Crimson Nine Begins Practicing for Season

With upwards of 75 pros pects to choose from, varsity baseball coach Norm Shepard held the first regular practice of the season yesterday afternoon in Briggs Cage. The opening game will come March 30 against Georgetown, the initial stop on the team's annual Southern trip.

Routine batting and fielding drills will make up the first few days' work, since there are too many candidates at present for the coaches to concentrate on details. Tomorrow or Thursday, the team will divide up into two squads, and the coaches will hold two practices a day.

Several players are trying to land pitching positions, but the leading contenders already appear to be veterans Byron Johnson and Gerry Emmet, and last year's freshman standouts Wally Cook and Al Martin.