ABBC vs Elizabeth Resolutes

April 20	Elizabeth Resolutes	1870	W 24-4
		1873	W 12-6

The Atlantic Base Ball Club packed their carriages, fed the horses and hopped a ferry over to New Jersey to meet the Resolute Base Ball Club of Elizabeth on the green pastures of Rahway River Park. The Elizabeth club brought some new members to the fray as the Atlantic club with Ed "Pigtail" Elmore between the lines and a solid nine behind him put on a display of their defensive prowess limiting the oppositions tallies to a meager four aces. Meanwhile the Atlantics brought the same bats they have used the past two weekends to average twenty five tallies a match and put them to good use scoring 24 aces in their first "fly game" of the season. Opposing the Atlantics was Danny Jurgens who mixed his pitches but couldn't seem to avoid having the ball land where his fielders weren't. As the match went on Pigtail was replaced by veteran Marc "Nice & Easy" Josloff who did a fine job of keeping the batters off balance and even picked off an over ambitious Elizabeth baserunner only to be denied the out by an errant toss from a tall Atlantic Firstbaseman who shall remain nameless. Leading the Atlantic onslaught were the third baseman Frank "Shakespeare" Van Zant and rightfielder George "Wildhorse" Ferchland with three hits a piece. Following quickly behind them around the bases were Nice & Easy, Matt "Krawler" Kouyoumdjian, Dean "Dreambucket" Emma and Kevin "Flash" Harrison with two hits each. The second match, this time to the rules of base ball as they were recorded in 1873, was quickly arranged with a change in sphere tossers by both teams. Elizabeth elected to trot Danny Marcus in from right field to try and suppress the Atlantic bats, something no other pitcher this season has been able to do. And a fine job he did holding the Atlantics to a season low 12 aces, half the amount of the previous game. Opposing him was Frank "Hammy" Obidienzo who threw the complete game victory as the Resolutes could not muster enough aces when it mattered most. With the Atlantic Attack misfiring on offense in the early innings, the Elizabeth team started to gain confidence and rallied in the sixth inning to draw the score to within one. They were on the verge of breaking out in the top of the seventh with runners on all the bases, no hands down and a chance to change their fortunes when Hammy, using his wiley craftiness, convinced the next three Elizabeth batters to pop the ball straight up, foul it back to the catcher and pop it up to the shortstop and end the rally. Elizabeth was not done as Paul "Quickstep" Salomone drove a strong line drive to right center but it was too late as the Atlantics tallied five aces in the seventh and eighth to pull away. Flash lead the Atlantic lineup with three hits including two doubles, while Anthony "Dirty Pirate" Cannino, Sean "Toothpick" Ness, Dreambucket and Krawler also produced two hits each. On the day, both Pigtail and Hammy picked up victories as the Atlantics return home to Smithtown to play the Providence Grays in an overhand/underhand doubleheader next Saturday April 27th beginning at 11:00 AM. Fans of the vintage game may also meet the Atlantics while they attend the Merrick Kids Fair this Sunday April 28th.