The Prexie baseball team came within one victory of becoming the Eastern District baseball cham pions as they completed what Caoch Pete Mills calls "the most successful all-around season since 1958."
The diamonders entered the tournament boasting a 10-3 record with only Granby and Norview having better records.
In the opening round of the tourney on May 19 at Cascade Park, the Proxies, behind the shutout pitching of Jimmy Foster, crushed Great Bridge, 12-0. On the following night the Presidents won again, downing the Norview Pilots, (5-3, with John Lewis handling the mound chores.
A win the next day would have meant the title for WWHS, but a determined Granby Comet squad outlasted the Prexies and pitcher Tim Bradshaw to eke out a 9-8 win and claim the Eastern District crown.
Wilson this year has displayed power at the plate. Roger Black-man led the team's sluggers with a .367 batting average. Garland Gifford followed close behind with a .354. Rounding out the team's starters were Tim Bradshaw, .334; Russell Long, .339; Jimmy Foster, .297; Mickey Yates, .329; Carl Coleman, .245; Syd Hughson, .194; and John Lewis, .160.
Prexie pitchers combined for an earned run average of 1.89 with John Lewis leading the-Pixie hurlers with a 6-1 record, pitching
Weightman Taylor
Taylor Places 6th In State Shot Put
Sophomore, Arthur Taylor was the sole WWHS representative on May 21st at the State Championship Track Tournament at Wil-liamsburg. Taylor stands 6'4" and throws the shot put and discus. In the tournament he placed sixth in the shot put, just barely missing the fifth position. In the discus throw he took the number eight place.
The track team ended the '66 season with a 2-3 won-lost record. A meet with Granby was rained out and not rescheduled.
Coach Ted Masters states that Taylor was the most improved man on the team. Taylor returns next year and is expected to do an even more "outstanding" job. Taylor is a "hard worker" and a "leader" of the other boys" says Masters The main ingredients missing fromthe teamwas the injuries of a couple of "key men".
Dickie Warren was out with a leg injury all season. Warren was the best hurdler on the team and a good high jumper.
Thaddeus Parsons was the other key man. He stayed out about half the season due to various injuries. Parsons is a broad jumper and a triple jumper.
These injuries also caused the biggest disappointment of the season. Masters believed that Wilson "would not have lost a meet" if it had not been for those few injuries.
The track commander had high praise for cinderman Danny Hol land. Holland is a Sophomore and is described as "very good" by Masters. Holland ran the two mile in 10:9.3.
"I felt sorry about losing two key boys, but that's the breaks of the game. The other boys have the potential. They did their very best in each meet, but you have got to have the whole squad," Masters said.
Five Girls Chosen For Modern Dance
Five agile girls were chosen late last month from a group of thirty as new members of next year's Modern Dance Club. They are Pat Taylor, Bobby Beale, Diane Savino, Norma Ripley, and Sharon Adams.
Each girl had to present a written choreography as part of the competition. The girls were judged on expression, movement, appear ance, patterns, music, and a good beginning, climax, and ending.
Judges were advisors Mrs. Judith Anderson and Mrs. Shirley Buch-anan.
Current members who will be returninK in 1966-67 are Linda Duvis, Bonnic Taylor, Rosie Taylor, Sharon Ryals, and Sharon Santos,
WILL HE CATCH IT? There seems to be some doubt. The runner approaching first seems to be just as unsure as the runner who was on first (center of picture) and appears to be heading back in that direction. All action took place in an early season Prexie contest at Lawrence Stadium.
65 1/3 innings and giving up only 17 bases on balls. Lewis fanned 59 opponents, a team high for the season. The other Prexie pitchers this season were Jimmy Foster (5-1), Tim Bradshaw (1-2), and Johnny Mercer (no record).
The combined pitching staff al lowed only 106 hits in 139 1/3 innings. They limited the opposition to a combined batting average of only .207 while Wilson batters compiled a combined .276 average.
Coach Mills will be depending
heavily on new players next year as seven Wilson starters will be graduating this year.
The past year has had many bright spots in the forms of Jimmy Foster and Russell Long, captain and co-captain, respectively, whom Coach Mills calls "the most outstanding players on the team."
Late inning action was seen quite a bit by Gerald Todd who was called in to run for pitchers and catchers in the late innings. Todd stole seven bases this season to
lead his teammates in this cata-gory.
In league games this season, Wilson out-classed most of its opponents in most offensive cata-gories.
The Prexies gathered 145 hits, 2G doubles, 10 triples, and 82 runs batted in while allowing the opposition only 107 hits, 12 doubles, and 3 triples.
"The best team efforts of the year was the 4-1 and 5-3 victories over Norviow," said Mills.
Outstanding Senior Athletes Named by STUDENT
Seven Varsity athletes, one from each of the major sports, have been named by THE STUDENT Sports Department as the outstanding Senior athletes of the year. Each is a graduating Senior and has been previously recognized for his outstanding athletic ability in his particular sport.
The chosen players are as fol lows:
Football —.............Butch Bisese
Basketball .........Roger Blackman
Track .............Tommy Matusiak
Wrestling .................Luther Blair
Baseball .................Russell Long
Tennis ....................Fred Talbot
Golf ...................Tommy Silling
The first four athletes named, Bisese, Blackman, Matusiak, and Blair, are all multi-sport men, having participated in more than varsity sport.
BUTCH BISESE is the top Senior football player. As quarterback he was named to the All State team. On the ground he covered 854 yards and completed 46 of 97 passes for a 47.4 passing percentage. Despite the fact that the rugged gridman missed two games because of a leg injury, he remained one of the top defensive backs in the district as well as achieving the honors at quarterback.
ROGER BLACKMAN was an All District guard for the third place basketball team this year. He maintained a 20.5 average while leading this team to the semi-finals of the Eastern District Tourna ment. The Senior roundballer was also noted for his agile ball-handling during the course of the season.
TOMMY MATUSIAK is sighted as the outstanding Senior track man this season. Leading one of the strongest weight teams in the district, Tommy broke the school
shot put record by placing it 51 feet, 6 inches. He was also strong in the discus throw, hurling the pie 138 feet.
LUTHER BLAIR must be con sidered the top Senior wrestler. Be sides being a grappler, Luther ex celled in football and track. He was able to build a 19-2 record in his class for the Prexie wrestling team, and was good enough to finish as runner-up in the state tournament.
RUSSELL LONG is a four-year letterman for the Prexie diamond squad. He is rated by his coach as the most outstanding catcher in the district. Besides his unparalleled accomplishments behind the plate, Russell batted a healthy .339 this season.
FRED TALBOT is the top Senior athlete on a surprising tennis team with a 8-3 overall record. Fred's personal record is 8 wins and 2 set-
backs. In addition to his tennis chores, Fred managed enough time with his studies to rank as salu-tatorian of the June graduating class.
TOMMY SILLING holds the Senior golfing spotlight. In sparkling play during the past season, Tommy managed a team high of 17½ points. Tommy was one of the most experienced men with the linksmen this year.
BUT FAIL TO WIN
Golfers Score Well in Tourney
Wilson linksmen Jeff Newsom and Bill Randall failed to win in the state golf tournament held last month at the Chandilly National Golf Course, Chandilly, Virginia. However, the pair did score well, with Newsom carding a 91 and 77 for a 168 and Randall scoring an 83 and 86 for a 169.
The team finished a somewhat poor season with a 3-12 record.
"The best effort of the team this year was on May 3 when the boys shot their lowest team score, and we won both our matches against Princess Anne and Virginia Beach," Coach Andy Landis noted.
Regulars on this year's squad were, in addition to Newsom and Randall, Sam Bush, Gary McGhee, Tommy Silling, and John Viers.
Players are awarded a total of three points if they win everything in their matches. For Prexie links-men placed high in their ratings: Silling, 17½; McGhee, 16½; Bush, 16; and Newsom, 12½.
Graduation this June will take Silling and Bush. Coach Landis calls the pair "the most improved players on the team."
LINESMEN POSE. The 1966 WWHS golf team included, first row, left to right, Mike Upton, Jeff Newsom, Bill Randall, and Johnny Viers. Second row, Gary McGhee, Coach Andy Landis, and Tommy Silling. Missing from picture is Senior Sam Bush.
