Monthly Archives: April 2012

Eastern Visitor Gets “Colo”bered

The Columbus Capitals Base Ball Club from Ohio came to the East Coast in dreams of finishing with a perfect record on their road trip.  They soon found out how good the competition is in New York.  Their first opponent was the defending league champion, Brooklyn Atlantic.  The Atlantic usually rely on their stellar defense to win games, but in the two matches on Saturday against the Capitals, the Atlantic scored 47 runs and walked away with 2 wins under their belt.  In the first game, the home club won 19-4 and then finished off the Columbus club 28-10 in the night cap.  After a night out in the Big Apple, the Capitals met up with the Flemington Neshanock and the Gothams.  In a close match until the 9th inning, the Neshanock gave the Capitals their 3rd straight loss of the weekend.  The Gothams, being the fine hosts they are, allowed the Columbus club one win beofre they left town.

In other MAVBBL news, in Capitol Conference action, the Talbot Fair Plays squeeked by the Potomac Nine in the first game and then handled the Washingtons a second defeat in the second match of the day in Easton, Maryland.  Meanwhile, the Diamond States traved to Rahway to play the Elizabeth Resolutes in a match up of two of the upper tier clubs.  As one would expect, they split in two well played match games.

Mutuals Win Back NY/NJ Cup

On Saturday, April 21, the annual NY/NJ Cup was played at Old Bethpage and the home field of the New York Mutuals.

The New York Mutual BBC defeated the New York Gotham BBC 19-3 in game one.

The Mutuals held off Flemington in game two with a 8-7 victory to win the annual NY/NJ Cup and bring it back home after losing it last year to the NY Gothams.

Tom “Big Bat” Fesolowich pitched the Mutuals to victory in both games.  Evan “Kid” Schuler played a great game behind the dish.  The Mutual offense was led by Rob “Lad” Capriola, Pete “Wheels” Halecky and Rich “Fingers” Effinger who struck the ball hard and showed the ginger on the bases.  Thom “Dirt” Fioriglio and Mike “Fatts” Caliendo kept the Gothams and Neshanocks from tallying aces with solid defense.

The Mutuals and Flemington meet again on May 19th in Belmar, NJ.

Brooklyn Takes Pair From Olneyville

On another beautiful day at the Smithtown Historical Society the Olneyville Temperance Cadets traveled from Rhode Island to play two matches of base ball. Excessive carriage traffic and another athletic event known as “hockey” led to a postponed start-time and a shorthanded Cadet squad. After recruiting some locals to assist the Cadets the games commenced with the Atlantics defense posting an early 0.

 
The top of the Atlantic order gave Frank ‘Shakespeare’ VanZant a four run cushion in the bottom of the 1st and the Atlantics never looked back. The Cadet batters hit the ball hard at times but the superb mixing of pitches and Atlantic defense held the Cadets to 6 runs versus the Atlantic 13. Vincent ‘Tuna’ Aurora, Dean ‘Dreambucket’ Emma and Shakespeare all collected two hits against ‘Blue’ Reilly’s pitching.

 
After a quick break, Shakespeare decided one victory was not enough and to pitch both ends of a doubleheader, this time in an 1864 underhand match.

 
The sterling Atlantic Defense was up to the task and limited the Cadet aces to a total of four. Meanwhile, Nick ‘Butcher’ Baruso, Matt ‘Krawler’ Kouyoumdjian, Kevin ‘Flash’ Harrison, Dreambucket and Tuna each contributed to a lengthy Atlantic lineup with two hits apiece. Dreambuckets two triples and aces put the game out of reach as Shakespeare won the second match 10-4. Both matches were umpired by the ever impartial Ed ‘Pigtail’ Elmore.

 
The Atlantic Base Ball Club next plays on Saturday April 28th at the Smithtown Historical Society against the Columbus Capitals of Ohio at 11AM. The Atlantic Base Ball Club will also be at the Merrick Fair on Sunday April 29th.

In other MAVBBL action, the Elkton Eclipse and Philadelphia Athletic were rained out on Sunday.  No make up date has been announced.

Lewes Plays First Match Ever

April 2, 2012 – Diamond State Base Ball Club opened the new season in fine fashion yesterday with a pair of victories over interstate rival, the Lewes Base Ball Club.  The match was played under sunny skies at Virden Center ball field on the University of Delaware’s Lewes, Delaware campus.  The games were Lewes’ first as full members of the Mid Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League.

The two clubs battled neck and neck for half of the first game with both sides demonstrating fine play in the field.  The Blue and Black separated themselves from the challengers with a 10-run inning and posted a couple of insurance runs, while cruising to a 17-6 win.

Diamond State continued its strong offensive and defensive performances into the second game.  They jumped on Lewes pitchers early and maintained a comfortable lead throughout.  Though the Lewes nine fought valiantly, DSBBC prevailed by a tally of 11-3.

Next up for Diamond State is a road date versus the Cecil Base Ball Club of Chesapeake City.  The match is scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 15 beginning at 2:00 p.m. at the Terrapin Station Winery in Rising Sun, Maryland.

Vice-President Johnson Throws Out First Ball of Season

Saturday was Opening Day for Vintage Base Ball on Long Island. On a beautiful sunny day with a light wind, the Vintage season began with ceremonial first pitch by the honorable Vice-President Andrew Johnson. To celebrate the season opener the Atlantics invited the Flemington Neshanock from New Jersey and the Gotham BBC from New York to take part in a round-robin triple header.
The first match between the Flemington Neshanock and the home club Brooklyn Atlantics was umpired by Rafael ‘Wickets’ Garcia of the Gotham BBC and featured a pitching match-up of Richard ‘Tree’ Ness against Robert ‘Bobby’ Ritter The Neshanock batted first but would not score an ace until the sixth inning.  Meanwhile the Atlantics offense methodically tallied aces in bunches to take an 11 run lead through five innings.  The Neshanock scored 5 aces over the last four innings but ultimately fell to the score of 12-5 to the home team. The second match featured the Flemington Neshanock against the New York Gothams umpired by Dean ‘Dream’ Emma. The teams went back and forth, tieing the game at 4 aces each after two innings and 6 aces each at the end of the four innings.  Poor defense by Flemington in the 5th and 6th innings allowed the game to get away and lead to a 17-9 victory for the Gothams.  Excellent defensive play by Oates of the Gothams kept the Neshanock players off the bases for most of the game. The third match of the day between the New York Gothams and Brooklyn Atlantics was umpired by Dirt of the Mutual BBC.  After both clubs scored in their first at bats, the Gothams tallied 7 aces in the third inning on timely hits and some poor defense by the Atlantics.  Meanwhile the Gothams played excellent defense and their pitcher Billy ‘Coach’ Piela kept the Atlantic batters off balance for most of the game.
The Atlantics scored four aces over the final two innings and left two men on base in the 9th to stage a late rally.  However it was too late as the Gothams were victorious by the score of 11-7. In a complete game effort, Frank ‘Hammy’ Obidienzo kept the Gothams scoreless in the final four innings but suffered the first loss of the season. The Atlantics next play on Saturday April 14th at 11AM at the Smithtown Historical Society Grounds against the Providence Grays.  There will be an underhand/overhand doubleheader featuring games played to the rules of both 1864 and 1884..