Teams from four states converged near the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York this weekend on the grounds of the Ommegang Brewery.
Celebrating the history of base ball and the launch of Ommegangs new brew, the ‘Cooperstown Ale’, brought many a base ballist from near and far.
The games began with the Keystone Base Ball Club from Harrisburg Pennsylvania lining up against the hosting Atlantics who organized the games.

Keystone struck first scoring two aces in the first and one in the second to take a three run lead.  The Atlantic offense though slow to wake, once stirred was relentless as the boys from Brooklyn scored 14 aces in the match.
Keystone scored two more in the fourth inning and one in the seventh inning but would fall to the score of 14-6.
In support of Atlantic pitcher, Ed ‘Pigtail’ Elmore, Dean ‘Dreambucket’ Emma and Billy ‘Goat’ Kowalczyk had three hits each while Tim ‘Ducky’ Keenan, Richard ‘Cuz’ Baruso, Anthony ‘Dirty Pirate’ Cannino, Sean ‘Toothpick’ Ness, Kevin ‘Flash’ Harrison and Pigtail himself had two hits each.
 
The second Atlantic match was against the Lewes Base Ball Club from Delaware who had just defeated the Flemington Neshanock in a close match 16-14.
The Atlantics scored first but Lewes answered back with two in the first to take the lead. Not to be outdone, the Atlantics put up three aces in the second and two more in the third inning to take the lead and extend it.

The Lewes boys battled back though scoring 9 more aces throughout the game including three in the final frame but would fall to the Atlantics 14-11.
The Dirty Pirate came up big in this match with four hits, followed by Matt ‘Krawler’ Kouyoumdjian and Flash with three hits each.
Rounding out the Atlantic onslaught was Richard ‘Fingers’ Effinger, Cuz, Ducky, Pigtail, Dreambucket and Toothpick with two hits a piece.
Pigtail celebrated his second victory of the day with a freshly poured beverage from the brewery.
 
The next day, in a game Flemington Captain Brad ‘Brooklyn’ Shaw swore he would win, the Neshanock of New Jersey took on the Atlantics of Brooklyn.
Backing their captain the Neshanock struck early scoring three aces in the first enroute to eight runs over the first four innings.
No slouches at the plate either, the Atlantics put up eight of their own aces in an equal number of innings.

The Neshanock scored twice more off the Atlantic defense as George ‘Wildhorse’ Ferchland came in to relieve Pigtail’s arm between the pitching lines.
With victory within sight, the Neshanock could not hold on as the Atlantics scored five tallies in the bottom of the fifth and another run in the sixth.
But with four more aces of their own it was a tie game in the seventh inning when the Atlantic bats kept up the pressure scoring the final five tallies of the game and taking the lead 19-14.
Wildhorse earned the victory while Fingers, Toothpick, the Dirty Pirate and Dreambucket each contributed three hits to the Atlantic arsenal this game.
 
The final match for the Atlantics was against the Keystone club again and Frank ‘Hammy’ Obidienzo made his first pitching appearance at the event.
The teams traded aces in the first inning, while the Atlantics scored eight more over the next four innings as they held the Keystone club from scoring.

The Keystone club was not done yet however, they scored one in the sixth to the Atlantics three, but then followed that with one more in the seventh, six in the eighth and two more in the ninth inning to be within one run.

Time ran out for the boys from Harrisburg and the Atlantics sealed the weekend sweep winning by the score of 12-11.
Hammy recorded his first victory of the season, and was helped by some fine defense.  Wildhorse, Billy Goat, Toothpick, Dreambucket and the Dirty Pirate each backed up Hammy with two hits.

The Atlantics traveled to the territory of Western New Jersey to take on the Flemington Neshanock in a town called Chester.  The town was having an anniversary celebration and as their guests the Neshanock and Atlantics paraded down Main Street through the town to Boro Field.


The crafty Neshanock borrowed Charles ‘Bugs’ Klasman from the New York Gothams to pitch against the Atlantics but while he pitched valiantly he would receive no support from their bats.
Ed ‘Pigtail’ Elmore tossed the sphere for the Atlantics and was backed by some fine defensive efforts behind him.  Matt ‘Krawler’ Kouyoumdjian was on his toes behind the dish making some nice diving grabs of foul balls.  The rare vintage double play happened on a fly ball to center caught by Sean ‘Toothpick’ Ness who relayed to Dean ‘Dreambucket’ Emma who short-hopped Krawler just in time to place the tag on a Flemington runner and seal the shutout.


The Atlantic offense went on a tear as Richer ‘Finger’ Effinger, Anthony ‘Willy Mo’ Stelmach, and Pigtail all had three hits each while Anthony ‘Dirty Pirate’ Cannino, Dreambucket, Krawler and Vincent ‘Tuna’ Aurora all had two hits as well.
The final tally showed the Atlantics leading by the score of 14 aces to none.


The second match began much the same way, this time with Illinois of the Neshanock facing off against Tuna of the Atlantics.
The Neshanock offense was again no match for the sure hands of the gentlemen from Brooklyn, holding the men from Jersey scoreless into the last inning.
With a nine run lead by Brooklyn and the final inning approaching a Neshanock rounded the bases.


  The small victory was short lived as with a runner on third base, the next batter hit a grounder to Willy Mo near the bag who quickly tossed the sphere across the diamond to Kevin ‘Flash’ Harrison at first, who then relayed the ball home to Krawler just in time to tag the last Neshanock out.  A double-play to end the game!


Dreambucket led the Atlantics with three hits, while Greg ‘Hawk’ Dengel, Toothpick, and Fingers each had two hits.
Rookie Richard ‘Cuz’ Baruso roped a triple and scored his ace as well as finely patroling the grass in rightfield.