstanding infield plays by third baseman Jeff Stumpf and second baseman Greg Elias saved his masterpiece.

April 26, 1971.   Northern Burlington High's hurler Jerry Anderson pitched a no-hitter to pick-up an 11 to 1 victory over Bordentown High. The defeat knocked Bordentown out of first place in the Delaware Valley League. Anderson's effort was backed by a 14-hit offensive attack.

April 28, 1983.   Cherokee High's sophomore left-hander Mike Schick pitched the school's first no-hitter in their history. He accomplished the feat by shutting out Rancocas Valley High 1 to 0 with 8 strikeouts. The Chiefs' catcher Jim Brown scored the contest's only run.

April 29, 1967.   Pitman High's Dan McMaster went 5 for 5 in leading a 20-hit offense that crushed Schalick High 17 to 2. Pitman led 10 to 0 after the first 3 innings and coasted the rest of the way. Besides McMaster's perfect day, teammate Joe Crisin went 4 for 4 with 2 doubles.

This is just a small sample of South Jersey's baseball history, but I hope you enjoyed it half as much as I did researching these outstanding scholastic, college, and major leaguers from our area.

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