Longtime City Editor Keith Sheldon served as sports editor for the paper in that span, 1959-63.

Keith religiously charted the game-by-game progress of local and area teams, mostly in pencil. He preferred to use “The Spiral Stenographer’s Note Book” that cost $.15. His three-volume set and plenty of other sports department records and paperwork went home with me when I retired in early 2017.

The 1959 spring season locally failed to produce a league champion. Cardinal Mindszenty fared the best, its Monarchs going 7-8 in baseball under Coach Mike Orbinati with a sweep of Dunkirk (12-3) and Fredonia (6-1).

The CMHS track team went 6-2, beating FHS and losing only to Canisius by a single point and St. Joseph’s before placing second to the latter in the All-Catholic Meet.

The Spiral Stenographer’s Note Book kept by Keith Sheldon to chronicle the 1961 local spring high school and college sports seasons.

Dunkirk was 5-6 in baseball with two wins over Fredonia before a 13-2 playoff loss to Hamburg. The track team was third in the Southwestern Conference and second to Jamestown in the County Meet.

In baseball, Fredonia was 3-9, all three wins by a single run. The track squad topped DHS 57-52, then was runnerup in the conference meet and third in the county.

1960 was a big year for Coach Al Stuhlmiller and his DHS nine. They won their first league championship in 32 years, finishing 7-1 in the Lake Shore League by beating Jamestown 2-1 in the title-clinching battle.

The 7-2 Marauders lost their opener to Southwestern 7-6, then rang up seven straight wins, each of the last four by one run. Included was a no-hitter by Bill Walters over Falconer 3-2.

Freshman Mike Criscione won the league batting title with a .434 average.

Bill Hammond

Hamburg ended their playoff hopes again, this time 17-5.

Roger Moore’s FHS baseball squad was 3-7 overall and 2-6 league. Don Dietzen spun a one-hitter against Mindszenty, which was 3-5 overall and 3-4 league.

Fredonia State made the list for the first time, going 7-6 overall and 3-2 in conference play. Coach Bill Ludwig’s team opened with a 7-6 win over RIT in 15 innings, swept Buffalo State and topped RIT again 3-0 as Mike McCarthy spun a five-hitter.

In track, Mindszenty under Coach Bill Morrissey went 7-0 in dual meets and was second (29.5) to Timon (32) at the All-Catholic Meet.

Vic Lesso’s FHS squad was 6-2 and second in the county to Jamestown and runnerup to Salamanca in the conference. DHS was 2-5 overall, third in the county.

The next year, 1961, was owned by Fredonia as Coach Moore’s baseball club soared to its first league title (6-2) and first sectional crown with back-to-back 5-4 wins over league runnerup Southwestern and then Sweet Home in the finals to finish 11-3.

FSUC posted its best record in school history, 4-1 conference and 9-2 overall under Coach Ludwig, as McCarthy opened the season with a 7-0 no-hitter against Erie Tech.

CMHS ended 3-3 league, 3-4 season, finishing with an unusual 17-5 loss to Fredonia in nine innings.

DHS was 3-5 league, 5-6 overall, led by batting champ Bob Byers (.467). Marauders had playoff shutout wins over Trott and Lewiston-Porter before falling to Orchard Park in the finals 5-4.

The track season saw FHS go 6-2 overall, fourth in conference, second in county and third in sectionals. CMHS was 1-3-2, DHS 4-3 in duals and triangulars under Coach Howard Brown.

Turning to 1962, Dunkirk copped its first sectional baseball title since 1956 by finally beating Hamburg in the finals 4-0 to end 7-6 overall.

Fredonia beat DHS twice, CMHS once in a 7-6 season that featured a pair of one-hit gems by Chet Wright, who opened the season with a two-hit, 8-0 win over DHS and suffered a 1-0 loss in the semifinal playoff showdown with Salamanca. Teammate Gus Noni added two one-hit wins.

FSUC was a mediocre 4-6 in a season highlighted by three-win pitcher Ray Lenarcic, who tied Jim Mangano’s school record of 15 strikeouts in a 9-2 thumping of Buffalo State. Lenarcic, an occasional OBSERVER contributor, also went 4 for 4 at the plate that day.

CMHS went 3-3 league, 3-6 overall, no-hit by St. Francis in a five-inning season finale 5-0.

The Monarchs were far better on the track, finishing a dominant 5-0 in duals and fourth in the All-Catholic Meet.

Fredonia was also exceptional, 6-2 in duals, first in county by a point, 42-41, over DHS, second in sectionals and third in conference.

Completing a trifecta of success, Coach Brown’s 6-0 DHS outfit produced its best record in years. The Marauder track stars were first in the conference meet, second in the county meet and fifth at sectionals. It was DHS that ended Salamanca’s five-year, 37-meet win streak 63-55 and edged FHS 60.5-57.5.

Looking at 1963, DHS won its second straight Class AA baseball title after losing the league crown by a game to Southwestern following tough 11-9 and 1-0 losses to the Trojans.

The 13-2 Marauders beat Maryvale in 14 innings 6-5, Medina 8-2, and then Lewiston-Porter 2-1 in the finals. Coach Stuhlmiller’s charges posted consecutive one-hit shutout victories over Mindszenty (Junior Ramos) and Brocton (Lorrie Corsi).

FHS sunk to 2-12, CMHS was 5-5 thanks to Pat Parisi’s one-hit, 6-0 win over Fredonia, and the Blue Devils were 4-6.

In track, CMHS finished seventh in the All-Catholic Meet after a 5-1 season under Pete Jakubowski. FHS was 3-4 in duals, won its invitational meet, then placed third in the conference and county meets. Coach Don Rozumalski’s DHS squad was 4-3, the highlight a 60.3-57.6 win over FHS.

And there you have it, a snapshot of spring sports while I fumbled my way through parochial school and survived the often terrifying Sisters of St. Joseph. Thanks, Keith.

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DO YOU have a favorite memory of playing, coaching or officiating? Drop me a line at mandpp@hotmail.com and let’s reminisce.

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Bill Hammond is a former EVENING OBSERVER sports editor.