The Last two weeks….

Saturday August 5th the Essex Base Ball Club traveled to Old Bethpage Restoration Village in Long Island to participate in the Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival.  Wearing new bibs thanks to Rae Fortin the boys from MA took the field against the New Yorkers.  In game one the Essex bats rattled off a series of hits to run ahead and never look back defeating the NY Mutuals 10-2.

Game two was against the always tough Atlantic Base Ball Club.  In a game of stellar defense the score stood at 1-1 going into the bottom of the 8th.  Unfortunately for the Essex boys the Atlantic’s scored 6 in the 8th to secure a 7-2 victory.

Saturday August 12th Fiber Revival

Game 1 Newburyport 11 Lowell 6

In game 1 Newburyport got off to a quick start with a 5 run inning and kept the lead the entire game. Mike “Ace” Kent prevented the mighty Lowell hitters from any big innings while solid defense from Adam “the Professor” Gilbert at 3b and Matt “Queen of Diamonds” Larrabee at 1b.

Game 2 Newburyport 10 Lowell 9 in 10 innings

Game 2 was a back and forth battle that had it all. Lowell took the lead in the early innings while Newburyport took it back in the middle. In the top of the 9th inning Lowell trailed 8-7 and was able to take a 9-8 lead. Lowell’s run scoring was powered by Chris “Monkey” Sheehy’s cycle. In the bottom of the 9th Newburyport tied it up 9-9 to send it to the 10th. In the bottom of the 10th with two outs and a runner at third, Glen “No Big Deal” Farrell hit a line drive to left field for the walk off win, his second walk off hit in as many weeks.

Thanks to all the fans that made the games even more enjoyable!

Muffins Weekend

Photo by Matthew Muise

The Essex Base Ball Organizations was pleased to welcome the Ohio Village Muffins to Spencer Peirce Little Farm this past weekend for two action packed days of 1864 rules base ball.

On Saturday the day started with the Muffins matched up against the Lowell Base Ball Nine. In a game of good defense and timely hitting the Lowell Nine were able to secure a 15-2 victory over the boys from Ohio.

Photo by Jennie Lynch 

The 2^nd game of the day featured the visiting Ohio Muffins against the Rockinghams of Portsmouth. The teams battled evenly through 8½  innings with only 3 runs each due to superior defense and crafty pitching on both sides. In the bottom of the 9^th, Alex “Chief” Ieronimo and former Ohio Muffin Beau “Shoeless” Bevins led off with back to back singles for Portsmouth. With runners at 1B and 2B, Ohio then recorded two quick outs on consecutive one bound foul outs and appeared close to extending the game into the 10^th. However, Tyler “Walk-Off” Naufts had other ideas when he stepped up to the plate and lined a sharp single past the pitcher and into centerfield. As the Ohio centerfielder settled in to fire the ball towards home plate the Rockingham bench cheered on Chief as he rounded 3^rd base for what was sure to be close play. As the Rockingham rookie neared home he stumbled just a few feet short of plate, however some luck was with the home team as the thrown ball sailed over the Ohio catcher’s reach thereby allowing Mr. Ieronimo to reach out with his hand to secure the 4-3 victory for Portsmouth. Both teams saluted each other and the crowd that witnessed one of the finest games played this season.

Photo by Matthew Muise

Game three was a sloppy, time shortened seven inning affair that saw each team score 9 runs before other commitments led to players having to abandon the field.

On Sunday in front of a lively crowd the Lynn Live Oaks were able to defeat the Ohio Village Muffins 11-3.  The Ohio Muffins cranks traveled very well for their home town team.  Lynn got out to a 6-0 lead by the 4th inning and never looked back.  Timely hitting and solid defense was played by the entire Oaks team in their winning effort.  The Oaks would like to thank the Muffins for travelling so far for such a gentlemanly match and hope to see them again.

Photo Matthew Muise

Game 2 Newburyport Clamdiggers 17 Ohio Muffins 4

The weather was perfect and the crowd was even better on Sunday when the Newburport Clamdiggers played the Ohio Muffins. The Clamdigger’s bats were alive and well as the entire team contributed to tallied runs. The pitching combination of Kevin “Traveling Man” Byrnes and  John “Specs” Curley kept Ohio off balance all game. A big THANK YOU to the Ohio team for making the 10+ hour hike from the mid west, we look forward to playing you again in the future.

Game 3 Newburyport 12 Lynn 10

It was a back and forth battle that came down to a thrilling 8th and 9th inning offensive explosion. Trailing 7-6 in the bottom of the 8th Mark “Shrub Finder” Scapicchio came up with 2 runners on and hit a high fly ball right into the bush in left field. Unable to find the ball Mark sprinted around the base paths for a home run giving Lynn the 10-7 lead going into the top of the ninth. In the ninth Patty “Boom Boom” Wadland hit a towering two run home run in the corn field to cut the deficit to 10-9. With two hands and a runner on third, Glenn “No Big Deal” Farrell stepped up to the plate and hit a daisy cutter between 3rd and short to tie the game. From there the Clamdiggers put together a few more hits to score Glenn and Adam “the Professor” Gilbert to take the 12-10 lead which they held onto in the bottom of the 9th.