World’s Tournament Game 3
Walnut Grove 2, Greenfield Village, MI
Bay City 13, Saginaw 28
The “Group of Death” that was the Chadwick Region in the World’s Tournament this season reared its ugly head again for the participants. After having played two extraordinary, emotionally draining, and exhaustive matches Bay City now had to play the loser of the Saginaw Old Golds and the Spiegel Grove Squires match. After playing Forest City, last season’s Reserve Champion, and the La-de-dahs, the current Michigan State Champion and two time World’s Tournament Champion, Bay City now had the honor of playing either the current World’s Tournament Champion and 2008 Runner-Up, Saginaw, or the 2005 Reserve Champion and 2007 Runner-Up, Spiegel Grove Squires. As was the Bay City luck on the day they got the chance to play Saginaw, who had just been blanked by the Squires for 6 straight innings before storming back only to fall just short at 16-13.
Bay City won the coin toss, and elected to take the field. The first innings went rather well for the Bay City defense as three of the first four Saginaw strikers sent sky balls to the outfield that were bottled in style for a fine coat of whitewash. In their first the Independents began with Sean “Tanner” Leroux making his first on a fine daisy cutter. Then LeRoux took his third on a blast into the garden by Al “Kid” Garcia, who also took his second. The next two hands would go quietly thanks to the fielding of the Old Golds and the lone chance Bay City had of taking a lead was squelched.
The Saginaw bats came to life, as they had in the final portion of their match against the squires, and they plated 5 aces in their second innings. Their fieldwork continued as well, especially that of Chad Short the left fielder, who accepted 4 of the first 6 outs that Bay City made. After two innings Saginaw led 5-0.
The Old Golds weren’t done there as in the third innings their bats discovered that they could launch sky balls onto the tracks surrounding left field. Three ground rule doubles in all were hit in this innings by the Golds, including one struck by Mr. Dennis Konusziewski that might have left the cavernous Union Grounds in New York. There was only one cannonade sent to the right side of the field, and that was by Mr. Beemer, who strikes from the left side. Mr. Beemer made his second on the blast, but then attempted to take his third on an over throw of home plate, but fortunately the catcher recovered the ball in time to kill Mr. Beemer’s hand at third to end the innings. In all the Golds would tally 7 more runs to put their total to 12-0.
Bay City would try to keep up with the runaway locomotive that was the angry Old Golds, and sent twelve strikers to the plate in the third innings and scored 7 times to match the Saginaws efforts. The whillow whipping on the Bay City side found the railroad embankment only once in the innings when Brian “The Butterfly” Beceril crushed the onion over the tracks and drove home an ace. The Bay Citys would end the match with runners on second and third, and found themselves nearly back in the match at Saginaw 12, Bay City 7.
The Saginaws however wouldn’t be slowed down as six safe hits allowed strikers to take their first, and another shot on the railroad tracks placed 6 more runs in the fourth innings. Then in the fifth innings the Old Golds would match that total, and Mr. Beemer would have the last laugh as he sent another howitzer to the long field that gave him his third. The Old Golds would score 4 more runs in the sixth innings bringing the total for the match to 28-7.
The Bay Citys would finally breakthrough the Saginaws scientific play for 6 runs of their own in the sixth innings. The Bay Citys strikers would find the railroad tracks three times in the innings with barrier busters from the bats of “Rope” Revette, Doc Garcia, and Ray “The Banker” Banister. This round of striking would end the contest as the final score would wind up with Saginaw 28, and Bay City 13.
It would have been interesting to see the final tally in this contest had it gone nine innings, as most assuredly some scoring records may have been reached. As it is this heavyweight match-up landed squarely in Saginaw’s favor with three rounds to the Saginaws, two draws, and one round for Bay City.
World’s Tournament Game 2
Walnut Grove #1, Greenfield Village, Dearborn, MI
August 14, 2010
Bay City 8, La-de-dahs 11
After defeating the defending World’s Tournament Reserve Champion, Forest City Base Ball Club, in an emotional and energetic match Bay City was rewarded by playing the current Michigan State Champions, the undefeated Greenfield Village La-de-dahs on their home pitch. This match had the feel of a championship game, rather then a mere second round pairing, and the game that would unfold didn’t disappoint the many cranks that lined the field.
The Bay Citys had lost the coin toss to start the match and the La-de-dahs had chosen to take the field allowing the Independents’ strikers to go to work. Sean “Tanner” LeRoux began the striking with a well placed daisy cutter into the garden and easily made his first. After the next striker lost his hand to a sky ball bottled by the right fielder, LeRoux would take his third on another drive into the garden from the bat of Al “The Kid” Garcia. When Jason “Buttons” McInerney came to the plate the Bay Citys had Garcia on first and LeRoux on third. After striking some foul balls “Buttons” connected on a howitzer to the long field that drove home LeRoux with ease. Garcia took his second and third on the cannonade and then tempted to fate by trying for home. The La-de-dah fieldsman attempted to nab Garcia at home, but threw well beyond the catcher allowing Kid to score and prompting McInerney to try for a home run, which he made while nearly demolishing the La-de-dahs pitcher who was valiantly attempting to stop this run away ox-cart. The Bay Citys scored three aces on the smash but the scoring would end there for the innings. The La-de-dahs would answer with 4 runs of their own in their first, so the score would stand at Greenfield Village 4, and Bay City 3 at the end of one.
The Bay Citys would start off the innings with a howitzer to the long field from Ray “The Banker” Banister that allowed him to make his second. The next striker in the order, Dean “Sawmill” Koch hit a sharp ground ball to the Greenfielders third sacker, and captain, Mike Ossy. Ossy threw across the diamond to nip Koch at first, when Ossy released the ball the runner at second sack made a dash for third hoping to place himself one base closer to home. The fist sacker for the La-de-dahs saw this and rifled the ball back across the diamond killing the runner at third and making a neat double play. The next striker would foul to the catcher and the whitewash was complete.
The fine defensive play would continue in the Dahs second innings. The first striker in the order was “Beast” Moroz and he promptly drove a liner into the left field to make his first. The next striker in the order hit what looked sure to be a safety up the middle, when the second sacker, Tom “Cat” LeRoux swooped in and knocked down the smash, chased it into the outfield, and then flipped to the covering short stop, Sean “Tanner” LeRoux to kill the hand. The next two strikers would lose their hands to sky balls to the LeRoux brothers and end the innings with a skunking of the La-de-dahs.
The play only got better in the third innings. The lead striker in the Bay City order was Britt “The Mad Scientist” Venchura and he made his first on liner into the garden. The next striker, Brain “Hooks” Freehling placed a neat safety into the center field where it was scooped up by Cougar Kozlowski. Kozlowski fired the ball into second base to nip Venchura at the second sack, and the Bay Citys first hand of the innings was lost. The next striker Jayme “High Steppin” Johnson hit a grounder to the second sack side of the infield. The Dahs fieldsman, Nutmeg, fired to second base to apparently nail yet another runner. The captain of the La-de-dahs, Mike “Oxbow” Ossy, protested that his short stop had pulled his foot off of the bag to catch the throw and demanded that the umpire reverse his out call and place the Bay City base runner back on second sack. Both the crowd and all the other vintage clubs in attendance were awed by this act of gentlemanly behavior that is supposed to be a hallmark of this brand of base ball. The Bay Citys now had runners on first and second sack with only one hand lost. The next hand would be lost to a sky ball bottled in style by the Greenfield Village left field, but the next striker in the order, Cat LeRoux would not be denied. LeRoux drove the ball deep into the garden, and with two hands down the runner on second sack, “Hooks” Freehling showed some fine ginger and tallied his ace. That would finish the scoring though for Bay City and the match was now tied.
Matt Valant began the striking for the La-de-dahs in the third innings, and he struck a brilliant fair/foul into the hillside near the third sack. Branden “The Rope” Revette, the third sacker for Bay City, pounced on the ball and fired it across the diamond nearly nipping the hard charging Valant. The bench and the crowd gasped as the ball bounded just barely out of the grasp of the first base tender, and Valant was safe again. The next striker in the order was Cougar Kozlowski, the mighty center fielder for the Dahs. Kozlowski drove a howitzer into the garden, which seemed destined to find the gap between the left and center fieldsman. Fortunately for the Independents the left field was being manned this innings by Brian “Butterfly” Beceril who flew in and made a sliding grab of the Kozlowski sky ball brining the cranks to their feet and killing the Greenfielders first hand. The next striker would bound out to the first sacker, Justin “Doc” Garcia, but Mike “Oxbow” Ossy would drive Valant home with single of his own. The scoring would end there though, and La-de-dahs would again lead the match at 5-4.
The Greenfield Village gents whitewashed the Bay Citys in the fourth innings leaving two runners on the bases, and Bay City would return the favor taking three hands in a row from the La-de-dahs. The Bay Citys would also be skunked again by the Dahs in the fifth innings, this time leaving runners on first and third.
When the Greenfielders took to striking in their portion of the fifth innings they sent Mr. McLabe to the line, and he promptly bounded out to the third sacker to lose the first hand of the innings. The next striker was Pirate Lawson, and Lawson came through for the Dahs with a neat hit that allowed him to make his first. Mr. J. McVicce was next in line, and he dropped a ball just over the pitcher’s head which seemed like it would most assuredly find a place safely in the pitch when a sliding Sean “Tanner” LeRoux took the ball on the fly, and then fired over to Doc Garcia at first to try to force the surprised Pirate Lawson, who had wandered too far from the base. The throw was true and when Doc gathered it to place a tag on Lawson he seemed to employ some maneuver not seen here before when he dropped to the ground feet first and threw up a cloud of dust only to find himself apparently safe. After this miraculous feat of base running the Greenfielders were apparently re-charged, and they tallied 6 runs in the innings with some fine striking and aggressive base running. The innings would be ended when Mr. J. Allen tried to stretch his triple into a home run and he was killed at the plate by a rifle shot from the arm of Brian “The Butterfly” Beceril who was manning the long field. The score in the match was now well in Greenfield Village’s favor at 11-4.
Bay City now had a mountain to climb in order to get back into the match, and as all journeys begin with the first step, so this one would begin with their first striker. Tanner LeRoux hit a drive that allowed him to make his first, and then his brother Cat LeRoux did the same. That was followed by yet another safety by Kid Garcia that drove both brothers home. The next two stirkers would lose their hands in the innings, and the rally appeared to stall, but that was simply a mirage in the ever increasing heat that was swallowing up the field. Brian “Butterfly” Beceril would move the Kid over to third as he took his first, and Kid would score after a drive just over the infield by Rope Revette. Ray “The Banker” Banister then took to the stripe, and drove a ground ball deep to short stop. The throw to first base pulled the base tender, and Banister made his first, but Rope Revette took advantage of the bobble and made a play for third. The first base man saw this and hurled the ball to third; the throw was off line and hit the ground where a miraculous grab and tag by a diving Mike Ossy made a close play of it at third. The umpire was flabbergasted by the play, and hesitated in making his call, but there was no need, for Revette, ever the gentleman, simply walked off the base acknowledging the fine play by Ossy and ending the match. The rally would die prematurely, but the respect earned by some bully play would more than make up for the shortfall in the ledger.
Both clubs acknowledged their mutual admiration to the crowd and many cheers were shared, but the real pay-off was hearing the crowd leaving the hill after the match make numerous mentions of how it was the finest game they had seen in some years.
World’s Tournament of 1867
Game 1
Hawthorne Glade, Greenfield Village, Dearborn, MI
Aug. 14, 2010
Bay City 11, Forest City 8
Bay City began play in their fifth World’s Tournament of Base Ball in the Chadwick Region of the tournament. This region acquired the nickname of the “Group of Death”, due to the fact that this side of the tournament bracket was home to 3 Reserve Champion Runners-Up, 3 Reserve Champions, 4 Champion Runners-Up, and 3 former Champions including the defending World’s Tournament Champion. As a result of this grouping Bay City found themselves in a re-match of last seasons’ Reserve Championship match with the 2009 Reserve Champion, Forest City Base Ball Club of Cleveland, Ohio.
The match began with the Independents’ winning the coin toss, and electing to take the field. This decision proved the correct choice when the Bay Citys were able to whitewash the Forest Citys thanks to some fine defensive plays. The opening striker for the Forest Citys attempted a fair-foul down the third base that was gobbled up by the Bay City third sacker, Branden “The Rope” Revette who rifled the ball to the Independents’ first sacker Justin “Doc” Garcia who bottled the throw in style to nip the striker much to his and his club’s surprise. This type of fine, defensive, scientific base ball would be the hallmark of the Bay Citys play in the tournament.
After skunking the Forest Citys in their first, the Independents took to striking in their own. The second striker in the order, Tom “Cat” LeRoux made his first on a fine daisy cutter, and then took his third on a howitzer to the long field by Al “The Kid” Garcia that allowed Kid to take his second. Jason “Buttons” McInerney then drove them both home with a cannonade of his own that created an opportunity for Buttons to make his second as well. McInerney would later lose his hand, as well as the club’s second of the innings when he tried to make his third on a theft that was neatly played by the Forest City pitcher. No more tallies would be made in the innings, and the scoring would close in the first with Bay City in the lead at 2-0.
The Forest Citys wouldn’t go as quietly in the second innings, and tallied two aces thanks to some fine willow whipping by “Hay Machine” Burgess and “Baby Bambino” Russo. “Hay Machine” scored thanks to Russo, and Russo would later tally on a sky ball by Dueces Trusty that was neatly bottled by the Bay City left fielder. The match was now a tight scratch at 2-2. The Bay Citys would now take to striking and with one hand lost in the innings, Dean “Sawmill” Koch would place a daisy cutter into the left field that allowed him to make his first. This neat piece of hitting was followed by another safety from the bat of Fred “Twinkle-Toes” Brissette, and yet another by Britt “The Mad Scientist” Venchura that now found the bases rather crowded. The next hand would be lost in the innings, and the final striker in the Bay City order, Jayme “High Steppin” Johnson would come to the plate and drop a sky ball into the garden for a safety driving home Sawmill for the leading run. After two innings the match was now Bay City 3 and Forest City 2.
The third innings would begin with the Forest Citys bottom striker, Stagecoach Russo, mashing the apple into the long field and making his second. The next striker in the order was Professor Pucella, who again tested the fair foul market at third sack and again found his hand lost thanks to another astounding play by Rope Revette. The strike was successful however, in moving Russo to third and a ground ball to the second sacker, Tom “Cat” LeRoux, by Coconuts Keller would drive home the run. Keller’s hand would however be lost, and the next striker would see his hand lost thanks to some more bully gardening by the Bay Citys as Jason “Buttons” McInerney chased down a foul smash and nabbed it on the bound. The see-saw match was tied anew.
Bay City however would answer in their third. The first striker in the order for Bay City would lose his hand, but Kid “Garcia” would make his first on a finely placed ball into the garden. Garcia would lose his hand to some nifty field work by the Forest Citys’ short stop when Buttons McInerney drove a hot daisy cutter his way. McInerney would make his first on the play however, and would make his third on a howitzer driven into the tree line by Justin “Doc” Garcia. According to ground rules established before the match was played a smash like Garcia’s would be allowed two bases, and so Buttons was now on third and Doc on second when Brian “Butterfly” Beceril drove the onion deep into the left field garden that gave him his second and allowed the two runners to score. That would finish the scoring in the third and the match now stood at Bay City 5 and Forest City 3.
In the fourth innings the Forest Citys kicked up their heels again when the lead striker in the innings, Marshall Frank, made his first, and then took his second on another apple masher from Hay Machine Burgess. Frank would then lose his hand at third thanks to a fine play on a ground ball struck by Baby Bambino, that would be scooped up by Rope Revette at third and neatly flipped to Sean “Tanner” LeRoux who was brilliantly covering third sack. The next striker, Moonshine Zukes, would then drive home Hay Machine with a bullet to the long field. Zukes would take his second when Russo tried to take his third on the play but looked to be nabbed by a fine throw and tag by the Bay Citys fielders. The umpire was out of position and was forced to ask the gents on the play to act on their honor. The third sacker for Bay City replied that he was sure that he got the runner, but the runner also felt he had gotten there before the tag. The umpire, who acknowledged that he didn’t see the play, apparently believed that the Forest City gent, or gents, made a more aggressive argument, as the runner was allowed to stay. The next striker hit a short sky ball that was bottled by the left fielder, Buttons McInerney and Russo was held at third. The final out of the innings was tracked down on the bound on a bully play by Buttons to end the innings. Bay City would be whitewashed by the Forest Citys and the match was now Bay City 5 and Forest City 4.
In the fifth innings Bay City would repay the skunking, and then do some striking of their own. The first striker for Bay City was Venchura and he placed another liner into the garden to make his first. Venchura would then make his third when Brian “Hooks” Freehling hit a grounder and then took his second on an overthrow to first sack. The Bay City captain, Jayme “High Steppin” Johnson then came to the plate and drove a fair foul down the first base line that drove Venchura home, but the captain’s hand would be lost thanks to some fine field work by the first sacker, “Boom Boom” Russo. Freehling would later tally on a safety by Tom “Cat” Leroux. After five innings the match was now Bay City 6 and Forest City 4.
In the sixth innings the Forest Citys would begin whipping the willows again. Boom Boom Russo led off the striking with a safety to the garden, but would be cut down on a throw to second by the left fielder, Brian “Butterfly” Beceril to lose the first hand. Marshall Frank would then make his first and then take his second on a hit by Hay Machine. The Machine would lose the second hand of the innings on a ground ball from the bat of Baby Bambino fielded neatly by the short stop “Tanner” LeRoux who flipped to his brother “Cat” at second. Frank and Russo would then score on a smash to the long field by Moonshine Zukes that allowed him to make his second. Zukes would later tally on a daisy cutter by Dueces Trusty, but the left fielder would bottle up the next sky ball to end the innings. Forest City had now taken the lead 7-6.
In their sixth the Bay Citys took to onion chopping after their first hand was lost. “Doc” Garcia would begin the pillow parade with a shot that rolled into the trees and gave him his first, he then made his third when Brian “Butterfly” Beceril launched a howitzer into the trees to make his second. Doc would then tally on a blast down the left field line by Branden “The Rope” Revette, and Beceril would then take his third. Revette then made a theft of second, and both he and Beceril would tally when Ray “The Banker” Banister shot a daisy cutter down the left field line that gave him his second. The Banker would then tally on a single by Dean “Sawmill” Koch. Koch would make his second on a daisy cutter placed neatly into right field by “Twinkle-Toes” Brissette, but the scoring would end there as the next two hands were lost. At the end of six innings the match was now Bay City 11, Forest City 7.
The seventh innings nearly started disastrously for the Forest City gents when the Bay City catcher appeared to nab a foul bound from the bat of Stagecoach Russo. The ball however had struck a leaf in the tree, and so was then deemed, according to ground rules, to not be a fairly lost hand. Much to Russo’s credit he then blasted a shot into the garden that had him make his first. He then took his second on a theft, and then moved to third on an unprecedented walk earned by Professor Pucella. Russo then scored on a smash into the garden by Coconuts Keller, and the Forest Citys seemed to be gaining a great deal of momentum. Then Boom Boom Russo hit a sky ball that seemed destined to find a safe landing on the pitch, when the Bay City left fieldsman, Jason “Buttons” McInerney slid under it and made a catch that brought the crowd to their feet. Pucello had to scramble back to third on the catch and no base runners advanced. The next striker, Marshall Frank, then foul tipped to the catcher, Brian “Hooks” Freehling for out number two in the innings. That brought Hay Machine Burgess to the dish with two runners in scoring position. Hay Machine had reached base safely in each of his first three at bats, and his next blast seemed destined to tally at least one ace, as he drove the ball to the opposite field in right. The only problem with this situation was that right field was being manned by Brian “The Butterfly” Beceril in this inning, and he turned his back and ran up the hill that surrounded the right garden and then reached up with his right hand and snatched the howitzer from the air as if plucking a ripe apple from a tree. This bully play ended the contest, and brought both benches to their feet.
Any who watched, or partook of this clash between these fine clubs surely walked away in the belief that they had witnessed a fine match indeed! The final tally saw Bay City walk away with the contest at 11-8.
Bay City visits Petoskey
Winter Sports Park, Petoskey, MI
August 8, 2010
Bay City 19, Petoskey 8
The second leg of the Independents’ tour of the great, white north saw the Bay Citys pull up camp in Petoskey, Michigan, home to the Petoskey Mossbacks. The Mossbacks’ field was beautiful to say the least, and had an interesting lay out with an incredibly short right field. The Mossbacks are a relatively young club, and they remarked that they were interested in testing their metal against the Bay Citys.
As was the case for both days on this trip, the order of striking was determined by a bat toss, which the Independents lost. The Mossbacks chose to take the field first, and unlike the match in Mackinaw City, Bay City actually took to striking early and often. Sean “Tanner” LeRoux struck first and made his first, and then took his second and third thanks to a well struck ball by his elder brother Tom “Cat” LeRoux. The elder LeRoux would also make his second on the apple masher, and both he and his brother would tally when Al “The Kid” Garcia made use of the tree lines in the garden to garner a ground rule double. Garcia would make his third on yet another safety by Jason “Buttons” McInerney, and would then tally when his younger brother Justin “Doc” Garcia drove him home with a daisy-cutter of his own. The scoring would end there for Bay City, but the Mossbacks would tally an ace of their own in their first innings as well. The score was now Bay City 4 and Petoskey 1.
Both clubs would be skunked in the second innings, but the Independents would find their form again in the third when Cat LeRoux found himself on first again, only to be driven to the plate by “The Kid” who had yet another two bag shot in the match. Much like the first innings “The Kid” would tally thanks to his younger sibling “Doc” who placed another single into the garden. The scoring would stop there, and the Mossbacks would be whitewashed in their third innings, so the score now stood at Bay City 6, and Petoskey 1.
The tally bell would remain silent until the seventh innings, when the Independents began their assault anew. Two straight cannonades into the tree line of the long field saw Doc Garcia and Brian “Butterfly” Beceril make their second. Garcia would score thanks to the whillow whipping of Beceril, and Beceril would score when the next striker, Brandon “The Rope” Revette made his second on a fine daisy cutter of his own. After the next two strikers lost their hand, Adam “Little-Train” Johnson drove Revette home with tree shot of his own. The Bay Citys would score 3 runs in all for the innings, and took a commanding lead in the match at 9-1.
In the eighth innings the Bay Citys would be skunked, but the Mossbacks made charge into the breach that would have made the light brigade blush. Petoskey would see three strikers make their second easily in an innings that they pushed across 8 aces to make the contest a tight scratch at 9-8. Bay City now held a precarious lead in a contest that seemed all but finished.
It is said that it is not what happens to individuals that matter most, but how they deal with their circumstances either good or bad. It was plain to see that at the end of the ninth innings the Independents decided to take the opportunity to show what they were made of. The innings began with Doc Garcia sending the onion into the tree-line once again, and it wouldn’t end until after he had repeated the effort a second time. In all the Bay Citys sent 14 strikers to the line in the innings, and tallied four doubles, and a home run by Rope Revette. The ace parade pushed across enough runs to fill a fortnight, and brought the match total to 19-8. The Mossbacks had no answer in their ninth, and the contest came to a close.
Plans have been discussed to bring the Petoskey boys south to the city by the bay for next season, and the Independents would be more then glad to host such a fine group of ball players and gentlemen.
Bay City visits Mackinaw City
Mackinaw City Historical Society, Mackinaw City, MI
August 7, 2010
Bay City 7, Mackinaw City 0
The groundwork for the Bay City barnstorming tour of Michigan’s great north land was laid over 5 years ago when the Mackinaw City Boys began their first season of play. Bay City had to decline the offer to participate in the Boys’ first ever match, due to a previous engagement, but fortunately the cards fell as they did this year and Bay City was able to make the trek. The Independents were happy to see familiar faces in the crowd as “Honest” John Gravlin, the Bay City umpire, also made the journey and Jason “Gypsy” Kladiva, a Mackinac Island native, was also on hand to lend some showmanship to the festivities.
The match began with a bat toss that was won handily by the Mackinaws, and they chose to take the field. It proved a wise decision as whitewash was the color of the day in the first innings of play for both squads. In the second innings “Speedy” of the Mackinaws made his first on a clean daisy cutter and then he made his second on another safety by “Smooth”. This put runners on first and second for the Boys. The next striker crushed a sky ball to the left garden where the Bay City fieldsman, Britt “The Mad Scientist” Venchura coolly drifted under the ball and bottled it in style on the fly for the first out. “Speedy”, the Mackinaw runner on second, must have clearly expected Venchura to take the mammoth shot on the bound, because he tore off for third base only to see that this Bay City defender was well schooled on the proper fielding form for this game, but alas it was too late for “Speedy” as Venchura rifled the ball to second for the second hand lost in the innings. This brilliant defensive gem would be one of four twin killings on the day for the Bay City defense, and it effectively killed the scoring chances for the Mackinaw Boys in the second.
In the third innings the Bay Citys would break through the Mackinaw defense with a two hands lost rally. It began when Adam “Little-Train” Johnson made his first on a ground ball to the infield. The third sacker over threw the ball to first, which allowed “Train” to make his second. Then Fred “Twinkle-Toes” Brissette placed a daisy-cutter through the defense to move “Train” to third. The next striker in the order was Jayme “Cap” Johnson who placed the ball through the left side of the infield to make his first, and drive home the first run of the match. That would end the scoring for the inning, and as it turned out that would be all that was required for the game. After skunking the Mackinaws in the third the score would stand at 1-0 in favor of Bay City.
The Independents would start another pillow parade in the fourth innings when Tom “Cat” LeRoux crushed the onion into the long field and easily made his second. The next two strikers, Al “The Kid” Garcia and Jason “Buttons” McInerney, would each make their first safely on short field hits that found the bases loaded. It was at this time that Justin “Doc” Garcia strode to the plate and promptly took to apple mashing, driving a howitzer in between the center and right fielders. All three base runners would tally on the drive, as would Garcia for a home run and four runs in all! This would help bring the Bay City lead to 5-0.
Both clubs would splash on the whitewash until the seventh innings when Bay City would tally two more times. “Kid” Garcia began the innings with a single, and then tallied on a cannonade to the long field by Jason “Buttons” McInerney which allowed him to make his second. Buttons would then score on another safety by Justin “Doc” Garcia. This would effectively end the scoring for the contest.
The last bit of excitement, besides Dean “Sawmill” Koch’s fining for striking the umpire with a thrown ball, came in the ninth innings when Mackinaw hoped to end their scoreless streak against the Bay Citys. There was one hand lost when the Mackinaws lead striker, Brandon Clemons smote the onion into the long field making his second cleanly. The next striker hit a sky ball harmlessly to the second sacker for the second hand lost. The next striker was the third place man for the Boys and he put a daisy cutter into the long field. It appeared that the Mackinaws would score their first run as Clemons tore around third and headed home, but alas the right fielder on this play was none other then Brian “The Butterfly” Beceril who might as well be named Robin Hood, for he robbed the Mackinaws of their lone chance by gunning down the runner with a perfect throw to home where Cap Johnson completed the play, the hand lost, the match, and the shut out by applying the tag.
The Mackinaws played a fine match, and Bay City was glad to have traveled all that way to enjoy a beautiful day in a beautiful park. They hope to see the Boys again soon!
Bay City hosts Rochester Hills
Carroll Park, Bay City, MI
July 18, 2010
Rochester Hills 12, Bay City 10
The weather was surprisingly good, as it was rumored to be a stormy afternoon, but the storms that followed on the day had nothing to do with the atmospheric conditions on the day and more to do with the thundering bats of the Grangers of Rochester Hills. The match began with a ceremonial pitch by the president of Financial Edge Credit Union, a fine banking institution that was celebrating their 60th Anniversary on this day, and was followed by the coin toss to determine the order of striking. The Grangers won the toss, and nearly everything else that followed on the day seemed to go the way of the Rochester gents.
After winning the toss the Rochester Hill boys chose to strike first, and neatly placed 5 runs on the board sending 10 strikers to the line, and placing 2 long balls into the garden that allowed Misters Grace and A. Prasatek to make their seconds cleanly. It was clear that the Grangers had come to play. The Bay Citys plated two runs of their own in the first innings after their first two strikers, the brothers LeRoux, each made their third on short field hits. It is said that speed is essential in this game, and the brothers LeRoux bring speed a plenty. Their tallies would be all the Independents would garner in the innings and the match would now stand at 5-2 in favor of Rochester Hills.
The Bay Citys would skunk the Grangers in the second, but would tally themselves with a single marker placed neatly in the ledger by Dean “Sawmill” Koch. Sawmill made his first in the innings and was then brought around to tally thanks to two successive safeties by Ray “The Banker” Banister and Dan “The Rainmaker” Decuf respectively. The tally now stood at 5-3, but still controlled by the Grangers.
In the third innings the Grangers would regain the tally they lost when Mr. Anthony Prasatek would again drive a long ball into the garden, and tally for his club. The Bay Citys would be whitewashed in the third and the score would stand as a three run lead for the Grangers again at 6-3.
The Rochester lads didn’t add a tally to their total in the fourth, and the Bay Citys took advantage by plating three of their own to tie the contest. The Bay City striking began with Adam “Little-Train” Johnson making his first and then taking his second on a daisy cutter to first, which lost the first hand in the innings. The Bay Citys appeared destined to be blanked again when the the second hand of the innings was lost on a bound out to the catcher, but Tom “Cat” LeRoux drove a safety into the garden which allowed Johnson to take third. The next striker Al “The Kid” Garcia then placed another daisy cutter into the long field which plated Johnson and moved LeRoux neatly to third. Justin “Doc” Garcia then stepped to the plate and fired a howitzer into the tree tops of Carroll Park that brought LeRoux and “The Kid home. Doc would make his way to third when Jason “Buttons” McInerney also made his first in the innings, but sadly the third hand was lost soon thereafter, and Garcia was stranded on third as were the hopes of Bay City taking the lead in the contest. It was now Bay City 6 and Rochester Hills 6.
The Grangers would quickly regain their lead by tallying two runs in the fifth innings, thanks to the fountain of youth. Ponce de Leon squandered his opportunity of discovery wandering the swamps of Florida, when all he needed to do was peer down to the bottom of the Rochester Hills line up to find the second generation of Grangers strikers. A young Mr. Walters, who is reportedly courting the daughter of the left fielder Mr. Grace, led off the striking with a clean single. After the next striker lost his hand and moved Mr. Walters to second, a familiar name appeared in the striking order A. Prasatek. This Prasatek however, was Ashton the progeny of Mr. Slappy Prasatek, regardless of age this Mr. Prasatek did the elder proud by smashing the apple into the garden and driving home the young legs of the aforementioned Mr. Walters. Prasatek the younger would later tally, and bring the contest to 8-6 in favor of the Rochesters.
The Bay Citys would answer in the fifth innings with one run of their own when Brandon “The Rope” Revette made his first and was brought to tally by a two hands lost smash to the long field that saw Ray “The Banker” Banister make his second. Banister would make his way to third on a safety by Dan “Rainmaker” Decuf, but would move no further, and the Independents’ chance at a tie would die there. The match was still a tight scratch at 8-7 for the Grangers.
The Grangers would then pile on their lead with three more aces in the sixth innings, and Bay City again could only tally two and the Granger lead would double at 11-9. In the seventh the Grangers lengthened their margin by tallying one more and skunking the Independents’ strikers. After seven innings the tally was now Rochester Hills 12, and Bay City 9.
The Bay City defense would stiffen and the Grangers were whitewashed for the remainder of the contest, but the Rochesters were also nifty in their gardening, as they held Bay City to only one more ace in the eighth innings, and the match would find the Grangers on top again by an identical score of their last meeting with Bay City at 12-10.
The match was followed with many congratulations, adulations, and of course a song, as the Grangers serenaded the Bay Citys and the crowd with their trademark ballad “For the Love of the Game.” Despite their harmonious melody, the Bay Citys still invited the Grangers to a fine feast hosted by Financial Edge Credit Union, and both clubs look forward to the Grangers next visit in the fall on September 25th.
Bay City visits Midland
Tridge, Midland, MI
July 16, 2010
Bay City 8, Midland 1
It was a beautiful evening, and fine crowd had assembled to watch the River Hogs and Independents take up a friendly competition in a match game of base ball. These two clubs have become quite familiar with one another over the past 6 seasons, and the matches are always enjoyable.
The umpire for the match, Gary Rocha, presided over the coin toss, which was won by the Bay Citys. Breaking from tradition the Bay Citys chose to take the field, rather then strike first. The order of the striking didn’t seem to matter as each club skunked the other in the first innings.
In the second innings the River Hogs would kick up their heels against the Bay City fieldsman and place their first two strikers neatly on first and second sack. The third striker in the order, Mark Gessford, drove the apple deep into the pasture where the Independent’s left fielder, Britt Venchura, camped under the sky ball and then appeared to muff the ball. Venchura is a rather bright lad, a PhD in fact, but no string of lettered learning could have foretold his brilliance at playing the points in ball that he displayed next. After allowing the ball to slip through his hands, thus striking the soil, Venchura scooped up the onion on the bound to allow the striker to lose his hand, the first of the innings, by muffing the ball on the first try Venchura had fooled the runner on first into trying to make his second which he did only to find it previously occupied. The runner who was standing on second for the Midlanders then made a mad dash for third, and now the trap was sprung as Venchura unleashed a strike to the third sacker, Branden “The Rope” Revette, who promptly tagged the runner for the second hand lost in the innings. Revette then spied the lone River Hog base runner left now trying to make his way back to first, and fired a cannonade to the base tender, Justin “Doc” Garcia who made the tag and ended the first triple play in Independents history. A bully play for the Bay Citys indeed.
Britt “The Mad Scientist” Venchura then led the Bay City charge with a clean safety through the left side of the Midland defense. Venchura then made his second on a muff by the catcher, and then made his third when Ray “The Banker” Banister drove the apple clean into the long field. Venchura then made a steal of home when the Hogs catcher had another pitch get by him. Banister also made his second on the aforementioned muff, and moved over to third on an infield single by Larry “Chuckwagon” Doan.
Runners were now camped on first and third with two hands lost when Brian “Hooks” Freehling pounded the pill into the Midland garden for a clean single. Freehling would make his second thanks to some foolishly plucky base running by “Chuckwagon”, who lost sight of the orb and naturally decided to try his luck for third. Fortunately for the Bay Citys the Midland third sacker muffed the throw and Doan, who was nearly a dead duck, made his third and allowed Freehling to take his second.
There were now two hands down with base runners on second and third for the Bay Citys when the Independent’s captain, Jayme “High-Steppin” Johnson came to the plate and drove a howitzer to the right portion of the long field. Johnson would make his way around the bases with all the grace of thoroughbred camel, and fetched up near the oasis of third sack only to be urged on for a home run by the Midland third base man. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, the Bay Citys captain made a run for it, or what might pass for a run for it, and made his ace cleanly ahead of the throw home. This would end the scoring for the second innings, and brought the tally to Bay City 5, and Midland 0.
Both clubs would slap on the whitewash for the next three innings, until the Bay Citys took to striking again and placed another ace in the ledger when Al “Kid” Garcia slapped another cannon shot into the long field, and cleanly made his second. The younger of the Bay City Garcias, Justin “Doc” Garcia, then drove his brother in with a clean single. After six innings the score was now Bay City 6, and Midland 0.
Bay City would add two more runs to their total in the seventh innings, and Midland would push one across in the ninth to finish the match with a total of Bay City 8, and Midland 1. Both clubs congratulated each other on the fine play exhibited, and vowed to meet again in Bay City the season next.
Bay City visits Rochester Hills
Van Hoosen Farm
July 10, 2010
Bay City 10, Rochester Hills 12
The sun was shining, as it always is at the scenic ball grounds of Van Hoosen Farm, and the furnace was stoked up as if awaiting Dante’s return home to his eternal inferno, when the Independents of Bay City arrived to play their match against the undefeated Grangers of Rochester Hills. The Grangers were playing today’s match fresh off their victory over the 2009 World’s Tournament Champion Saginaw Old Golds, whom they bested by a tally of 21-10. In fact the Grangers had yet to tally fewer than 21 aces in any contest held in the state of Michigan this season, and yet their competition on this day, the Bay Citys, had only tallied over 20 once in this year’s matches. So, it would seem that the Independents would be overmatched at the outset, but alas this is why they play the games.
The match began with the usual coin toss to determine the order of striking, and as has become the norm for the Independents, they won the toss and determined to strike first while the orb was ripe. The striking began in earnest for Bay City when the brothers LeRoux, Sean and Tom, each made their first on some fine drives to the garden. Al “Kid” Garcia followed those fine smashes with a howitzer of his own that sent the Granger gardeners scrambling upon the pitch to retrieve the apple. When the severely bruised fruit made its reappearance upon the infield the brothers LeRoux had each tallied, and the aforementioned Mr. Garcia had easily made his third. As has become family tradition, Al “Kid” Garcia or Garcia the elder, was followed in the order by Garcia the younger, or Justin “Doc” Garcia, and as also become custom the elder was brought to tally by the younger as the ace parade continued with another safety by “Doc” Garcia. The Bay City bats were soon silenced after Doc’s exploits, and the tally stood at 3 for Bay City in their half of the first innings. The Grangers would match the Bay Citys in their first led by a deep drive to the long field by the Rochester short stop, Mr. Anthony “Goodfella” Prasatek. After one inning apiece it was Bay City 3, and Rochester 3.
The Grangers defenders skunked the Bay City strikers in the second, but the Rochester willows were far from wilted themselves, as they placed two more tallies on the board for the sodbusters. At the end of two innings the tally was now Bay City 3, and Rochester Hills 5.
In the third innings the Independents would even things with two aces of their own when Adam “Little Train” Johnson led off the innings by making his first. A grounder to the first base man by the captain of the Bay Citys moved Johnson to second sack where he was brought around to score by a deep smash to the long field by Sean “Tanner” LeRoux. The younger LeRoux, who had easily made his second on the smash, then scored when the elder LeRoux, Tom or “Tomcat”, drove an identical smash into the garden. The elder Leroux also made his second, but alas the fruit dried upon the vine and not another ace was tallied in the innings. The Bay City defense then slapped a coat of whitewash on the Granger batsmen and the contest was now even at 5 runs apiece.
In the fourth innings the Independents again seized a lead, albeit brief, when Brian “Butterfly” Beceril sent the Granger long fielders on a gallop through the garden to retrieve his howitzer shot that allowed him to take his third. Beceril would score when the next striker in the order drove a ball that was taken on the fly by the Rochesters left fielder. No further runs would score for Bay City, and the lead would prove short lived as the Grangers answered with a run of their own. The see-saw battle was again drawn to a tight scratch at 6-6.
Each club would be skunked until the Grangers turn in the sixth innings when the Rochester willows went to whipping again. This time the Grangers unleashed a torrent of aces which saw them tally 6 times before the close of the innings. At the end of the sixth innings the score was now Bay City 6, and Rochester Hills 12.
The Bay Citys would whitewash the Grangers in the seventh innings, and they would make it a match again with their striking in the eighth. The innings were led off by “Kid” Garcia, who in a moment of duplicity, drove an identical apple masher to the one he had in the first innings of play. Kid Garcia then scored on another safety by his brother Doc Garcia, and Garcia the younger would then tally when “Butterfly” Beceril blasted another moon shot that allowed him to make his third safely. The scoring didn’t stop there as Beceril came around to score on a liner to the garden by Dean “Sawmill” Koch. Koch would score after two successive singles by Scott “Umpy” Umphrey and Ron “Irish” O’Laughlin. The next two hands would be lost, and the scoring ended as the Independents tightened the match at Bay City 10, and Rochester Hills 12.
The score would remain unchanged as the defense for both clubs would be impenetrable in the remaining innings. The Grangers would take home the match ball as a trophy. After the match some fine revelry was indulged in at the home of one of the Granger nine, Mr. Bob Lytle, and it was seen that the Rochester ball playing was matched only by their fine skills for hosting their out of town guests. These two fine clubs will be matched again in Bay City at Carroll Park on Sunday, August 18th at 2pm.
June 19, 2010
Bay City vs. Kent B.B.C.
Carroll Park, Bay City, MI
Bay City 15, Kent 3
It was a beautiful day in the city by the bay, when the Kent wagon train arrived. No sooner had they unpacked, then the umpire for the day, Dishonorable Dan Decuf, called the captains for the Kents and Independents together for the coin toss. The Kents won the toss, and chose to take the field allowing the Bay Citys to take to striking, and strike they did. The Independents sent 7 strikers to the dish in their first innings, and tallied three aces for themselves. The Kents would answer with one run in their portion of the first innings, and at the close it was Bay City 3 and Kent 1.
Both clubs would trade some whitewash in the second innings, and the score remained unchanged until Ray “The Banker” Banister blasted a howitzer to the long field that allowed him to easily make his second. Banister was followed in the order by Fred “Twinkle-Toes” Brissette who promptly smashed a drive deep to the second sacker for the Kents who promptly over threw the first base tender, which allowed Brissette to make his second and Banister to tally his ace. Brissette would be moved over to third by a fine daisy-cutter to the long field by Adam “Little Train” Johnson, and would later score after a dribbler by the club Captain Jayme Johnson was put away by the first sacker without assistance. The Kents would also tally two more aces of their own by rallying after losing their first two hands of the innings, and after 3 complete innings the score would stand at Bay City 5 and Kent 3.
The Independents exploded for four runs in the fourth innings when three successive singles by Al “Kid” Garcia, Justin “Doc” Garcia, and Jason “Buttons” McInerney were followed by a colossal blast to the garden by Brian “Butterfly” Beceril that cleared the bases and allowed the lepidopteron to make his third. Beceril would later tally on a nicely placed liner by Brandon “The Rope” Revette. The Bay City defense would skunk the Kents in their fourth innings and the score would now stand at Bay City 9 and Kent 3.
Fine defensive plays dominated the the rest of the contest with Bay City whitewashing the mighty Kents for the remainder of the match, while the Bay Citys would add another run in the seventh innings, and after another Beceril triple the Independents would push across five more aces in the eighth innings. The closing of the ledger saw Bay City walk away with the trophy ball with a tally of 15 runs to 3 for the Kents.
Cleveland Blues
League Park
May 15, 2010
Bay City v. Cleveland
Bay City 3, Cleveland 4
It was a beautiful day for base ball, but when the Bay City carriages arrived in the city of Cleveland they found a young man driving golf balls in the garden that would be the field of play. After some conversation with the young lad he was convinced to ply his European skills elsewhere. Shortly thereafter the Cleveland Blues contingent arrived to greet the Bay City lads, and after much conversation about the historic grounds the first of two matches commenced.
Both clubs slapped on a coat of whitewash in the first innings, and the Blues even laid on a second coat for the Bay Citys in the second. The scoring in the defensive tussle would commence when the Blues ballist “Buckwheat” drove a howitzer to the long field that split the Bay City long fielders. Buckwheat easily made his third on the blow, and the next striker “Barley Pop” nearly matched Buckwheat’s blast, making his second and driving home the first ace of the match. That would end the scoring for the Clevelanders in the second, and the match stood at Blues 1 and Bay City 0 after two innings.
The Bay Citys would continue to be skunked by the Clevelanders right through the fifth innings, while the Blues would add 2 more tallies to their total in the fourth innings of play. Heading into the Bay Citys portion of the sixth innings the tally now stood Cleveland 3, Bay City 0.
In the sixth innings Dean “Sawmill” Koch would lead things off for the Independents and drove a daisy-cutter into the long field for a safety. Koch would make his second when newcomer Britt “Bigfoot” Venchura, an Ohio native himself, would follow Sawmill’s lead and place a neat drive into the Clevelanders garden. Venchura would be erased from the bases on a neat defensive play at second sack by the Blues, but when the fieldsmen from Cleveland tried to kill two hands in one blow the overthrow to first allowed the striker, Larry “Chuckwagon” Doan to make his third and brought home the first Bay City run of the season. The next striker in the Bay City order, the Bay City Captain, Jayme Johnson, would drive a ball to the long field that would be swallowed up on the bound constituting the second out of the innings and driving in Doan for the second run of the innings. Another blast to the long field by Ray “The Banker” Banister would allow him to make his second, but would be wasted as the Cleveland defense gobbled up another bound out to end the Bay City scoring. The Blues would add another tally in their portion of the sixth innings, and the score now stood at Cleveland 4, Bay City 2 heading into the last innings of play for the first match.
The seventh and final innings would see the top of the lineup for the Bay City nine come to the forefront, and they didn’t fail to excite. Sean “Tanner” LeRoux placed a neat single into the left field and he easily made his second. Tanner’s sibling Thomas “Tomcat” LeRoux followed him in the order, and nearly in making his first, but a neat play by the Cleveland left fieldsman caught his ball on the bound for the first out of the innings. The strike by the latter LeRoux did allow the former to move on to the second sack though. This brought up Alan “The Kid” Garcia, who had made his first on two previous attempts and with eyes on a third visit to first sack Kid tried to put the ball into the opposite field. It was an excellent effort, but a fine play in foul territory by the Blues first sacker killed the attempt. It appeared as though Tanner’s opening innings heroics might be for naught, but Jason “Buttons” McInerney stepped to plate, and like the Olympians of old he crushed the orb near to Mt. Olympus. Likewise with the wings of Mercury on his heels he deftly rounded the bags and found himself standing on the third sack ready to deliver the tying run, after his blow tallied the Tanner. But it was not to be, as the last out of the innings was again bound to find itself in the hands of the leftfielder. The final tally would stand at Cleveland 4 and Bay City 3.
The second match would be followed with more fine defensive plays on both sides, but was derived of the drama of the first, as the Bay Citys, with refreshment on their minds after the long journey, would bow again to the Blues 7-3. After the matches the Bay Citys posed for tin types with the Clevelanders and some relatives of a local ball playing family, the Bushongs. The Cleveland boys then treated the Independents to some refreshments at the local watering hole, The Clevelander Bar and Grill. The hospitality shown by the Blues was by far the greatest, and most gracious that the Bay Citys have yet to see in all their travels in base ball. A bully showing for the Blues!! Bay City cannot wait to see the Cleveland boys bound for Bay City next season.
Bay City visits Wyandotte
September 12, 2009
Wyandotte, MI
Bay City 20, Wyandotte 16
Fallen Stars
The Bay City Independents took to the trails for the final time this season and made out for Wyandotte, Michigan to meet the Wyandotte Stars Base Ball Club for a match game of base ball. When the Bay Citys arrived they were taken aback to see some locals playing a cricket match near the designated field for play. One can only wonder why fine young American men would engage in a foreign game such as cricket when they could have been playing base ball. Luckily, there was more then enough room to accommodate both matches on the grounds, and so the game went on.
The match was presided over by Dr. Marcus Dickson, a member in longstanding of the La-de-dah Base Ball Club of Dearborn, Michigan. The Wyandotte gents would win the toss, and elected to take the field first, and allow the Bay Citys to take to striking. As has become the norm in these past five seasons, Tanner LeRoux would begin the scoring by tallying a run thanks to some fine striking by Branden “The Rope” Revettte. LeRoux’s ace would be the lone score for Bay City, and the Wyandotte gents would match it with one of their own. After one innings the match was knotted at one run a piece.
The Bay Citys would be skunked in the next innings, but Wyandotte would place three tallies in the ledger to take a 4-1 in lead in the contest. The Bay Citys drew one run closer in the third innings when Tanner LeRoux tallied again. Both the Stars and the Independents would be whitewashed in the fourth innings and after four innings apiece the match stood a tight scratch at 4-2.
In the fifth innings both clubs mashed the apple for seven runs each. The big blow for the Bay Citys was a howitzer to the long field by Buttons McInerney who easily made his second, and drove in Tanner LeRoux and his brother Tom “The Tomcat” LeRoux. When the fifth innings were complete this see-saw battle now stood at Wyandotte 11, Bay City 9.
In the sixth innings Bay City would draw one run closer when the Bay City Captain, Jayme “High-Steppin” Johnson, tallied thanks to some more fine striking by the brothers LeRoux. After Johnson had made his first Tanner LeRoux drove him to third with another fine daisy-cutter to the garden, and the Captain would tally on a long drive by “The Tomcat” LeRoux which would see him make his second. The LeRoux brothers would be left for dead on the bases when the next two strikers lost their hands to the Wyandotte fieldsmen. The Stars would be skunked by Ray “The Banker” Banister for the next two innings as the Bay Citys grew closer in the sixth innings, and then eventually overtook them with three more aces in the seventh innings. After seven the match was now in Bay City’s hands again at 13-11.
In the eighth innings the Stars seemed to have solved the riddle of Ray “The Banker” Banister, and “The Banker” could sneak nary a ball past the gents from Wyandotte. After a parade around the pillows the Stars snatched back the lead, and had swung their way into controlling the contest at 16-13.
The Bay Citys took to the stripe with the bottom of their order in the ninth innings, behind by three runs, and placed the first three strikers on base. One run would score on a daisy-cutter by Captain Johnson, and Tanner LeRoux would drive a cannonade to the long field for two bases that drove in the match tying runs. LeRoux, easily the star of the match, would also tally two strikers later and provide the winning run of the match. Bay City would tally three more times before ending their ninth innings, and “The Banker” would silence the Stars in their ninth to bring a close to this wild affair at 20-16 in Bay City’s favor.
The contest was heated, but the ballists for each club were congenial, and much appreciative of the fine play on both sides. Each club hinted that they look forward to meeting again next season for some more fun on the pitch.
Current Match Results for 2009
May
May 16th Bay City 6, Mt. Clemens 0
May 30th Akron 12, Bay City 8
La-de-dahs 28, Bay City 25
June
June 6th Silas K. Pierce Cup Champions!
Bay City 8, Royal Oak 2
Bay City 7, Kents 4
Bay City 3, Dutchers 2
June 20th Rochester Hills 10, Bay City 6
July
July 12th Kents 14, Bay City 12
July 26th Bay City 19, Grangers 11
August
August 1st Bay City 16, Midland 6
August 8th World’s Tournament of Base Ball 1867
Columbus 7, Bay City 4
August 9th Bay City 12, Walker Wheels 1
Bay City 6, Unknowns 2
Reserve-Championship Semi-Final
Bay City 3, Indianapolis Blues 2
Reserve Championship Match
Forest City 22, Bay City 16
August 22nd Bay City 28, Mt. Clemens 6
September
September 12 Bay City 20, Wyandotte Stars 16
Current Record- 11 Wins 6 losses
Bay City hosts Mt. Clemens
August 22nd 2009
Carroll Park, Bay City, MI
Bay City 28, Mt. Clemens 6
An early fall chill was in the air, and dark clouds in the sky gave a hint that summer was coming to an end. This was the backdrop for the final match of base ball to be played at Carroll Park this season. The Bay City lads were hosting the Regular Base Ball Club of Mt. Clemens, Michigan on this day and it would mark the first return of the Mt. Clemens ballists to Carroll Park since the Independents’ inaugural match with them in 2005. The Regulars, always being fine gentlemen, were welcomed back with open arms to help close out the Bay Citys 5th season of play at Carroll Park, and thus bringing the circle to a close.
The match began with Mt. Clemens taking a quick two run lead in their first innings thanks to some fine striking and running by Jeff Tomshaw. The Independents would more then match the Regulars’ striking with five runs of their own. The Bay Citys would begin the innings with a howitzer from the bat of “Tanner” LeRoux. LeRoux would easily make his third on the blast, and he would tally on a safety by the next striker Brian “Butterfly” Beceril. Beceril would also circuit the bases on another shot to the garden by Justin “Doc” Garcia, and that clout would have him make his second safely. When the innings closed Bay City now held a 5 aces to 2 advantage over Mt. Clemens.
The Regulars would be baffled by the bevy of balls served to the plate by Fred “Twinkle-Toes” Brissette, and coupled with the strong defense of the Independents the Regulars would be whitewashed for the next three innings. The Bay City nine wouldn’t fare much better only tallying 3 more runs themselves. After four innings of play the Bay Citys led 8-2.
In the fifth innings the Regulars, behind the bat of Mr. Tomshaw, would again plate two aces, and draw the contest tighter at 8-4. The Independents then took their turn at the stripe, and saw two of their first four strikers lose their hands in the innings. With the bases loaded and two hands lost the scene was now set for a whirlwind of action on the bases as Brian “Butterfly” Beceril stepped to the plate. One whip of the willow from Beceril cleared the bases as he made a home run on a line drive deep to the garden. Jason “Buttons” McInerney, took full advantage of the winded Regular ballists and punished the pill for another liner deep into the center field. He too would make his home run with a splendid finish that brought to mind an equine misstep that brought his drivers’ carriage into a ditch. This innings would not close for the Bay Citys until they sent 17 strikers to the plate, and extended their lead in the contest to Bay City 20, Mt. Clemens 4.
The Regulars would tally 2 more runs in the seventh innings and that would bring their scoring to a close in the contest. The Independents would ring the bell 8 more times before the finish of the match. The match would end at Bay City 28, and Mt. Clemens 6.
Bay City hosts Midland
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
Carroll Park, Bay City, Michigan
Bound for Glory!
Bay City 16, Midland 6
This Saturday past saw the Bay City nine welcome in their neighbors to the west, the Mighty River Hogs of Midland County, to play a match game of ball. The River Hogs requested that the match be played by the old “bound” rule, which was done away with in the rules of 1865. The older set of rules, known as the bound rules, allows for a fair ball to be caught on one bound for a hand lost (out). Ever the gracious host Bay City agreed to play their match by these past standards.
The match would begin with the River Hogs striking well, and sending eight men to the plate in only the first innings of play. Thanks to several successive safeties and a passed ball, the Midland gents were able to tally three aces. Then the Hogs were able to pull off a neat double play against the Bay Citys, and at the conclusion of one innings the scores stood at Midland 3, Bay City 0.
The Midland boys wouldn’t have much more luck at the stripe after the first, as Bay City’s own hurler of reknown, Fred Twinkle-Toes Brissette would enter the contest in the second innings and whitewash the River Hogs for the next five innings. The River Hogs luck in the field began to change as well thanks due in large part to the willow whipping of the Independents. Buttons McInerney would lead the charge again for the Bay Citys by pounding a ball deep into the garden, and easily making his second. McInerney would score on a clean safety from the bat of Branden “The Rope” Revette. Revette himself would later tally thanks to successive singles from the sticks of “Butterfly” Beceril and Dean “Sawmill” Koch. Beceril would score the match tying run when Captain Jayme Johnson placed a neat safety into the garden which allowed him to make his first safely.
The match was now a tight scratch at Bay City 3, Midland 3.
In the third innings Captain Johnson would score the go ahead run of the match for the Independents after making his first again and tallying thanks to a howitzer to the long field from the bat of Ray “The Banker” Banister. After Banister’s heroics the bats would go silent for the Bay Citys until the sixth innings. Banister would lead off the sixth with another drive to the long field and he would be the first of six gents to tally in the sixth innings for the Independents with four coming in a two hands down rally. After six innings the contest now stood at Bay City 10, Midland 3.
The River Hogs would tally two runs in the seventh innings and one more in the ninth to bring their total in the contest to six runs. It was an impressive display by the Midland gents, but the Bay Citys would not be outdone in front of the home crowd, as they would tally one more run in the seventh and five more in the eighth. The biggest blow of the contest came in the eighth innings with Bay City strikers occupying second and third sack and two hands lost Fred “Twinkle-Toes” Brissette took his turn at the plate and mashed the apple well into the right field. The howitzer from Brissette’s bat bounded into the flower garden and by the time the Midland gents had retrieved the ball Brissette had tallied a clean home run. The contest would end at Bay City 16, and Midland 6.
Bay City will next travel off to Dearborn to represent the fine folk of our fair city in the World’s Tournament of Base Ball to be held at Greenfield Village on August 8-9th. Bay City plays their first match at 11am Saturday against the two time Reserve Champion Columbus Capitals Base Ball Club of Columbus, Ohio.
Bay City hosts Rochester Hills
Sunday, July 26th
Carroll Park, Bay City, MI
Bay City 19, Rochester Hills 11
A Deluge of Aces!
The afternoon was filled with sunshine, and Carroll Park in Bay City was teeming with cranks of every size when the scheduled time for the match to be played that day, between the Independents of Bay City and the Grangers of Rochester Hills, came to pass. This match would be a hot one for the Independents and a true test of their mettle. The Grangers had yet to lose in their current season, and had bested Bay City in Rochester Hills just a few weeks prior.
As the ballists prepared for their match they were startled to find a special guest had arrived for the aforementioned festivities a Mr. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of our United States. No doubt Mr. Lincoln was here to woo the Bay City voters who overwhelmingly voted for the Democratic Candidate, Mr. McClellan, in the previously held 1864 election. Despite the Bay City affinity for the opposition they welcomed Mr. Lincoln and allowed him the honor of tossing out the first pitch for the match.
The Grangers, after having won the coin toss to decide the order of striking, struck first in the match. A trio of aces opened the game for the Rochester Hills club, as six of their first 7 strikers would make their first safely before losing their third hand in the innings. The Bay Citys would match the Grangers tally in their first innings when “Buttons” McInerney crushed a howitzer to the long field that allowed him to make his third safely. McInerney’s blow would plate tallies in the persons of Sean “Tanner” LeRoux and Al “Kid” Garcia. McInerney himself would score when Dennis “Double D” Dinauer put another line drive into the long field for the Independents fourth safety of the innings. At the end of the first innings the match was a tight scratch at Bay City 3 and Rochester Hills 3.
The Bay Citys would skunk the Grangers in the second innings thanks to some fine pitching on the part of Ray “The Banker” Banister and some fancy fieldwork by the Independents. The Bay City portion of the innings would see one tally placed on the placard and the thanks would be due to some fine striking by Mr. Abraham Lincoln himself. Lincoln, a well known base ball advocate, was begged by the Bay Citys to take a turn at the plate for them to lead off the innings. Mr. President obliged and place a neat single through the middle of the infield to make his first. The “Great Emancipator” would then tally when Brian “Butterfly” Beceril drove a daisy-cutter into the garden for the Independents’ third safety of the innings. After two innings the ledger read Bay City 4, Rochester Hills 3.
The third innings would see no scoring as both teams traded the whitewash. It was in the fourth innings that the clouds rolled across the sky and opened up a deluge of rain upon the proceedings. The spectators scrambled, and Mr. Lincoln and his entourage made for the safety of their carriages, but he ballists played on. The grounds quickly took on the appearance of a swamp, the spheroid became as heavy as a cannon ball and as slick as a greased pig, and the Grangers took full advantage. The gents from Rochester Hills proved to be fine mudders while sending ten strikers to the line, and placing six runs across the plate. Three Granger strikers, Grace, Prasetek, and Jolin, would tally for their second time in the match during the innings. The Bay Citys would answer with only one run and after four innings the soggy scorecard would read Rochester Hills 9, Bay City 5.
The match was brought to at standstill after the fourth as Mother Nature wreaked her havoc in our humble hometown, and while the ballists waited out the weather changes were made to the Bay City defense. When the sun finally shone its face again it saw a new pitcher at the stripe for Bay City in the form of Ron “Irish” O’Laughlin. O’Laughlin’s pitching and the Independents’ fine fielding would skunk Grangers for the next four innings.
While the Bay City fieldsmen were pitching goose eggs their strikers were parading around the pillows. The Independents sent ten gents to the line in the fifth innings and scored five runs to boot!
The Bay Citys would be held without a tally in the sixth innings, but they would kick up their heels again in the seventh when eight strikers would score before nary a hand was lost. In all the Independents would send thirteen men to the plate in the seventh and tally nine runs in the innings to take a commanding lead. The seventh would also see Kid Garcia and Buttons McInerney each score their third ace of the contest. At the conclusion of the seventh innings the score now stood Bay City 19, Rochester Hills 9.
Neither club would tally in the eighth innings, nor would the Grangers two run rally in the ninth reach their needed quota. The Independents would forgo their opportunity to strike in the ninth innings and the match would come to a close with Bay City holding sway over the Grangers at 19-11. Each club would salute the umpire to end the match, and Bay City would win the game ball as a trophy for the day.
Hopefully Bay City will be able to host the fine gentlemen from Rochester Hills again this coming September when they play host to the State Championship Cup Tournament during the River of Time exhibit on Saturday the 26th.
Club
Grangers 3 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 2
Bay City 3 1 0 1 5 0 9 0 x
Bay City hosts Kent B.B.C. July 12, 2009 Carroll Park, Bay City, MI Bay City 12, Kent 14 The Return of the Top Hat It was a beautiful, blue sky day in the city by the bay, as the Independents welcomed a familiar group into town, The Kent B.B.C. of Grand Rapids, MI. This would mark the tenth matched played by the Bay Citys against the Kents, and the Independents were happy to see many faces of whom they have become well acquainted over the years. One of those faces had been absent the past three years upon the Kent trips to Bay City, and the hometown nine was pleased to see that the top hat wearing Gordon Olson, the club founder, had made the long trek with his club for this most recent visit. The Kents had long held the Bay Citys off the winning ledger in many a close contest, but in the past two meetings prior the Independents were able to come away victorious. They defeated the Kents 31-11 in their last visit to Bay City, and just last month they got the better of the Kents in Grand Rapids in a 7-4 win. It marked the first time that Bay City was able to take home the Silas K. Pierce Cup without sharing it with the Kents, whom they could never seem to get by. There were hopes that Bay City might be able to pull off another victory for the hometown on this day, and make it three in a row. The contest, which was officiated by the honorable Jason “Gypsy” Kladiva of the Welkins club of Port Huron, began with a contest of speed where the fleetest of feet in retrieving a thrown ball would be awarded the honor of choosing the order of striking. The contest was won by the Independents own, Tanner LeRoux. Tanner chose to strike first in the contest. The order of the contest would make no difference in the first innings however, as each club swapped a whitewash in the frame. In the second innings the Bay Citys would score twice when Branden “The Rope” Revette would drive home “Buttons” McInerney to plate his ace, and Captain Johnson struck another safety which allowed Brian “Butterfly” Beceril to tally as well. The lead would be short lived however, when the Kents put two aces in the ledger as well in their second innings. The Independents would take the lead in the third innings when Scott “Umpy” Umphrey made a complete circuit of the bases on a blast to the garden which found the onion lost amongst the flora in Carroll Park. By the time the Kent out fielders had located the pill Umphrey was already being fanned by his Independent mates in an effort to revive him after his long travails. While the Bay City defense was staunch enough to skunk the Kents in the next three innings, they continued to add to their lead with four runs tallied in the fourth innings. Those aces were sparked by two successive long blows from the bats of “Doc” Garcia, and Buttons McInerney. Each striker was able to make their second with ease. Two more Bay City strikers would plate in the fifth innings. One of those aces was made by Ron “Irish” O’Laughlin who made his second by theft, and tallied after a safety by Adam “Little Train” Johnson. The score now stood at Bay City 9, and Kent 2 at the conclusion of five innings. The two clubs would trade aces in the sixth innings, and the lead would remain at seven until the Kents whitewashed the Bay Citys in the seventh innings, and then compounded the Independents troubles by tallying 6 runs in the seventh innings. The Kent rally was sparked by a lead off home run by Mr. Lance Brewer. The hometown nine would tally only once in the eighth innings, and the match was now a tight scratch at Bay City 11, Kent 9. The Kents saw two of their first three hands lost in the eighth innings, but persevered to punish the pill for five more aces. This put them in the lead for the first time in the match at 14 to 11. The Bay Citys wouldn’t go down lightly however, as “Buttons” McInerney tallied in the ninth, and the bases were full when the Bay City Captain ended their comeback efforts with a slow fair-foul worm burner to first. The Kents would come away with the game ball and the victory in the contest at 14-12. The Kents have agreed to attend the State Championship Cup Tournament to be held in Bay City, Saturday, September 26th at Middleground Island, and perhaps the two clubs will meet again. Cup News: In a side note, the Saginaw Old Golds were able to retain their claim to the Championship Cup by defeating the Ludington Mariners this past Sunday 31-6. The Mariners have already put in a request for another shot at the Cup this coming Sunday, July 25th in Ludington.
Bay City hosts Akron Carroll Park, Bay City, MI May 30th, 2009 Black Stockings Rising Akron 12, Bay City 8 The Bay City nine rose near dawn to ready the greenery of Carroll Park for yet another season of home matches played in our scenic little town. This home opener would be unlike any other in the five year history of the Independents, as they would play host to two clubs on this day, the Akron Black Stockings and the La-de-dahs of Greenfield Village. Both clubs are very highly regarded and have been much decorated throughout their respective histories. The first match on the day would see Bay City take on the boys from Ohio and after winning the coin toss the Independents took to striking. The first four Bay City strikers would all make their first, and there would be three runs in the innings for the Independents before the third hand was lost. The longest clout of the innings belonged to Butterfly Beceril who blasted a howitzer to the long field, and made his second while driving home the matches first run in the person of Tanner LeRoux. The Black Stockings would put two runs in the ledger thanks to Mr. Blasick, and a three bagger by Jason Zedak. At the end of the first innings the Bay Citys held a slender lead at 3-2. The clubs would trade whitewashing in the second innings, and the Stockings even skunked the Bay Citys in the third as well. The Independents couldn’t hold off the Stockings in their third though, and they put two tallies in the books to grab a 4 -3 lead in the contest. In the fourth innings the Bay Citys would knot the match up when Tom LeRoux pounced on the pill, drove it deep into the garden, and then deftly took his third as the out fieldsmen wound up to toss the ball to the in field. LeRoux would later score when Dean “Sawmill” Koch drove him home with a safety of his own. The next striker “Shoeless” Jeff Dinauer would drive Koch to second with another fine blast, but with two hands down the Akron right fielder made a fine sliding catch from the bat of Captain Johnson to end the innings. After ending the Bay City threat the Black Stockings took to apple mashing in fine style. They would tally 7 times before making their final out and now held a commanding 11-4 lead in the contest. The Independents would not go down quietly and put another run on the board in the fifth innings, and then skunked the Akrons in the fifth innings. The Black Stockings would return the favor in the sixth innings, and then put one more run on the slate thanks to Mr. Incorvati’s two bagger, and Mr. Russell’s safety. The match stood then at l2-5 in favor of Akron, but Bay City would lead one more valiant charge in the seventh innings. At the head of the column was the young Irish lad “Buttons” McInerney who made his first and was followed by another clean hit by Branden “The Rope” Revette. Both gents would tally on yet another long drive by LeRoux the elder, and this time only a timely throw would hold the spry, Bay City infielder to two bags. LeRoux would also score in the innings on another single by “Shoeless Jeff” Dinauer. However much like the charge of the rebel, General George Pickett up Cemetary Ridge the Bay City offensive was hopeless and the Akron’s defense proved as true as the battlements held by old General Meade, and the contest would close in favor of the Dark hosed gents at 12-8. So once again the Akrons and Bay Citys played another fine match that was as marked by gentlemanly play as it was by the ginger displayed in the field. Perhaps they will meet again someday, and put another chapter in this fine, friendly rivalry. Total Bay City 3 0 0 1 1 0 3 8 Akron 2 0 2 7 0 1 0 12
Bay City vs. Mt. Clemens Howell History Days May 17, 2009 A Silly Sausage-uation! Bay City 5, Mt. Clemens 0 Beautiful weather in the humble burgh of Howell, Michigan accompanied the advent of yet another Independents base ball season. The striped hosed gentlemen would be accompanied on the lawn by the Regular Base Ball Club of Mt. Clemens, Michigan. As has become the custom in these matches a coin toss determined the order of the striking, and the Bay Citys as tradition would follow, won the toss and took to striking. Another Bay City tradition has been scoring early in contests thanks to the mercurial base running of one Sean “Tanner” LeRoux, and today’s match would be no different. Mr. LeRoux promptly struck a fine daisy cutter to the third base tender, but by making use of his speed Tanner promptly made his first. He would move to second on a bound catch made off the bat of Butterfly Beceril, and would be brought home to tally thanks to a fine strike to the long field by Buttons McInerney. There would be no more tallies in the innings and the score would stand at Bay City 1, and Mt. Clemens 0. The Bay City fieldsmen would whitewash the Regulars for the entire contest, but it yet remained a rather tight scratch with Mt. Clemens threatening to tally for several innings. It was not until Dean “Sawmill” Koch tallied in the fifth innings on a bound out taken from the bat of Captain Johnson that the Independents put a little distance between themselves and their opponents. Buttons McInerney would later tally in the seventh innings to add another run to the total for Bay City, and an eighth innings parade around the pillows would plate three more in the persons of Mr. Koch, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Decuf. The main instigator of the kick-up in the eighth innings was Mr. Decuf who drove a howitzer deep into the long field where a vendor who was selling his sausage wares to the spectators picked up the sphere to examine it as if it had fallen from the heavens itself. By the time the ball was extracted from the sausage man’s hands two runners had tallied and Mr. Decuf had easily made his second. No further scoring would follow in the contest and the match would end with free ice cream for all, and a 5-0 match safely in the pockets of the Bay City nine. These two clubs will meet again on the greenery of Carroll Park on August 22nd.