ABBC vs Brooklyn Eckfords

June 1	Brooklyn Eckfords	1864	W 7-6
		1864	L 5-3

The Atlantics turned their carriages to a haven for vintage ball enthusiasts, the Old Bethpage Village Restoration. It was there that the Atlantics battled their Brooklyn nemesis the Eckford Base Ball Club. The first match pitted Eric Miclich of the Eckfords against George 'Blackjack' Pappas of the Atlantics in a well tossed game that was too close to be decided in the usual 27 Hands Lost. The games began with Dean "Dreambucket" Emma skillfully winning the bat toss against Eckfords Captain Al 'Rocky' Belbol and choosing to take the field first. The Atlantics started strong by retiring the first three Eckford batters and then consequently tallying four aces in the bottom of the first inning. Consecutive singles by Sean 'Toothpick' Ness, Frank 'Shakespeare' Van Zant, and Dreambucket, along with a hit by Anthony 'Dirty Pirate' Cannino and double by George 'Wildhorse' Ferchland brought the Atlantics runners across the plate. However the Eckfords were not dismayed and clawed their way back into it with two aces in the second, one in the third, two in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a 6-4 lead. The Eckford defense did a servicable job keeping the Atlantic offense off the scoreboard in seven of the ten innings played. Unfortunately for the Eckfords their offense couldn't keep up as the Atlantic defense didn't allow another run this match. To lead off the seventh Toothpick started the Atlantics with a double and was brought home by Shakespeare's single, and who in turn was brought home by Dreambucket's struck ball to rightfield that was misplayed. With a tie game the pressure was on for each team to keep the opposing batters off of the bases and although Matt 'Krawler' Kouyoumdjian and Vincent 'Tuna' Aurora slapped back-to-back singles in the eighth they couldn't make it home. Finally in the bottom of the tenth frame the top of the Atlantic order reappeared and with yet another double by Toothpick and single by Shakespeare the final ace was tallied when Kevin 'Flash' Harrison drove an outside pitch past the Eckfords rightfielder. The second match began with the Eckfords taking an early lead scoring one ace in the first and two more in the third before the Atlantic offense could recapitulate. This was a fast moving game featuring Eric Miclich pitching his second game, and Marc 'Nice & Easy' Josloff tossing the sphere for the Atlantics from between the lines. The fifth inning saw the Atlantics finally get to Miclich as Dreambucket hit a liner off the pitcher to reach base safely followed by a homerun by Flash to tally two aces and close to within one of the Eckfords. The Eckfords scored once more in the seventh on a fly ball to rightfield as the runner tagging from third base was safe at home on a high throw but the Atlantics answered right back with one of their own as Krawler took advantage of some Eckfords defensive miscues to round the bases and bring the score to Eckfords 4 Atlantics 3. Alas, that was all the aces the Atlantics would tally this day and for good measure the Eckfords tallied one more in the eighth inning to take the second game and split the double header by the score of 5 to 3. On the day Toothpick, Shakespeare and Wildhorse led the Atlantics with three hits each, followed by the Dirty Pirate, Dreambucket and Flash with two hits a piece. Blackjack got the win in the first game while Nice & Easy took the loss in the second. The Atlantics have a busy weekend coming up as Saturday June 8th will celebrate Old Dutch Day at the Smithtown Historical Society with the Talbot Fairplay Base Ball Club from Maryland and the Providence Grays. A round-robin setup has been announced and spectators will see games played from the eras of baseball ranging from the 1860's through 1880's. The first match starts at 10:00 AM sharp. Following that up is a trip by carriage and train to the vineyards of Connecticut to take on the Newtown Sandy Hooks beginning at 10:30 AM.

Photos by Lori and Al Belbol