JIM DePALO

ALTHOUGH JIM DePALO reigned last year as captain of Natick High School's varsity football, basketball and baseball teams, he says that when he came to Harvard last fall "playing baseball was never any doubt in my mind."

"I was best at baseball, and playing in the major leagues has been my ambition for a long time," he adds. "I wanted to concentrate only on getting used to college baseball and the Harvard team during the unofficial practices in the fall," he explains.

Having played baseball for the past 10 years, the catcher last year earned the Massachusetts Division I Player of the Year award and was the only Massachusetts resident to play on the Eastern team that captured the gold medal at the 1983 Sports Festival.

In addition, he was selected from among the best players at the Sports Festival to play for the United States team in the international Friendship Series last summer.

"We're lucky to have him," says Harvard Coach Alex Nahigian, adding "Jim has definitely lived up to our expectations."

Captain Bruce Weller explains that because last year's Crimson catcher was a third-string All-American pick, "Jim had some big shoes to fill."

"Catcher is a tough position for a freshman--there's a lot of learning to be done and a lot of responsibility--but Jim fit right in," Weller adds.

"Jim's a team player, all the way--be performs over and above the call of duty," says Nahigian.

After the first six games of the season, DePalo led the team in batting average (.542). He has now settled into the number-two spot with a .368 average, and his four home runs tie him for third behind junior first baseman Elliott Rivera and Weller.

"On the Harvard team," DePalo says, "everyone pulls for each other. If you have a bad game, there's always someone who'll have a good game."

He adds that "even though we're with each other all the time, everyone on the team gets along with each other, which makes me feel very comfortable."

Nahigian says the Economics concentrator is a "professional prospect," adding, "In his own quiet way he's a real leader."

Having started as catcher in more than three-fourths of the games thus far, DePalo says his most memorable game was against South Florida in late March, when he hit his first college home run and had four hits in five times at bat.

"Jim is quiet," Weller sums up, "but you can rely on him for key hits and RBIs."

*Tomorrow: Men's tennis's Bill Stanley.