'VARSITY BASEBALL.

The 'varsity baseball candidates have now been working in the cage for about six weeks under the supervision of Captain Dean and Coach Bond. When the men first came out about one hundred candidates presented themselves but the number has slowly been reduced to about thirty-two, omitting the battery candidates. So far, the two most promising freshmen in the squad are Litchfield and Thompson. The former comes from Brooklyn, where he played on the Brooklyn Latin School, and the latter from St. Mark's School. The rest of the candidates are men who have played on their class teams or on the 'varsity. Every afternoon the men are given about eight grounders to field. They then practice the ways of sliding and running to bases and follow this up with a short run to the Gymnasium where they go through a system of dumbbell work. As yet, no regular batting practice has been done, but a few of the men are practicing in the cage one or two mornings every week. At present seventeen men are trying for the position of battery on the nine, seven of this number being catchers and ton pitchers. Of the new candidates for pitcher the man with the best reputation as an all-round ball player is undoubtedly Haughton '99, who last year pitched for Groton, but formerly played first base. He is a man with a good physique, is a fair hitter, and pitches with considerable speed, but has no control.

Clarkson '99 is also another man with a reputation as a pitcher. He has medium speed, and fair curves but is not very strongly built. Two years ago he pitched for Cambridge High and Latin and also captained the team. Last year, however, he did not play.

Fitz '99 is another man with a good reputation. He comes from the Newton High School and, like Clarkson, has had a good deal of experience in interscholastic games. He also pitched last summer for the Newton Athletic Association against many local teams. He is a left handed pitcher with average speed and curves and uses his head well.

Mains '99 is a man of excellent ability. Last year he went to Brown but did very little pitching, because of his studies. His brother pitches in the New England League.

Thompson Sp., '98, is a new man. Last year he was the regular pitcher on the Yale freshman nine and a substitute on the 'varsity. He has an excellent build and pitches with good speed and command.

Cozzens '98 pitched last year on the freshman nine. He is very cool at critical moments and has good speed and curves, but he is inclined to be wild at times. Probably he would have been one of the first substitutes last year if he had not been a special student.

Paine '97 was a substitute on last year's nine. He has lots of speed and good curves but is still very wild.

Arnold 2 L. S., played on the Galesburg Academy team. He is a left hander, well built, and promises to be a good man.

Perry '97 and Harris '97 pitched last year on ninety-seven's class team. Both these men are doing fairly well.

As a whole the catchers are not as promising a lot of men as the pitchers. Morton '96, who was a substitute on the 'varsity last year, is a good backstop and a fair batter, but his throwing is poor.

Brown '98 caught last year for the freshmen. He is a good catcher and a fair hitter, but is inclined to be a little slow.

Rogers '98 is a good backstop, but is rather too slight for heavy work. This is also the trouble with Pote. Pote formerly played on Somerville High and Rogers on Roxbury Latin.

The other two catchers are Branch '99 and Bacon. The former was a substitute last year on the Andover team and is doing fair work.

Mr. Keefe, as in past years, is coaching the battery candidates.