Andrew Warde High School's baseball team virtually locked up first place and the FCIAC Eastern Division championship for the second straight year by defeating Brien McMahon High School, 11-9, in eight innings, Thursday, May 23, 1963.
First baseman Gary DuBoys assured the Warde triumph when he smashed a two-run home run with none out in the first extra inning, following a leadoff single by hard-hitting Al Englander, to break open a high-scoring battle which was played under protest by the Senators after a second-inning rhubarb at the Eagles' diamond. The Senators charged that the umpire changed his ruling from a foul to fair ball on a pop up which was turned into an inning-ending double play by Warde catcher Doug Goodfellow.
Coach Bob Jackson used four pitchers for the Eagles. The hosts blew an early 6-0 lead, but they staged a three-run comeback rally in the sixth inning to deadlock the game at 9-9 after McMahon surged ahead by scoring nine runs in the fifth and sixth frames at the expense of Bill Binkiwitz and Pat McDonough. Barry Turlish ended a four-run splurge by the Senators in the sixth, and southpaw Larry Mischik pitched two scoreless innings to gain credit for the hard-fought win.
It was the ninth conference victory in 13 contests for the Eagles, moving them two-and-a-half games ahead of Stamford Catholic (6-6) in the Eastern division standings, with only three games remaining on the regular-season schedule. The defeat dropped Brien McMahon to third place in the division with a 6-7 record.
A walk to Mischik, John Nemeth's single, a two-run triple by Englander, and Pete Jankovsky's sacrifice fly produced the three sixth-inning runs which pulled Warde into a 9-9 tie and sent the twilight game into extra innings.
Paul