RISING SUN TAKES 3rd PLACE

The Eclipse BBC of Elkton traveled down to Easton for  the 7th Annual Maryland State Championship Tournament.  4 clubs participated on a fine day for 19th Century Base Ball including the Rising Sun BBC, the Chesapeake Nine of Baltimore and the host Talbot Fair Plays.  In the semi final matches, Talbot jumped out to a 17-0 lead over Chesapeake before cruising to a 21-4 win.  The other semi final was much the same as Elkton jumped out to an 11-0 lead after 2 innings and won easily over Rising Sun 19-5.

This set up a very familiar final to those who watch the Maryland State tournaments.  The host Fair Plays would once again face the Eclipse for the 6th time in 7 years.  Talbot has made it to the finals 6 of the 7 years.  The Fair Plays jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first but Elkton came back with 2 in the 2nd and 2 in the 3rd to go up 4-2.  Talbot would add a run in the 5th and Elkton came back with one of their own to go up 5-3.  Elkton would score 2 more before Talbot chipped away at the lead until it was 7-6  Elkton going in to the 9th.  Scott “Tin Can” Martino led off the 9th inning with a double to start the last frame.  A foul out and then a pop out centerfield moved the Talbot runner to third base and with the tying run just 90 feet away, Elkton’s Tom “Schoolboy” Duffy got the batter to pop out to the star of the game for Elkton Ryan “Spark” Minsker to preserve the 7-6 victory and give Elkton the title once again for the 6th time in 7 years.

In the consolation game, Rising Sun downed Chesapeake 8-7 as Chesapeake rallied to have the tying run on 3rd with 2 outs in the 9th, but Greg “Banker” Rodenbaugh got Joe “Commodore” Stanik to line out to 3rd to preserve the victory for Rising Sun.

ATLANTIC ROLLS

The Atlantics welcomed the Elizabeth Resolutes for a pair of matches at Atlantic Park this Sunday.  The first match would be played according to 1864 rules.  Elizabeth won the bat toss and elected to take the field first.  Atlantic and Resolute traded a run over the first three innings before Atlantic jumped out ahead with a 4-run 4th on singles by Dirty Pirate, Shakespeare, Billy Goat, Blackjack, and Willy Mo.  Resolute got one back, but Atlantic scored 2 more in the 5th and 6th, then broke the game open with 12 runs in the 7th, highlighted by Dirty Pirate’s home run.  Single runs in the 8th and 9th added to the lead, while Resolute could only muster up one more run in its 9th.  Tuna went the distance to pick up the 23-3 victory.  Shakespeare, Billy Goat, and Willy Mo each had 3 hits for Atlantic.

The second match was played according to the rules of 1873, and again Resolute won the bat toss, electing to again send Atlantic to bat first.  Dirty Pirate, Shakespeare, and Dreambucket led off with hits to start the scoring, outfield flyouts getting the last 2 runs home.  Resolute answered with 2 runs.  Atlantic scored another run in the 3rd, and Resolute plated 2 runs to tie the game at 4.  As in the first game, Atlantic put up a 4-spot in the 4th to take the lead for good.  Resolute answered with 2 runs, the teams exchanged single runs in the 5th, Atlantic added another in its 6th, then erupted for 7 runs in the 7th as Resolute committed 4 errors to aid the Atlantic cause.  Three runs were added by each team in the final 2 innings, but the result was already ascertained, as Blackjack pitched Atlantic to a 20-10 victory.  Dreambucket and Blackjack each had 4 hits for Atlantic, both with a triple among their hits, while Dirty Pirate was perfect with 4 hits and a walk.  Butcher added 2 hits, including a monstrous triple that cleared the trees in right field.

Atlantic will take next week off to make an appearance at the Smithtown Fair, displaying its 19th century equipment and letting the youngsters take swings against the Atlantics in the field