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By Bob VosburgNew Castle NewsAs the high school baseball season of 1968 drew to a conclusion in rugged WPIAL Section 6, coach Bill Spellman and his Ellwood City Wolverines were in their usual spot at the top of the heap.In fact, Spellman was en route to his best season ever, which is saying a mouthful, since his Wolverines had by this time made winning a habit and had never experienced a losing season during his 15-year tenure as coach up to this time.His “worst” season was 11-5 in 1960, and his teams had won section titles in five of the last seven seasons. They had only oneWPIAL title to show for all their hard work, but they had contended every season since the title year of 1962 and were soon to enjoy another.The season of 1968 was a weather-plagued one, and never did come to a complete finish, but Ellwood City so dominated things that it really didn’t matter. In addition to winning the section, the Wolverines had the league’s top hitter in Don Wick and the two best pitchers in Jerry Bukac and Rick Lawson.Wick finished with a sizzling .444 mark to barely edge out New Castle’s Ken Hudson and his Ellwood teammate Dave Blazin. Hudson finished with a .425 average and Blazin at .421. Hudson led the league in doubles withfive and tied for top honors in RBI with 18.Bukac and Lawson combined to allow just three earned runs in 592/3 innings, while striking out 65 and walking just 28 as the Wolverines chalked up a perfect 9-0record and advanced to their customary place in the WPIAL playoffs.Center provided the opposition in the playoff opener, and Spellman sent out his usual starting lineup of Rick Smith at second base, Wayne Thornhill in right field, Ray Smith at shortstop, Blazin catching, Del Schuster in left field, Vic Sharek at third base, Wick at first base, Doug Adams in centerfield and Lawson, the highly-talented sophomore, on the mound.Thornhill was the batting star in the playoff opener, driving in all four runs as the Wolverines defeated Center 4-3, and moved into the quarterfinals against Canon-McMillan at Mt. Lebanon.Shortstop Ray Smith, a mainstay in the field and at the plate all season, took up where Thornhill had left off and drove home all of the Wolverines runs with a home run and two singles in a 3-1 victory over Canon-McMillan.Lawson remained undefeated on the season and extended his record to 10-0 when he hurled a two-hitter and struck out eight. The lone Canon-McMillan run was unearned, and Lawson had the Big Macs eating out of his Please see BLAST, page 21
Newspaper Details
New Castle News Weekend
New Castle, Pennsylvania, US
Sat, Jun 18, 1994
Page 18
Full Page
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USA 23 Dec 2022
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