The 6th annual Maryland 19th Century Base Ball State Championship Tournament will take place this Sunday, September 30th at the Terrapin Station Winery in Elkton, Maryland.  Come out and see if the Cecil Club of Chesapeake City can defend its title as the #3 seed this year, or will the Elkton Eclipse who won the first 4 years be able to take the flag back?  Maybe the Talbot Fair Plays (the #2 seed) will finally break through after coming up short at all 5 championship games or maybe this will be the year that Chesapeake & Potomac surprises everyone and takes the pennant to Washington/Baltimore. 

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!

The Atlantics welcomed their cross-borough rivals the Eckfords to their scenic home grounds of the Smithtown Historical Society this past Sunday. The original Eckfords and Atlantics were rivals in Brooklyn and their modern day recreations continued their competitive matches just where they left off all those years ago.

The first match featured pitching from Frank “Hammy” Obidienzo of the Atlantics and Eric “Express” Miklich of the Eckfords, with umpiring by Sean “Toothpick” Ness of the Manetto Hill Surprise BBC. The Atlantics scored first and last with a few in between as William “Billy Goat” Kowalczyk, Dean “Dreambucket” Emma and Kevin “Flash” Harrison each struck two hits a piece leading the Atlantics to an 8-4 victory.

The second match showed a change in pitcher for the Eckfords while the Atlantics kept Captain Hammy out between the pitching lines. Billy Goat was replaced by George “Blackjack” Pappas who recently returned from a scouting trip. In this match the Eckfords came out strong scoring three aces in the first frame and featured a tight contest with a tie game going into the sixth inning. Behind the plate Matt “Krawler” Kouyoumdjian played aggressive defense throwing out a couple of would-be base stealers.

The Atlantics moved ahead by two aces in the eighth inning but even a two run deficit and a double play, Anthony “Willy Mo” Stelmach to Dreambucket to Flash, did not hold down the Eckfords. In the top of the ninth, Rich “Fingers” Effinger, Al “Rocky” Belbol, Express and the rest of the Eckfords combined to score three aces and take a 9-8 lead. Despite fine hitting by Greg “Hawk” Dengel with four hits, Flash with three hits, and Dreambucket and Krawler with two hits, the Atlantics failed to tally an ace as the Eckfords split the doubleheader.
ELKTON DOWNS ELIZABETH

The Eclipse welcomed the Resolutes back to Elkton for the first time in many years with a match of 2 games at beautiful Terrapin Station Winery.  In the first match the two clubs were close up until the 5th inning when the Eclipse finally pulled away with a 13-7 victory.  In the night cap, the game featured rules from 1873.  Elkton kept its streak of never losing a non bound underhand game alive (1865 rules to about 1875) handling the Resolutes 40-9

DELAWARE TAKE A PAIR

The Diamond States were in action at Ft DuPont for the last time this season and they brought in two clubs- the Atheltic BBC from Philadelphia and the brand new Rising Sun BBC from Rising Sun, Maryland.  In the first match the First Staters easily handled their rival from the north 18-6.  In the second match they took care of their new ones from the south as the muffins could not last with the Diamond States as Delaware won 30-6.

New York-Hoboken Play First Match
The Mutuals played 2 matches today against the upstart Hoboken Nine of New Jersey.  The game took place on the Hewlett Grounds, the home field of the Mutuals at Old Bethpage Village Restoration. Both games were played by the rules of 1864.

Both games featured excellent defense and very good pitching.  Game one was a back and forth affair for 9 innings.  The Mutuals came to strike in the bottom of the 9th with the score tied 7-7.  Thomas “Full Speed” (formerly Half Speed) Heinlein led off the inning with a single.  He stole second and then third.  With the winning run 90 feet away, Tom “Big Bat” Fesolowich came to the plate and after several hard hit foul balls, had an infield hit, with Full Speed still 90 feet away.  Thom “Dirt” Fioriglio took his turn at the bat.  After several fair-foul decoys by Dirt, the Hoboken pitcher, threw a wild pitch and Full Speed scampered home with the winning run.

Final Score –  Mutuals 8, Hobokon 7

Game two was a pitchers showdown between Dirt of the Mutuals and Lucky of the Nine.  Very little offense and very strong defense held both teams to just a few aces.  In the end, the Hoboken Nine were able to keep the Mutuals bats at bay and won the game.

Final Score – Hoboken 3, Mutuals 1

DELAWARE SWEEPS TALBOT

NEW YORKERS HIT DELAWARE, MARYLAND

The Mutual BBC of New York traveled south of the Mason Dixon line for the weekend and away from the friendly confines of Old Bethpage to renew some aquientances and make new ones.  On Saturday, the Mutual traveled to Fort DuPont to play the Diamond States as well as the Lewes Club who traveled up from the shore to greet the Mutuals.  In the first match, the Mutuals showed the muffins from Lewes how traditional 19th century base ball was played in squeaking out an 8-7 win over the first year club from lower Delaware.  In their second game of the day, the expierence and home field of the Diamond Staters was too much for New York as the Mutuals fell  24-3.  On to Cecil County they traveled where they spent the night celebrating their win over the Lewes BBC at the Howard House in Elkton-home to the first base ball celebration in 1866 in Cecil County when the newly formed Eclipse hosted the St George’s club of Delaware after thrashing them 66-37 in their first game ever against another club.  

The Mutuals arrived at Terrapin Station Winery in Elkton to renew its rivalry with the Eclipse.  The two sides had not met in several years and were excited about the prospect of playing each other again.  Unfortunately for Boss Hall’s group, the home club put 14 runs on the board in the first 3 frames and cruised to a 22-2 victory over the Mutual.  The New Yorkers got their sea legs back though just in time to play the Chesapeake Nine of Baltimore where they were able to squeeze out a split of the weekend with a 17-10 victory over the Chessies.  In 2 other matches this weekend in relation to these days, the Diamond States downed Lewes 13-7 and Elkton survived against Chesapeake 7-4.

ATLANTIC and GOTHAM SPLIT

TALBOT SWEEPS ATHLETIC

ECLIPSE, DIAMOND STATES BOTH DOWN NEW ENGLANDERS

Elkton, Maryland- The Essex Base Ball Club from Massachusetts made their first trip to the Old Line State for a pair of games at the Terrapin Station Winery in Elkton.  In the first match, the Diamond State BBC of Delaware squared up to play the club from outside of Boston.  In a well played match, the Diamond States came away with a hard fought 13-11 victory.  In the second game of the day, the Eclipse tried their hand with one of the finest clubs on the east coast.  The yankees from New England jumped out to a 8-1 lead before Elkton came back with a 6 spot to come within one.  After several scoreless innings, the Essex club pulled out to a 12-7 lead going in to the bottom of the ninth.  For the fourth time this year, the Elkton nine came roaring back in the 9th scoring 6 runs in the last frame with 2 outs to pull out a 13-12 victory.  The Eclipse only scored in 3 innings all day but made those innings count.  Afterwards a grand crab feast was held in honor of the Essex club.  A grand time was had by all and the Eclipse look forward to going to Massachusetts in 2013 for a Lobster feast.

Gettysburg, PA– Fourteen clubs from all over the country converged on Gettysburg on July 21 and 22 for the 3rd Annual Gettysburg 19th Century Base Ball Festival.  Three clubs went undefeated during the weekend and were named champions.  2 of those 3 are right here from the MAVBBL in Mechanicsburg and Elkton.  The Eclipse downed the Rochester (MI) Grangers, the Indianapolis Blues, the Royal Oak (MI) Wahoos, and the Springfield (IL) Long Nine.  Saginaw (MI) repeated as champion as well.

Other clubs also fared well as the Talbot Fair Plays went 3-1 and the Brooklyn Atlantics went 3-2.  Flemington also participated winning 1 out of their 4 matches.

River Park, Rahway, NY – 6/23/2012
Ten Gotham players arrived at the River Park in Rahway for the match against the Resolutes. After some greetings between players and managers it was decided that the first game would be played according to 1870 rules.
The first Gotham frame was strong and the Gothams tallied 4 aces on strikes from nearly the entire Gotham batting order. The left and center fielders Collector and Smoke covered their positions and turned the Resolute strikes into hands highlighted by a sliding one bound catch by collector far left of the flag in left field. But the Resolutes came back with 4 aces in the fourth frame on mishandled strikes by New York. Gotham second base man Hanky struck what some Gothams thought was the longest single base hit they had ever seen. Hanky with the help of the Muffin and Oates was able to tally and ace none the less.
There was a bit of a scare in the sixth when Resolute player in center field chased down a ball in deep left center field and dove for the ball. Initially all looked well but it was nearly two minutes before the player could return to his feet. Obviously shaken, the cranks heralded him for his effort and the fact that he asked to remain in the field.
Gotham added 4 aces in the sixth fram and another in the 8th to lead the Elizabeth nine by a score of 14 to eight. But the Resolutes struck smartly in the 8th and closed the gap to within 3 aces. Monk hit safely in the ninth frame, stole second and crossed home plate on a one base hit by scratch. With a 4 ace deficit a resolute fouled out on the second pitch. The next batter flied out to Collector who collected a number of manly catches in lf. The final striker was retired on a foul tip to the catcher and the Gotham victory was complete. Final score of the well played match by both teams was recorded as Gotham 15 and the Resolutes 11.