Baseball Hall of Fame

Front Row: Larry Davis, Ron Fry, Junior Jones, Al Smith, Jim Anderson, Morris Fierce, Tom Anderson.

Back Row: Assistant coach Ted Bruington, Coach Ed Stonebock, Jim Smith, Dick Isaacson, Tom Cassidy, Bob Wyss, Greg Hasty, Al Hodson, Tim Marks, Bob Navarro, Bob White, Bob Nelson, batboy Tom Stonebock, manager Greg Leitner, student coach Bill Hill.

Legendary Manual baseball coach Ed Stonebock, who won his first state high school title with his unbeaten 1950 team, won No. 2 in 1965 with a team that started the season with 14 straight wins before bowing.

Led by outstanding pitcher and hitter Al Smith, who went on to an outstanding Bradley and professional basketball career, Manual moved into the state finals with a 19-3 record and then whipped Chicago Lane Tech, 3-0, Decatur MacArthur, 9-I and Arlington Heights St. Viator, 4-2, to win its state title.

Smith pitched Game 1, a 12-inning affair; Tom Cassidy hurled the Rams to their semifinal win, and Tim Marks, who had pitched just 17 innings all season, halted St. Viator in the title game on just three hits. The three held the opposition to an .098 batting mark.

Smith was the tournament's most valuable player, and with Marks made the all-tourney team. Smith, Marks, Cassidy and Bob Nelson won all-conference honors.

For the season, Smith led the team in home runs (3), RBl’s (23), hits (33) and runs (28). He hit .493 and was 8-1 on the mound. Marks batted .438 with 21 RBI’s and 8 triples. Jim Anderson hit .360; Nelson, later to coach the Rams, batted .347 with nine doubles; and Larry Davis had 20 RBIs with six triples.

ON THE ROAD TO STATE

District: Manual 3, Spalding 0

Manual 12, Central 0 

Regional: Manual 9, Dee-Mack 0

Manual 9, Pekin 7

Sectional: Manual 4, Springfield Lanphier 3

Manual 2, Galesburg 0

State: Manual 3, Chicago Lane Tech 0

Manual 9, Decatur MacArthur 1

Manual 4, St. Viator 2