University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame
George Plender 1955 - Baseball
This 2005 UVM Hall of Fame inductee was a four-year letterwinning pitcher for Ralph Lapointe's baseball teams. George Plender hurled an amazing 60 1/3 consecutive innings of scoreless ball through the 1954 season to the start of 1955. He finished his career with 16 victories (16-6) in 37 appearances (21 starts, 16 relief) that included seven shutouts.
Not overpowering - he struck out less than 100 hitters in 187 innings pitched -he used his great control to walk fewer than two hitters per game. The Catamounts in his four years went 12-9 in 1952 (Lapointe's first season as head coach), 12-7 in 1953, 10-7 in 1954 and 13-9 in 1955, his senior year when he was the team captain. UVM won the state title each year with Plender going 8-0 in his career against Vermont rivals.
After pitching in relief as a freshman and a solid sophomore season, the Tenafly, N.J. native was outstanding in 1954 as a junior. He went 6-2 hurling six straight shutouts to close out the season. He started slow on the Catamounts southern swing but finished the campaign strong going his last 57 2/3 innings without allowing a run. This string broke the previous UVM record of 44 scoreless innings set by Walter Sargent over the 1930 and 1931 seasons. His scoreless string was stopped in the third inning of his first start as a senior, a 5-4 loss at Villanova. He bounced back with a win in relief at Hofstra and then hurled a four-hit shutout at Adelphi. He finished the season with a 5-3 record. Plender was just 21 years old as a senior as many student-athletes of the day were much older after serving in the armed forces.
Following his UVM career he was signed by the Milwaukee Braves but had already accepted a spot in the U.S. Air Force through ROTC. Now retired after a career in the municipal bond industry, Plender is now retired and living on the coast of Maine.
