Monday, May 7, 2018

Making Up For Lost Matches

Having managed to play just one match in April, the Neshanock made up for lost time (or at least lost matches) by playing three games the first weekend in May, beginning with a single contest in Nutley, followed by the season's first doubleheader at Ringwood Manor State Park in northwest New Jersey.  Saturday's single game was the fourth annual meeting between Flemington and the Nutley or Kingsland Colonels, an event held at Yanticaw Boys Park in Nutley for the benefit of the Kingsland Manor, an historic home in that community.  Sunday was another regular annual event on the Neshanock schedule, this time played against the Ringwood Miners, a local team formed to provide the opposition for this year's match at the historic state park.  In order not to wear out the patience of those kind enough to spend time reading this blog, this post will cover the Saturday game in some detail (again attempting to use the Chadwick/Cauldwell point of view) before summarizing Saturday's twin bill.


Like the team in Ringwood, the Nutley Colonels were also formed just for one match, but many, if not most, of its members  had played previously against the Neshanock in the earlier renewals of this rivalry so they were by no means muffins.  The local team had a full lineup while the Neshanock had just enough players to field a team with a little help from a local player or two.  The Flemington lineup ran the full age range of the Neshanock roster beginning with Dan "Lefty" Gallagher in his late teens to some Neshanock, who will remain nameless, in their early 60's.  Needless to say defensive positioning was something of a challenge.  Play was called at 1:10 with the Colonels at the strikers line and they quickly put runners on first and third due to untimely and, doubtless age related, muffs.  Fortunately Neshanock newcomer, Adam "Beast" Leffler picked the runner off third with the hidden ball trick and the side was then retired on a fine throw by Scott "Snuffy" Hengst at shortstop to Brad "Brooklyn" Shaw at first.  Once again the Colonels were reminded that while 1860's base ball was a gentleman's game, the Neshanock are not always gentlemen.


If Flemington had any illusions this was going be to an easy match, they were dispelled in the bottom of the first when two fine plays on foul balls by the Colonels' catcher and another in the field kept the Neshanock from capitalizing on Dan "Sledge" Hammer's double.  Nutley then scored in the top of the second and had two on and just one out, only to be denied any further tallies by the Neshanock's first, but not last, double play of the day.  Clearly seeing they had a hard task ahead of them, the Neshanock tallied four runs in their half of the second, keyed by aggressive base running by "Beast" as well as Dave "Illinois" Harris and Chris "Lowball" Lowry.  Nutley added one run in the top of the third, but was shut out in the fourth due to a fine play on a foul tip by "Snuffy" at catcher and another double play this one started by "Beast" at third.  Flemington, however, couldn't add to their total in the third or fourth innings, failing to capitalize on runners at second and third and one out in the fourth.  Nutley tallied again in the fifth, closing the gap to only a single run, but Flemington's third double play of the day, limited the damage, this time by means of another trick play.  Having been victimized twice on trick plays, the local team returned the favor in the bottom of the fifth, using the hidden ball play to their own advantage limiting the Neshanock to one run and a 5-3 lead after five innings.


Both teams added a run in the sixth, the Colonels by means of two extremely well struck balls, while Flemington again used aggressive base running, this time courtesy of "Lefty" to maintain the Neshanock lead at two as the game headed to the seventh.  Nutley broke through in their turn at bat, however, scoring four times, twice due to some very well struck balls and twice due to Flemington muffs, to take an 8-6 lead.  The lead was short lived, however, as Flemington quickly scored three times again due to aggressive base running this time on the legs of "Lefty" and "Sledge," with the latter walking and then circling the bases without Flemington putting the ball in play.  The Neshanock now led 9-8 going to the top of the 8th, but Flemington's lead proved equally short lived as Nutley tied the match on two well struck balls and then retired the Neshanock in order in the bottom of the inning.  Heading to the ninth with the advantage of the last at bat, Flemington didn't waste the opportunity, limiting Nutley to a harmless single by making the routine plays so often taken for granted.  "Lowball" led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and advanced to second on a balk, setting the stage for "Lefty" who promptly delivered a long hit over the left fielder's head, giving Flemington a very hard earned victory.  In addition to a solid pitching effort, Bobby "Melky" Ritter led the Flemington attack with three hits.  It was a very entertaining match and reflected a great deal of credit on the local team.


The following day, amidst threatening skies, that fortunately only threatened, the Neshanock traveled to Ringwood Manor State Park for two games with the Ringwood Miners, trying their hand at 19th century base ball for the first time.  Two seven inning games were played and the Neshanock broke quickly from the gate in the first contest, tallying 10 times before the Minors even had their first chance at the striker's line.  The local team was not intimidated however and played Flemington basically even after that losing, 16-5 while making a number of good plays in the field.  The Flemington attack was led by local man, Dave "Specs" Chamalian with four hits, followed closely by "Lefty," Joe "Mick" Murray and Tom "Thumbs" Hoepfner with three apiece.  After the obligatory break for "Casey at the Bat," the Miners followed Flemington's example by scoring four times in the top of the first.  Flemington tied it in the second, took the lead in the third and then broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth with a seven run inning in route to a 17-6 win.  "Thumbs," "Specs," "Illinois" and "Melky" each had three hits while, "Jersey" Jim Nunn, "Brooklyn" and "Lefty" added two apiece.  With the three wins, the Neshanock are now 3-1 on the season with a weekend off before journeying to the City of Brotherly Love to take on the Athletic Club on May 19th, a game I will miss due to Sophie Zinn's sixth birthday because in this man's army, grandchildren outrank pretty much everyone!

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