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Bay City vs. Lynn Live Oaks
June 11, 2011
Ommegong Brewery, Cooperstown, New York
Bay City 9, Lynn 6
Immediately after their match against the Essex base ball club of Boston, the Bay Citys had to take to the field again this time against the Lynn Live Oaks, who as an affiliate of the Essex Club only had 4 members that were different then the very club Bay City just played. Expectations for success after just be defeated by nearly this same club 13-1 were not incredibly high especially with one of their most valuable weapons sidelined in Mr. Tanner LeRoux. Thankfully, the gents from The Frosty Sons of Thunder again agreed to help round out the roster, and Bay City was able to pick up one more gent who wanted to enter the fray on their behalf, Lash was his moniker, but folks knew him generally as the father of Sonny the speedy long fielder who had joined the club for their previous match. As was put on display Lash and Sonny were very much two of a kind and the apple did not stray too far from the tree as they were both ballists who played the points and ran the bases with a high level of intelligence. The other gent who joined from the Somerset club, Mainliner would prove an excellent defender in the match as well and a more then adequate revolver in place of the aforementioned Mr. LeRoux.
The Bay Citys would lose the coin toss for the match and the Lynn gents chose to strike last in the order leaving the Independents with the opportunity to begin the striking for the contest. Strike they would, that is after a brief disagreement as to the legality of the bat chosen for striking by the young Sonny which would lead him to borrow a stick from his mate Mainliner and would see him drive a howitzer to the long field that allowed the speedy, youngster to take his second. After standing neatly on the second sack Mainliner informed the youngster that he would not allowed to use his bat again as there were only so many fine hits such as that in the stick, and he needed them for himself. The next two hands were lost in the innings and it appeared that Sonny’s display would be for naught until Jason “Buttons” McInerney drove a fine ball to the long field that saw the speedy youngster tally. McInerney would then tally as well when Jason “Butterfly” Beceril drove a sky ball nearly into the trees surrounding the long field that allowed him to take his second. In turn Beceril would tally his ace on a fine safety by the Bay City first sacker, Dean “Sawmill” Koch. Lynn would add only one ace to their side of the ledger in the first, and Bay City took the lead in the contest at 3 to 1.
Both clubs would slap on a coat of whitewash in the second innings, and the score would not change until the Independents took to striking in the third innings. The charge of the Bay Citys was again led by the willow whipping of the young Sonny, who again would take his second. This time Sonny wouldn’t have to wait for long to tally as the very next striker Tom “Cat” LeRoux, the Bay City third base tender for the day, drove a daisy-cutter through the infield that drove the speedy youngster home. The Cat would be eliminated from the base paths as the next striker, Kid Garcia, struck a ground ball to the short stop who then flipped the ball to second to force LeRoux’s hand. The next hand in the innings was lost as well, and it appeared that the inning would end bearing little fruit, but Beceril continued his hot hand and placed another ball into the garden that moved Garcia to third, and placed the Butterfly at first. The next striker in the order was Dean “Sawmill” Koch, who came up and drove a single to the long field that prompted Garcia to try for home. The Lynn long fielder then decided to kill the inning himself with a throw home that over shot the catcher by a near country mile. Not only did Garcia score but Beceril did as well, and Koch was able to make his home run. The scoring would stop there and Bay City would skunk the Lynn gents bringing the total to Bay City 7 and Lynn 1.
No further scoring would take place until Lynn plated three runs in the fifth to make a tighter scratch for the contest at 7 to 4. Bay City would immediately answer in the sixth with two more runs. Dean “Sawmill” Koch would lead the striking and for the third time in the contest made his base safely. Koch then moved up on a long bound out to the left fielder by Mainliner, the Bay City short stop. Koch then put some steam on and tallied after a long single to the garden by Ray “The Banker” Banister. Banister’s stand in runner, Butterfly Beceril, would move up to second on a muff by the catcher and then tallied on a bound out to the long fielder by Adam “Little Train” Johnson. The scoring would end there and the contest was now 9 to 4.
Bay City would add no runs to their ledger in the contest, despite placing runners on third sack in two of the next three innings. The Independents would however, be successful in playing brilliant defensively in skunking the boys from Boston in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. The Lynn boys would lead one last charge in the contest in their ninth innings putting up two more aces to bring the contest to a close at 9 to 6 in favor of the Independents.
Many thanks go out to the gents from Somerset, Sonny, Mainliner, and Lash for helping the Bay Citys soldier through the last two contests and their contributions were great. Their club, The Frosty Sons of Thunder, are no doubt proud to call them their own. Many thanks also go out to the Cleveland Blues for setting up this fine day of base ball, and the hospitality of the crew at the Ommegong Brewery, not only do they make excellent beer they employ excellent people.
On another note Bay City would finish the day in Cooperstown as the only Mid-West club with two wins on the day. They would also add to their list of accomplishments by educating many spectators about our great game’s history, and enlightening many about their fine state of Michigan and it’s beautiful city by the Bay.
