Fremont Pathfinders 1910
The Fremont Pathfinders baseball club was one of the charter teams in the Nebraska State League in 1910. The club played their games "down at the lot" a moniker used by the Fremont paper over and over. The Association lot was somewhere south of East Main Street. The league was a class "D" league with a salary limit of $900.00 and a player limit of 12 after May 28th. May 14, 1910
Led by manager Pug Bennett, the pathfinders had a combination of excellent pitching, strong fielding and league leading batting average of .248 to take the first pennant in the league. Led by pitchers Harry Smith and Pug "Cap" Bennett the Pathfinders started fast and never looked back during the season.
They were a fast team with Archie Turpin leading the league with 75 steals during the year and Bohner was third in the league with 64 steals. They were second in the league in attendance with 16.966 fans in the stands during the year.
They ended the season with 63 victories against 43 defeats to win the league by 4 ½ games over Columbus. The Reach Guide does have some inconsistencies as it lists Fremont with 106 total games for the year but many of the players listed below played in more than 106 games during the season.
Regulars
Harry Smith a nineteen year old pitcher from Union Nebraska led the Pathfinders to the league championship. He had a 15-10 record for the year. He was sold to Lincoln of the Western League at the end of the season. He returned to Fremont in 1911 and eventually made it to the White Sox in 1912.
Fresco Thompson led the league in home runs with 10 for the season. The Pathfinders short stop batted .241 for the year.
Archie Turpin led the league in stolen bases with 75 steals for the season. He was a regular in the outfield for Fremont in 1910 and averaged .268 in 108 games.
Bohner played 10 games in the outfield and 92 games at catcher for Fremont. He was the leading batter on the Pathfinders team with .314 average. He also had 64 stolen bases during the year.
Del Fullen played first base for Fremont in 1910. He played for the Newton Kansas Railroaders in 1909. He played in 110 games and averaged .227.
Claude Smith was the regular at second base for Fremont in 1910. In 111 games he averaged .269.
Wells played third base and averaged .184 in 75 games.
Philip Primley played in the outfield for 72 games and averaged .214. He also played 26 games in the MINK league in 1910 and was a regular at Auburn in the MINK league in 1911.
Cy Mason played in 70 games in the outfield and 97 games overall. He averaged .282 for the year. He had to leave the team early to return to his job as a teacher in Memphis Missouri. He played for Independence in 1906 and 1907 and for Wellington in 1909.
Leonard Gray played in the outfield for 34 games and averaged .223. Prior to playing in Fremont he played for Keokuk, Rock Island(III), Davenport (III), Bloomington (III) and Jersey City (EL).
Leonard "Cap" Bennett was Fremont's other star pitcher in 1910. He had a 14-7 record as a pitcher. He also played 21 games in the outfield and averaged .211 for the year. He returned to Fremont in 1911, played for Hastings in 1914 and made it to the Western League with Wichita in 1915.
Hendron had a 7-4 record as a pitcher for the Pathfinders in 1910.
Sullivan Campbell was 11-8 as a pitcher with 113 strike outs. He also played in the outfield for 21 games and averaged .258. He was sold to Lincoln at the end of the year but Lincoln returned him to Fremont for more "seasoning" during the 1911 campaign. He started with Fort Scott in 1905, moved to Independence in 1906 and was with both Independence and Tulsa in 1907.
Louis Hartman was 5-5 as a pitcher. He was with the Montreal Royals in 1905 and had stints in Trenton and Utica before coming to Fremont.
