ABBC at Gettysburg

July 20	Saginaw Old Golds	1864	L 6-4	Press: Penn Live:Best Facial Hair in Vintage Base ball
	Columbus Capitals	1864	W 12-9	Press: Penn Live:Best Nicknames in Vintage Base Ball
	Bay City Independents	1864	W 5-0	Article on Gettysburg Festival
July 21	Cleveland Blues	1864	W 3-1
	Milford Excelsiors	1864	W 9-6

From July 1-3 in 1863 the largest battle to have ever occurred on American soil took place in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Considered by many to be the turning point in the Civil War the fields, farms and hills fought over have become a national park. As our nation celebrated the 150th anniversary of the battle this year vintage base ball teams from around the country journeyed to play ball on a portion of these same fields which were fought over so vailiantly many years ago. The Atlantics traveled to Gettysburg for a weekend festival against the best teams in the country. Up first was a match against the Saginaw Old Golds who defeated the Atlantics the year prior. Frank 'Hammy' Obidienzo took to the pitching lines and was helped by a two run lead in the first innning but Saginaw's defense kept the Atlantics to only seven hits total in this game. Fine defense by both squads kept runners off the bases but Saginaw scored a run in the ninth to go ahead 6-3. The Atlantics tallied one more ace but fell short to a very good Saginaw team. George "Wildhorse" Ferchland lead the team with two hits, while Dean "Dreambucket" Emma had one hit, four steals and two aces. The second match was against our good friends the Columbus Capitals. Ed "Pigtail" Elmore pitched the game as the Capitals struck first with a single ace in the top of the first inning. The Atlantics bats finally awoke striking for three aces in the first, two in the second, two in the third and one in the fourth to build an 8-2 lead through four innings of play. Columbus never gave up scoring seven of their own over the last four innings but the Atlantics were able to tally some as well and took the 12-9 victory. Frank "Shakespeare" Van Zant, Greg "Hawk" Dengel, Billy "Goat" Kowalczyk, Anthony "Willy Mo" Stelmach and Dreambucket led the Atlantics with two hits each. After a break where Dreambucket and Sean "Toothpick" Ness umpired matches between other clubs from as far as Michigan, Ohio, and Maryland the Atlantics next challenged the Bay City Independents to a final game of the day. Bay City had just squeaked out a nailbiter with the Flemington Neshanock 16-14. Hammy and the defense shut down the Bay City team, although they had many base runners they were never able to cross homeplate. The Bay City squad excelled in the field as well keeping the Atlantics to only seven hits and five aces tallied but that would be enough for the 5-0 victory. After a respite at the local inn the Atlantics were called upon to duel the Cleveland Blues the following morning. Cleveland struck the ball hard and well but too often within the range of the Atlantic fielders. Solid defense on both sides lead to the lowest scoring match of the weekend. The Blues lone tally came on a deep flyout to center where the fielder slipped after catching the ball allowing the speedy Cleveland runner to score from first base in the sixth inning to take the 1-0 lead. The Atlantics would not round the bases until the bottom of the eigth inning when the pressure of a shutout loomed. The top of the Atlantic lineup came through and scored three aces to put the pressure back on Cleveland. Despite their best efforts the Atlantic defense held on and claimed victory 3-1 in what umpire Scott Marino said was "the best vintage base ball game I've seen all year!" In the final match of the weekend for the Atlantics we played a new club from Maryland, the Milford Excelsiors. The Atlantic bats put on the pressure as they scored in every inning except the first and eighth. With a 9-4 lead after eight innings Milford threatened in the ninth to turn the tide. The first three batters reached with the first runner scoring, leaving two runners on base with no outs. The next striker smashed a shot to right center which Tooth ran down for a bound out with a run scoring. He then fired a strike to Bucket who fired a strike to Mo to nail the runner at home on a close play, for a double play. Hammy then retired the next batter to seal the victory. Shakespeare, Willy Mo, and "Tricky" Rick Stattler each had two hits, while Anthony "Dirty Pirate" Cannino contributed a double and Dreambucket smashed a homerun. Overall the Atlantics took on some of the finest clubs in the country and had a great time doing so. The Atlantics next play the Brooklyn Eckfords at the Smithtown Historical Society on Saturday July 27th at 11:00 AM

Photos by Julia Hatmaker