| The
local Veterans of Foreign Wars baseball team returned
home from State College with the state VFW championship
50 years ago today, August 28, 1948, after notching a 10-4 victory over a strong Coatsville team, the Eastern finalist. The game was played on the Penn State collegiate diamond in 100 degree heat - and after an early 4-0 deficit,the local Vets proceeded to warm up right along with the weather, scoring one in the fifth, four in the seventh and five in the eighth. The baseball field was located where Beaver Stadium is today at PSU. Pud Henderson went to the mound for the locals and yielded six hits, all singles, before giving way to a pinchhitter in the sixth inning. Harold Shaffer took over in relief and set Coatsville down, checking the opposition on only one hit over the final four innings. Jim McCready was the big gun with the stick for Ellwood City, going 5-for-6 at the plate. Ray Smith chipped in three hits in the championship game, Joe Powell contributed a triple and a single and Bob Clerici ripped two singles. According to a 1948 Ledger account of the game, "the Ellwood City infield played a brand of ball that had the fans believing that a big-league outfit had dropped by for the game." Playing on an unfamiliar grass infield, the locals pulled off two doubleplays. All in all, the defensive tactics of Jack McClintick, Ray Smith, Bob Clerici and Jim McCready played a pivotal part in the victory. The Ellwood City VFW outhit its Eastern foes,15-7, in the contest.
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