The first of November, a newspaper article from 1950 naming the Montrose High School baseball team was featured on this page. Going back and reading through the players’ names, it was realized that now, 50 years later, Keith Dye is the only player still living. It was decided to do some research, hoping to find out more about the team and Keith’s baseball days.
Thanks to Kim Irvin, a 1950 edition of the Montrose High School yearbook, the Mohawk, was located. As hoped, it revealed more information about this 1950 baseball team, including a photo (see above).
Reading the team stats, it became apparent that Keith was not only a good baseball player, but also played a good game of basketball. The basketball team ended the 1949/50 season as runner-up in the Lee County Tournament, and second in the Sectional Tournament.
When the Little Four all-conference basketball team was selected, Keith, who had scored 258 points in the 22 Mohawk games for an average of nearly 12 points per game, was the only unanimous choice of Coaches Everett Irish of Montrose, Don Finney of Donnellson, Bernard Bosley of Argyle, and Steve Cox of Denmark. Richard Bryant was also placed on the team, with Tom Azinger and Richard McVeigh receiving honorable mention.
Switching back to baseball, a report of a game played on April 21 told that Montrose blanked Denmark 7-0. The newspaper said, “Montrose right hander Keith Dye took up where he left off last fall by pitching a no-hitter as Montrose blanked Denmark 7 to 0. Dye fanned 15 Denmark batters, walked 6.
In the game played against Hillsboro in mid-May, Keith stopped the sectional champs 8 to 1. Then against Denmark, he sent 10 of them back to the bench on strikes, walking 6.
The underclassmen on that 1950 baseball team went on to bigger and better things. Paul Reberry came on board as coach the next year, and building upon the talent of the underclassmen who had played with Keith, the team ended up making it to the state tournament.