In the first semi final the Athletics from Philadelphia gave the Neshanock from Flemington all it could handle before the visitors from New Jersey pulled away and won a hard fought 14-7 match to get to the finals.  There they would find their pupil, the Eclipse Base Ball Club of Elkton who defeated the Keystone Base Ball Club of Harrisburg 18-13.  In that second semi final, the match was back and forth the entire game with Harrisburg holding slight leads until the last two innings when the Eclipse scored 6 runs in the 7th and 8th to hold off the Keystones.

In the consolation match, Harrisburg jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after one, but the Athletics were not going to go away quietly.  They tallied 6 themselves in the top of the 3rd to tie it.  Harrisburg then posted a 7 spot in the 5th after Philadelphia briefly took a one run lead.  In the 7th though, the Athletic jumped all over the Keystoners with 12 runs to take a large lead in to the bottom of the 7th.  Harrisburg chipped away at the lead little by little until the 9th when Philly held a ace advantage.  The Capitals though stormed back and posted 6 tallies in 2/3 of an inning to win 24-23 in a great match

In the championship Flemington took advantage of the tired Eclipse with a six spot in the 3rd inning to go up 10-6, but the Eclipse came right back with 5 to take an 11-10 lead after 3.  In the middle 3 frames the Neshanock put up 10 runs to only 4 by Elkton and it looked like Flemington was going to give Elkton a knock out punch to end the game.  After scoring 2 in the top of the 7th to have a 16-12 lead, the New Jersians were white washed while the Marylanders scored 3 in the 7th and 3 in the 8th to take a 18-16 lead.  After 2 quick dead hands, the Neshanock were down to their last out before a triple had the winning run up to plate.  Then with a mighty blast to center field in to the wheat fields on a shot that looked like a sure home run, Lee “Brew” Donelson made a tremendous stab running away from home plate to preserve the hard fought victory for the Eclispe who won their first tournament outside of the Maryland State Championships for the first time ever.  Special thanks to the Strasburg Rail Road for a great event and to the Verdant Family for use of their fields.

The first match was an underhand 1864 contest and saw the Grays strike first scoring one ace tallied in their inital set of chances.  The Atlantics quickly tied it in their half of the first and the score remained tied until the third when the Atlantic onslaught began.  Four tallies in the third, one in the fifth, and five in the sixth inning put the game out of reach as the Atlantic Defense showed their mettle displaying for all to witness their soft sure hands and quick feet. 
Vincent “Tuna” Aurora kept the Grays off of the scoreboard by tossing six whitewashes after that first inning and this was followed by Frank “Hammy” Obidienzo pitching another two goose eggs to finish the game.

Leading the Atlantic Attack was Hammy, Frank “Shakespeare” Van Zant, Dean “Dreambucket” Emma and Kevin “Flash” Harrison with three hits each.  Striking equally well were George “Blackjack” Pappas with two doubles, and Anthony “Dirty Pirate” Cannino, George “Wildhorse” Ferchland and Tuna with two hits each.  “Tricky Rick” Stattler succeeded in quenching his taste for revenge against his former team by tagging a finely struck double in the middle of one of the Atlantics rallies.

A second game was set about to the rules of base ball in 1884.  In this era of base ball the pitchers were no longer restricted to underhand throwing motions and batters could request high or low zones in which to strike but the pitcher had a count of six balls and three strikes in which to determine the outcome of the at-bat.

The Atlantics sent veteran righthander Shakespeare between the wooden discs as our pitcher for the Atlantics first overhand match of the season.  Shakespeare was equal to the task and backed by some tremendous defense tossed a complete game allowing only a single run to cross the plate.
Widely considered the toughest position to play in the overhand game, the Atlantic catcher for this game was poached from the Brooklyn Eckfords squad for a six-pack of barley water.  Lassie did not only a fine job behind the plate but stroked two hits including a double. 

The Atlantics struck first with two out in the bottom of the first as Dreambucket singled, stole second base and made it home on a flare into short rightfield by Flash.
Both teams put their defense on display for a few innings before the Grays tied the score at one in the fourth inning.  Not to be dismayed the Atlantics struck back quickly with five runs in their half of the fourth and four more in the fifth.

A number of Atlantics had notable games, Shakespeare not only kept the Grays off balance with his mixture of fast and knuckling balls, but struck two hits and scored two aces to help his own cause.  Dreambucket smashed a homerun through the trees in right-center field and tallied four runs.  Wildhorse and Flash each had two hits, while Blackjack and Tuna each had two runs. 
Late in the game the Atlantics threatened to blow the match wide open with the bases loaded and the resident muffin Matt “Krawler” Kouyoumdjian strolled off of first base while Grays Captain Brian Travers held the ball hidden.  Moments later the third out of the inning was recorded as Brian lightly rested the ball on Krawlers shoulder.  The final outs of the match came on another fine defensive play as Anthony “Willy Mo” Stelmach caught a soft, but difficult to field, line drive and doubled-up the Grays runner at first by a quick toss over to Flash before he could return.

MILFORD DOWNS PHILADELPHIA

 On Sunday, April 21, a beautiful day for vintage base ball at Memorial Field at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, the Milford Excelsior’s of the Southern Delaware Base Ball Club faced the Athletic Club of Philadelphia. 10 Excelsior’s turned out for the matches, including three new players: Dean “Pappy” Holleger, Randall “Coop” Zehr, and Matt “Peg Leg” Revelle. Thanks you for joining us Gentlemen.

In the opening match, the Athletics jumped out to a quick lead. The match was 8 to 7 after the first three innings the game then quickly turned in the Excelsior’s favor scoring 7 and 6 aces in the next 2 innings before the Athletics brought in the Mouth to shut down the Excelsior’s over the next three innings. The Excelsior’s offense was lead by Jimmy “Paycheck” Fitzhugh and Chad “Dumpling” Holleger both going 5 for 6 hitting and Jeff “Babe” Puglia went 6 for 6 during the first match. The final tally was Milford 27, Philadelphia 7.

 In the seven-inning nightcap, the Excelsior’s jumped out to a huge lead, scoring 21 aces in the first 4 innings. . Chad “Dumpling” Holleger and Jimmy “Paycheck” Fitzhugh continued to pile up hits going 4 for 5 and 5 for 6. Aaron “Ham-Bone” Sterling also went 5 for 6 and Jim “Preacher’ Oechsler was 5 for 5 in the nightcap match. Preacher picked up 2 more wins as the Excelsior’s won the second match Milford 25, Philadelphia 2.

Special thinks to our friends the Athletics Athletic Club of Philadelphia for two very well-played and gentleman’s matches, to the Dapper Dog for outstanding food, to the arbiter “Pastime” for calling two outstanding matches, and to the wonderful folks at Memorial Field at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia for providing us with a great place to play base ball.

ELKTON 13 TALBOT 9

Feature Match of the Week

On a glorious April afternoon, the Talbot Fair Plays travelled north to visit their in-state rivals, the Eclipse Base Ball Club of Elkton. In the first match, the Fair Plays took advantage of Elkton’s sloppy defensive play taking an early 5-0 lead. The Eclipse fought back to tie the score at 5-5 in the forth inning. Ultimately, the gentlemen from Talbot were too much as they pounded out 4 tallies in the eighth inning to secure victory in the first match, 9-5.
The second match was similarly contested as the Fair Plays and Eclipse each managed 8 tallies though 7 innings. The resolute Eclipse, determined to salvage one match from the doubleheader, exploded for 5 tallies to take a 13-8 lead. Talbot continued to fight and added a tally in the ninth, but Elkton held on for the victory 13-9.

CHESSIES SPLIT WITH POTOMAC

Atlantic opened its 2013 season against the Gothams with a bang, banging out 68 hits to score 60 runs in a 35-6, 25-9 doubleheader sweep. After whitewashing Gotham in the first, Atlantic came to bat, scored 9 aces in its first, and just ran from there, scoring in every inning but the third. Dreambucket led the way, going 6 for 6 with a double and 2 triples. Shakespeare, with a double and triple, and Toothpick, with a double, each had 5 hits, while Wildhorse and Krawler (double, triple) each contributed 4 hits. Dirty Pirate and Blackjack added doubles, and Butcher had a triple. Hammy, between the lines, and the Atlantic defense held Gotham in check, as Hammy picked up the complete game victory.

It was a very constructive meeting which started with the introduction of new clubs to the League which included the Milford (DE) BBC, the Carroll County (MD) BBC, the Brandywine BBC of West Chester (PA), and the Hoboken Nine (NJ).  The only loss from 2012 was the Cecil Club of Chesapeake City which has decided to take a run at modern baseball and has withdrawn.  The Jersey City Skeeters were introduced as an associate club who will be playing an era up to 1922.

The first order of business was constructing a forum for club executives and ultimately all of the players of the MAVBBL.  This forum will house general rule interpretations and discussions, as well as historical information that each club has been charged with finding about their club.  In this historical information will be language that was used by local newspapers to describe the action in each club’s individual game stories.   The MAVBBL is making a special point of emphasis to use actual language that was really used in the 1860s and 1870s during a match so fans really know what it was like.  The league will continue to research every aspect of game action that it can find related to 1864 (and for some 1873) to get the most realistic interpretation of how the game was actually played.

The next discussion focused on umpires and carrying out the rules and interpretations that we established.  It was decided that each club should make it a top priority to find 2-3 umpires for their individual clubs.  When match notices go out on Monday it should state if the home club has an umpire available.  If it does not, the visiting club has an opportunity to bring their umpire.  If one is not found by Tuesday, clubs are strongly encouraged to form pools of umpires made up of local clubs.  A favor can then be asked of a non participating club to send an umpire.  If still none is found by Friday, it is up to the individual clubs to self umpire which is frowned upon.  Umpires should either be in civilian attire or in their own uniform which is different than the two on the field.

Uniform and equipment tweeking was next on the agenda.  The Philadelphia Athletics gave a presentation on shoes and what kind were available to players.  Being that there is nothing authentic out there at this time, and with safety trumping all else, it was still decided that players can just black out modern day logos.  However, there were shoes with color so it is not completely banned to have them.  A presentation on belt styles was also discussed.  A discussion on approved vendors that supply authentic work was discussed and decided that only those who could supply period correct merchandise would be allowed to do business with our member clubs.  Even hand turned bats have to meet the discription of the style that was used in the period you are interpreting.

It was strongly suggested that clubs supply the league office with emergency room information including location, directions and a phone number.  Each home club should also give this to visitors the week before.  There was also a discussion on match notices as well.  Finally, the last half hour was devoted to scheduling and finalizing clubs schedules.  All in all, it was a great time had by all the Presidents and they can’t wait to hit the field the first week of April.  Stay tuned for more information

After clubs have finished up their 2012 campaigns, handed out their awards, and had their club banquets, there is some rest for the players of the Mid Atlantic League, but not for the club executives.  On January 6th, they will once again conveine in Philadelphia for their annual President’s and Scheduling Meeting.  There they will talk about issues that affected clubs in 2012 and what can be done to improve the product on the field in 2013 so fans every year get an even more authentic product when they come to one of our matches.  Clubs are busy getting their histories together as we try to diseminate all of the facts from fiction on accounts of games in period newspapers.  The league is in the middle of putting together a list of accepted terms that base ball players would have used in the middle 19th century to describe a match.  The other big thing for club presidents right now is scheduling.  At the conclusion of the President’s meeting there is a 15 minute block for all clubs to complete their schedule.  It looks like the trading floor of the stock exchange on Wall Street.  Within 10 minutes or so, clubs have set their schedule for the upcoming season in a whirlwind of activity.

Clubs right now are also starting to think about their rosters and how many extra players they will need for the season.  They are debating on what overnight road trips and tournaments to go to.  They are purchasing uniforms and equipment for the upcoming season and they are out getting sponsors.  Each conference is also gearing up.  The Capitol Conference in Baltimore/Washington has already had its conference meeting and others are on their way.

Yes its quiet as a mouse on the fields, but there certainly is a flury of activity behind the scenes!

In the first match of the day, the Cecils played the Talbot Fair Plays who had been finalists the first 5 years of the state tournament, but never took home the championship.  Chesapeake City, the number 3 seed, started the game looking like the defending champions and jumped on top with a 8-0 lead.  Talbot, from Easton, Maryland chipped away at the lead until it was 8-8.  It stayed that way until the 8^th inning when the Cecils scored 8 times en route to a 16-8 victory and take them to the second straight title game.

In the last semi-final, the Eclipse who were the number 1 seed as well as the Mid Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League’s current leader, took on the Chesapeake & Potomac squad from the Baltimore/Washington area.  The Chessies have never won a state playoff match and the streak continued in 2012 as the Elkton Nine scored early and often on its way to a 30-6 rout of the club from the southwest.

This set up an all Cecil County final.  The Cecils scored the first ace, but the Eclipse came back with 2 of their own in the first.  After Chesapeake City tied it up in the 2^nd, the Eclipse never looked back and scored 5 in the third inning.  In a close match the rest of the way, the Eclipse were up 9-7 going in to the 8^th.  The Cecils scored one and were threatening with much more, but the Eclipse shut them down and then tacked on 2 more in the bottom of the 8^th.  Cecil was determined not to give up though and rallied to have the bases loaded with one out in the 9^th.  A pop out and a ground out ended the Cecil’s run and the Eclipse once again had the pennant back in the County Seat.

Games start at noon with the first being Chesapeake City vs Talbot.  Immediately following will be Elkton vs Chesapeake & Potomac.  Bring your picnic baskets and your lawn chairs or blankets or enjoy our concessions including wine tastings in the tasting room at the Terrapin Station Winery.  Admission is free and there is plenty of parking.  Come out and see why Maryland Life selected the Terrapin Station Winery as the state’s best winery and the Elkton Eclipse as the best kept secret in the state!