The theocrat. [volume] (Zion City [i.e. Zion], Ill.) 1914-1949, 1949-06-15
FRITZ RIDENOUR COPS
BAT TITLE WITH ST.;
Jim PREv|TI IS SLAB ACE
North Suburban Conference
(Final Standings)

Coach Fred Stanton's ZeeBees, a
team that surprised everybody includ-
ing themselves, crashed through to
the 1949 North Suburban conference
baseball championship on the crest of
five straight victories. And this hap
pened after haphazard, lackadasical
beginning which saw the ZionBenton
nine bow thrice in it's first five nom
conference encounters.
Their success can be attributed to
the remarkable recovery of Jim Pre-
viii on the mound, the rapid develop
ment of Jim Kinsman behind the
plate, the steadying of an erratic in
field and occult power at the plate.
Post .317 Bat Mark
The current ZeeBees lambasted con-
ference pitching for potent .317
stick average and finished the cam
paign with the top four hitters in loop
topped by Big Fritz Ridenour's gilt
tering ST. plate punch which won
for him the conferences first batting
crown. Captain Herb Merville, who
was recognized for his fielding abili-
ty at shortstop but moderated as
batsman, took runner-up laurels with
All slate and Wayne Thomas, fly
chaser extraordinary and cleanup
slugger of repute, lived up to expec-
tations by delivering a pinch-potent
.412 average, which providing scoring
transportation for ten mates, twice
as many as any other batsman in the
loop.
Probably the biggest surprise of
all was the remarkable Craftsmanship
of Ambitious Alvin Anthony, who at
the start of the season was regard
ed at best as a substitute catcher for
Jim Kinsman, but came through so
we'll in the pinch that he finally took
over Dale NPaulson's post in right
field. Alvin finished the campaign
with a batting average of 400 and
his big bat towards the end of the
campaign was directly responsible for
winning one game, tying another and
applying the presser in third.
Jim Previti Sparkles
Previti as a pitcher was regarded
as the ace only because Coach STAN
ton was without the services Of Ho-
mer McNabb and Stan Hudson, who
bore the brunt of the mound chores
in 1947. Jim looked anything but i'm
pressive in bowling to Luther High of
Racine twice, but once the Confer
ence campaign got under way he sud-
denly found his stride and hurled four
complete games, allowing only IL hits
in % innings of toll and issuing only
eight walks, while striking out a
grand total Of "a. He finished the
conference race without a single earn
ed run being recorded against him.
In checking through the league sta
tistics compiled through the coopera-
ton of Chuck Paxton at Zion-Benton,
Vern Cove at Warren and Elmer
Stone at Grayslake, we discover that
the only rival batsman who even
came close to Zion-Benton's top four
stickers was Bert McCannon of Wood
stock, who posted 1915 average and
Vern Woellert iof Woodstock who fin
ished with 1857 stick mark. Top hit
ter for the tailend Warren nine was
talented Maurie DeLoof, who compiled
a 1873 mark, while Glen Schalk's .316
was the best that the Grayslake Rams
could produce.
Freshman Mound Marvel
Although the pitching in the loop
for the most part was below the stand
ard expected at the start Of the cam
paign, Woodstock and Grayslake I'M
covered couple Of underclassmen who
give promise of becoming sure-fire