Del Rossi Pitches Team To 12-1 Win Over Navy

Harvard reestablished its claim to the Eastern baseball championship Saturday with a surprising 12-1 conquest of Navy at Annapolis. Powerless against the delivery of Paul Del Rossi and weak in pitching, the Midshipmen did not resemble the potnant favorites they are supposed to be.

Wasting no time in starting the attack, the Crimson picked up three runs in their first chance at the plate. Curly Combs, Tom Bilodeau, and Terry Bartolet bit consecutive singles in the opening minutes of the contest.

A sacrifice by Tom Stephenson, a wild pitch, and another single by Gavin Gilmor produced the runs. These events also caused the premature departure of the first of Navy's five pitchers, Tim Myers.

Middles Score

Navy recovered sufficiently in the bottom of the first to score one run on a single, a walk, a sacrifice and an infield grounder, but that brief flurry of activity did not noticeably improve its position.

Larry Mack, the second Navy pitcher, yielded a run in the top of the second, but his abilities became more evident in the third, when he gave up a run-scoring triple to Dick Diehi, followed by a single of Bobby St. George's.

Combs Homers

Lefty sophomore Tom Raffo took over at this point, getting Del Rossi to force St. George at second. The force was unfortunate, as it deprived Combs of another RBI on his home run, which followed immediately.

In the fifth inning Raffo joined previous pitchers in the locker room. Before leaving, though, he managed to walk St. George, bobble a bunt by Del Rossi, watch Combs bunt the runners into scoring position, and permit Bilodeau to single both men home.

His successor, Pat Graham, continued these generous policies, walking Stephenson and giving up a run-scoring hit to Diehi after Gilmor had sacrificed. Bart Jealous, the next Navy excuse for a pitcher, served a home run ball to Stephenson in the eighth.

Bringing the run total to an even dozen in the top of the ninth, Combs grounded out to score St. George from third. The little rightfielder had previously reached third on Del Rossi's double off Jealous.

Del Rossi, whose change-up and slippery fast ball resulted in 11 strikeouts, scattered seven hits in gaining his fourth win without a loss for the year. His ERA is now a superb 0.87.

While Harvard only troubled Navy for 11 hits, some batting averages improved throughout the afternoon. Bartolet and Bilodeau are now averaging .367, and Diehi and Stephenson .333.