Ratner & Lashar Led Eagles to 14-4 Victory at Staples 55 Years Ago Today

Led by the heavy hitting of Howie Ratner and co-captain John Lashar, the Andrew Warde High School baseball team gave Staples a 14-4 trouncing Monday afternoon, May 26, 1958, at the Wreckers' diamond. Warde, which defeated Staples, 7-1, earlier in the season, completed the two-game sweep against its non-conference rivals.

Ed Moffitt, the winning pitcher, turned in a brilliant performance, yielding only five hits and one earned run. Coach Bob Jackson's Eagles backed Moffitt with a 13-hit attack against three Staples moundsmen. The offensive explosion included a three-run home run by Lashar, and three triples off the bats of Lashar, Ratner, and Glenn Englander.

Ratner had four hits and two walks for a perfect day at the plate, while Lashar drove in four runs with his round-tripper and three-bagger. Ratner and Lashar each crossed the plate four times as Warde romped to its eighth victory against only two losses.

The Eagles picked up single runs in each of the first two innings against Staples pitcher Bill Needham, who picked up the loss. The winners upped their lead to 4-0 in the third inning when Lashar crushed his triple to left-centerfield, following singles by Jack Flanagan and Ratner.

Southpaw Frank Bedell replaced Needham on the hill for Staples with none out in the fifth inning as Warde added four more runs on singles by co-captains Johnny Pekar, Flanagan, and Rudy Takacs, combined with four walks issued by Bedell.

Lashar hit his home run with Ratner on base after his single in the sixth inning as a Staples outfielder unsuccessfully tried to make a shoestring catch of a drive to left-centerfield. The Eagles finished their spree with four more runs in the seventh inning off Bill Whit, with three-base clouts by Ratner and Englander driving home three markers.

Paul