By Paul Gotham
MUMFORD, N.Y. — “Plowboy,” “Hot Sauce” and “Meal Ticket.” Add it up, and it equals a championship.
Cleveland’s Blues tallied four aces in the first and went on to defeat Talbot Fair Play, 10-4 in the championship of the 2014 National Silver Base Ball Tournament.
In front of grandstands filled with cranks, Tom “Meal Ticket” Inch made second as Cleveland tallied its first. Joel “Plowboy” Watters followed with his own make of second for a tally. Dave “Hot Sauce” Young also made a second. A muff in the outfield tallied another ace.
Despite Scott Martino showing his ginger in centerfield for Talbot, Cleveland tallied three more aces in the third. “Hot Sauce,” Adam “Chopper” Miller and Ryan “Rocket” Edwards touched all four bases in consecutive order.
“Plowboy” made a first and later tallied on a duff as Cleveland took a 9-0 lead in the fourth.
After three whitewashes, Talbot got their first aces in the fourth. Todd Murphy and Nick Sealover both made a first and later tallied.
Scott Martino and Todd “Moonlight” Murphy made second as Talbot tallied two aces in the sixth.
Cleveland ended the championship game getting two hands on the same play.
“It doesn’t get any better than this place to see a vintage baseball game,” said Cleveland’s Dan “Constable” Bing of the Silver Base Ball Park.
Cleveland and Talbot have combined to win the last five Silver Base Ball Championships played at Genesee Country Museum. Cleveland won the title in 2010 in 2011. Talbot, the reigning champion, also shared the title with Flemington Neshanock in 2012.
In other action Sunday:
Cleveland Blues 5 Victory 3
With one hand out, “Plowboy’s” banjo hit tallied Cleveland’s first ace. It was the first of four Cleveland tallies in the first. The Blues showed a little ginger getting three hands without a striker to first in the second, fourth, fifth and ninth innings. Brad “Woody” Zreny collected four hands for the Blues including a catch running uphill in centerfield of the Great Meadow. With the win, Cleveland handed Victory its only defeat of the weekend. The Blues (3-1) clinched the championship game over Victory (3-1) and Rochester (3-1) based on run differential.
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS BY SUE KANE.
Rochester 7 Woodstock 5
Rochester tallied three aces in the ninth to keep alive their hopes of reaching the championship game. Jeremy “Sidecar” Northrup, Jim “Pops” Northrup and Mike “Whiskey” Williams all tallied in Rochester’s last at bat. Steve “Stubby” DeVito tallied an ace in the fifth and eighth innings. Woodstock did not get a striker to first in the last two innings.
Cleveland and Talbot have combined to win the last five Silver Base Ball Championships played at Genesee Country Museum. Cleveland won the title in 2010 in 2011. Talbot, the reigning champion, also shared the title with Flemington Neshanock in 2012.
More Sunday results:
Spring Creek 22 Northville Eclipse 9
Rochester 7 Woodstock 5
Akron 17 Flower City 12
Cleveland Blues 5 Victory 3
Talbot 15 Live Oak 4
Saturday’s results:
Victory 6 Melrose 4
Talbot 18 Flower City 3
Spring Creek 30 Akron 13
Cleveland Blues 27 Live Oak 8
Woodstock 11 Flower City 8
Melrose 17 Northville Eclipse 6
Rochester 16 Akron 8
Talbot 11 Spring Creek 1
Cleveland Blues 17 Rochester 8
Live Oak 17 Melrose 3
Victory 12 Woodstock 6
Talbot 6 Cleveland Blues 2
Victory 5 Akron 3
Northville Eclipse 16 Flower City 6
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS BY SUE KANE.
Friday’s results:
Woodstock 15 Spring Creek 3
Northville Eclipse 22 Live Oak 2
Rochester 15 Melrose 11
Some 300 teams play vintage baseball in the United States. Teams and tournaments use rules from the 1850’s – 1890’s to govern play. Rochester boasts five clubs: Spring Creeks BBC (from Mumford, N.Y. history), Victory BBC (Phelps, N.Y. history), Flower City BBC (Rochester, N.Y.), Live Oak BBC (Rochester, N.Y.) and Rochester BBC. The five teams will compete for the Mayor’s Cup on the first weekend of October. Games will be played at Genesee Country Museum.
Click here to read more about Vintage Base Ball.
Click here to visit the Genesee Country Museum historic base ball page.
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