The Marine Corps Barracks at Quantico served as a training facility for officers and provided technical training for enlisted personnel. The installation fielded a ball team, comprised of both officers and enlisted that by the mid-1920s was competing in a collegiate league on the eastern seaboard. After World War II, the season schedule was increased in length.
While the 1948 season was divided into two distinct halves facing the collegiate opponents in the early half and military teams in the latter, the 1949 season expanded further with the college play extending into early June facing opponents including Cornell, Georgetown, Michigan, Lafayette, Butler, Washington & Lee, Villanova, and George Washington University as part of the Middle Atlantic League (in which the Marines amassed a16-4 record).
The schedule was also interspersed with exhibitions against minor league clubs; Jamestown Falcons of the class “D” Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York League and the class “B” Portsmouth Cubs of the Piedmont League. As with 1948, service league play commenced for the summer months.
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For their service league season, the Quantico Marines posted a 50-2 record against Navy, Army and Air Force teams in the region capturing the Middle Atlantic Navy League crown as well as the Fifth Naval District title. Quantico downed the Army’s top team in a best-of-three series against the Camp Campbell “Yankees” who were crowned the Second Army Champs.
Quantico, the reigning 1948 All-Navy Champions, played their way into defending their title earning a trip to Honolulu to face the Pearl Harbor Submarine Base “Sub Pac” club, the team they defeated the previous year. Quantico dropped the Subs 5-3 in the opener of the best-of-three series. Following the 1948 script, Sub Pac took the second game in 11 innings, 10-6, to force a deciding Game Three.
Ahead of the final game, Commander of the Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, Virginia, Major General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. sent the team a message, “Yesterday’s game a tough one to lose,” Shepherd wrote. “The whole coast is pulling for you to win today. We know you can do it.”
Seeking retribution, the Subs gave no quarter to the Quantico men as they dominated the final game, 7-1, to take the All-Navy crown. For the Marines, the long trip back to Virginia was made longer as they went home empty-handed.
1949 Quantico Marines:
| Rank | Player | Pos. | Former |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Stanley Basal | 3B | ||
| Jim Blue | RF | ||
| Lamarr H. “Tex” Bragg | P | ||
| Chapman | CF | ||
| Peter Cherinko | P | ||
| Gerald Donovan | 1B | ||
| *George Farrell | C/3B | Seattle (PCL) | |
| Rusty Gates | RF | ||
| Adam Gruca | 2B | New Bern (COPL) | |
| Bill Gulley | Coach | ||
| Hartzell | C | ||
| Will Hixson | 2B | ||
| Kaasman | P | ||
| Cal Killeen | 1B | ||
| Bill Kohler | P | ||
| Norm Koss | P | ||
| Kramer | C | ||
| Peter J. Larghey | CF | ||
| Calvin Michaels | P | ||
| Don L. Niedrinmghaus | C | ||
| Dave Peoros | LF | ||
| David Petros | LF | ||
| Capt. | James P. “Jim” Pope | P | |
| Pypash | P | ||
| Romankowski | UT | ||
| Ralph V. Russo | SS | ||
| Chuck Samis | LF | ||
| Ray “Ed” Schum | P | ||
| Stanley Sidloski | 3B | ||
| Sgt. | Carl Smith | Spec. Svc. | |
| Roy Southerland | P | ||
| Hap Spuhler | P | ||
| Frank Wall | P | ||
| Bernie Wiesman | P |
This list reflects the full roster of players used throughout the entire 1949 season.
This programs is a single, 7-1/2 x 5-1/2 inch sheet of bi-folded card stock, printed with three-color ink. Printed ahead of the season’s start, the schedule does not reflect the actual games played due to cancellations. The remainder of the season played after June 12 is not published in this schedule.
Related Stories and Content:
- 2nd Army Area Championship Baseball Playoff, 1949
- Victory Dive! Navy Baseball in Paradise Through Championships and Tragedy
- 1948 Quantico Marines Baseball Schedule
This schedule was listed at auction (online) in 2025.
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