Evening star., 1952-03-30
Fantastic Strikeout Mark Set
By Youth Who May Enter Clergy
By Brian Bell. Jr.

n 4O~JVdA -OAAf ACAk-AAAAAASA WA&O
is considering going into the min
istry, undoubtedly win have most
of the areas big league scouts
bidding for his services If he has
as good. a high school baseball
season this year as he had In
1851.
Eddie DeSimon. Washington
Lee High southpaw. attracted
the attention Of big league farm
bosses, as well as scouts. with his
record last season which included
striking out 202 of the $50 bat
ters he faced. That kind Of per-
formance this year could get De-
Simon the biggest bonus ever Of
fered q Washington Area school,
boy.
DeSimon, who lives at 1902
North Pierce street in Arlington,
is an active leader in Arlington
County church work as q member
Of the Westover Baptist Church.
He speaks before young peoples
groups frequently and is seriously
thinking about entering the min
istry. He would like to combine
athletics with religion in the man
ner that the Rev. Bob Richards
has done SO successfully.
Coach Praises DeSimon.
Pete Rockwell, WI coach, calls
DeSimon the best high school
pitcher he has seen and Eddies
record backs up Rockwell's opin-
ion. DeSimon first came out for
baseball in 1949 as a first base
man. Rockwell converted him
into a pitcher and Lefty has been
giving the hitters trouble ever
since.
In the first game he ever started
not until the 1850 season-Eddie
struck out 20 in nine innings. He
won seven without a loss that
year, then last year he really hit
his stride.
DeSimon opened the season in
fantastic fashion by striking out
IS Of the first 100 hitters he faced.
He allowed the amazingly low
total of two hits during this period
both bloopers to right field by
right-handed hitters on 20
pitches.
Eddie continued to fool the
batters until Mount Vernon finally
gave him the only defeat of his
career, an 81 shellacking. De-
Simon however, came back to beat
the Mounts twice. both times by
3-1 scores in the playoffs for the
Northern Virginia title. In the
final game he struck out IL and
allowed only three hits in pitching
the Generals to their nth crown
in seven years.
Has I'LL Record.
DeSimon's two-year record is
I'LL and his earned run average
is an almost unbelievable 0.70.
The major league scouts like his
I'live" fast ball, his Sharp-break-
ling curve and a change Of pace
that is unusual in so inexperi-
|enced a hurler.
At 5-foot-10 and weighing ITS
pounds, DeSimon is big enough to
put a lot Of zip into his high hard
one. His rp-hopping fast ball
lis so active that it's not unusual
for the Generals two receivers,
John Grey and Bob Childress, to
Iput on all the catcher's gear
mask. shin guards and protector
before warming up DeSimon.
Although self-confidence is
necessary for any hurler, some
observers feel DeSimon may be
too sure of himself. Rockwell
points out an incident that hap
lpened last year to show how much
confidence Lefty has.
I'VE were playing a close game
against a good team and one Of
this clubs best hitters came to
the plate with men on base, :"
Rockwell said. "A base hit could
have broken up the game and I
was little nervous.
"DeSimon looks over at me and
winks. Then he strikes the hitter
out on three pitches and smiles
after each pitch. AS a matter Of
fact, he really had that boys
number-he struck him out IL out
of 16 times he faced him"
Rockwell is counting on De-
Simon, If not for the Generals
opening game of the season
against Woodward Prep Tuesday,
for action Friday against Roose-