Evening star., 1944-06-18
Official Team Honors
Sweeney, Johnson,
Wacker, Gould
By BOB MCLEAN.

The first official coaches all-high
baseball team in local history has
: been selected by the diamond men
tors Of the eight District high
schools. Meeting at the Atlas Club.
the schools representatives put on
paper q team OF the snappy players
who made the seasons title series .
lively race.
Unanimous hrst-team choices were;
Gene Gould. Western. pitcher; Fred
wacker, Western, second baseman;
Tom Sweeney, Central, third base
man, and Joe johnson, Roosevelt.
left fielder.
Western and Roosevelt both placed
three players on the first team.
Central had two and Coolidge and
Eastern one each.
Gilt Moore, veteran Western
coach, who returned to baseball this
year to pilot the Red Raiders to the
championship, was honored as men
tor OF the star-studded club.
Wacker, one of the most depend
able second basemen Of any school
boy season, was named captain.
First and second teams list l0l
players each, including two pitchers.
Eastern, Coolidge, Western, Central
and Anacostia each placed two boys
on the second outfit.
Winless Team Places Two.
Oddly OF the selections was that
Anacostia, which lost all OF its series
encounters, placed two players on
the second team, with Walt Mathie-
son chosen for backstop and Ralph
varnes at left field.
In their unanimous choice of
Gould as one of the pitchers on the
first team, the coaches recalled the
outstanding achievements Of the star
Raider twirler. He chalked up all
seven of Westerns triumphs In in
terhigh play. He hurled one-hit-
ter at Central, but was defeated, !
to 0, In one of the only two series
games the Westerners dropped. In
nine contests he famed 48, gave but
Is passes and allowed only 40 hits.
Maier, the other finger on the
honor team, splashed lot Of
color. He not only did the major
share of the Rough Rider mound
work, but also played second, short
and caught on days when he was
supposed to rest from his hurting
duties.
His hitting and fielding were
nothing short of sensational and
the youngster was rated by the
coaches as probably the best all
around player of the series.
Maier's backstop, Nick Argyro-
poulos, rated the first team in the
mentors Judgment because OF ag-
gressiveness and ability to play
headsup ball when the heat was on.
A slambang hitter, tricky base
stealer, the Roosevelt lad showed
one Of the best throwing arms on
the circuit.
Infield Is Coach's Delight.
The infield of the top team is a
coaches dream. Charley Kiesgen
OF Coolidge, the first sacker, was
noted for ability to cover ground.
Chuck also was commended by the
pilots for his spirit. Wacker, at
second, was the keystone of Wes-
terms championship nine. and is
rated around the loop as bali
players ballplayer." Carl Sweeney
Of Central was selected for third
base mainly because of his powerful
hitting in the clutches. Carl Riddle,
shortstop selection, was a big Cen
trail threat all through the round
robin. He was commended for prob
ably the tightest defensive play of
the year.
In the pasture are three of the
hard-hitting fycatchers. Joe john
son of Roosevelt, in left field, was
the leading hitter of the series, and
a timely one. II Joe isn't playing
big league ball some day it will
surprise lot of coaches. Jack
Castro, centerfielder, was the spark
plug OF Western at bat and afield
probably handled more fly balls
than any other outf1elder. Joe Ar
tino, In right, was one of the big
reasons for Eastern's climb to the
championship final after a slow
start. He was at his best when the
outlook was darkest.