[tm1681]

GAMEDAY ONE (August 8th)

SYR 3-10 EXC – P Jim Creighton (EXC) – CG, 6 HA, 1 ER, 1 BB/7 K, 2/4, 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI
STJ 3-4 SHA (10 Inn.) – OF Luther Tatum (SHA) – 3/4, 2B, 3 RBI, GW HIT
KNI 18-7 ALL – 3B Hugh Harris (KNI) – 4/6, 2B, 2 3B, 3 R, 3 RBI, SB

The opening game of Tucker-Wheaton Cup X was close until the 7th inning. Over the first six and a half stanzas sporadic offense had resulted in a 4-2 Excelsior lead, but in the bottom of the 7th Excelsior scored five runs via just about everything: single, passed ball, double, sacrifice, & wild pitch in that order. That made the score 9-2 and the result was Excelsior’s.

It was #1 offense vs #1 defense in Boston, and it was defense that carried the day in St. John’s vs Shamrock. The score was 2-2 after the 1st inning, and after a single run from each side over the next eight it was time for extras. In the bottom of the 10th Shamrock OF Luther Tatum doubled in Dennis Pruitt to cap a 3/4 afternoon and win the game for the hosts.

Knickerbocker wasted no time in opening their cup defense with a positive result, as a dozen runs over their first four times to bat were enough to sink Alleghany. Hugh Harris took P.o.t.G. honors although he was not the only Knick player to go 4/6 with three runs & R.B.I. each. Ed Huntley put up those same figures, but instead of three extra-base hits he stole three bases.

GAMEDAY TWO (August 9th)

ALL 6-3 EXC – 1B Walter Anderson (ALL) – 3/4, 2B, R, RBI
KNI 8-3 SHA – 1B Willie Love (KNI) – 3/4, 4 R, BB, 2 SB
SYR 7-9 STJ – OF Nelson Townsend (STJ) – 2/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB

Alleghany made up for the opening day home thrashing with a win at Excelsior. Samuel Kessler’s double in the top of the 7th drove in the team’s 4th run and put them over the top, although part-time 1B Walter Anderson was their best batsman here. Solid pitching from Harry Nilsson (CG, 6 HA, 1 ER) and fine defense (2 E) ensured the victory.

Knickerbocker scored five runs over the final four innings to run away from Shamrock and go to 2-0. As in the first game of the day, the victors were led by an unheralded 1B: Willie Love, who in addition to reaching base four times matched his 61-game regular season total by stealing two bases. Peadar Daly (CG, 7 HA, 1 ER) kept Knickerbocker in comfortably in front in spite of eight fielding errors by the team.

St. John’s moved into the win column thanks to a middle-inning barrage against Syracuse, with eight of their nine runs com-ing from the 3rd-6th. That left the score 9-5, and although Syracuse mounted a 9th-inning rally it was not enough as surprise starter Lee Ingle (3.2 IP in regular season) pitched the entire game while receiving plenty of offensive support.

Knickerbocker was the only 2-0 team after Gameday Two, and Syracuse was the only 0-2 team.

GAMEDAY THREE (August 10th)

EXC 4-2 KNI – P Jim Creighton (EXC) – CG, 9 HA, 2 R/ER, 1 BB/2 K, 2/4, 2B, 1 R
STJ 13-4 ALL – OF Nelson Townsend (STJ) – 3/4, 2B, 3 R, RBI, 3 SB
SYR 8-9 SHA (10 Inn.) – SS Anthony Mascherino (SHA) – 4/5, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI

NOTE: P John McGowan (KNI) lost to break postseason streak of 16 consecutive W’s
NOTE: OF Konrad Jensen (STJ) set a new postseason record with 4 BB

Excelsior went to the Elysian Fields and gave Knickerbocker their first loss thanks to another great all-around performance by Jim Creighton. With the game level 2-2 in the 7th, Creighton hit a double that moved C Sam Blade to 3rd with no outs, and three batters later OF Uwe Schneider doubled both players home to give the game its final score. In the process, John McGowan received his first loss in his last seventeen decisions in postseason play.

Alleghany was ahead 2-1 after the end of the 1st but after that it was all St. John’s in Pittsburgh, with a number of St. John’s batsmen having fine days. Aside from Townsend’s output, OF Konrad Jensen walked to first four times and stole two bases, 1B Collin Henderson scored three times, and 3B Leopold Pfeiffer drove in four runs.

Shamrock made it two ten-inning victories in three days with their triumph over Syracuse. Shamrock was ahead 6-5 going into the 9th before a single by SS Henry Neal, a sacrifice fly, and another single by P Earl Quinn put the visitors ahead 9-8. Shamrock evened the score with a Mascherino single, and in the 10th PH George Coffman sacrificed in the winning run.

There were no more undefeated teams after Gameday Three. Syracuse was still winless at 0-3.

GAMEDAY FOUR (August 11th)

EXC 2-3 STJ – CF William Johnson (STJ) – 3/4, R, RBI, SB
ALL 1-12 SHA – 1B Charles Weiss (SHA) – 2/4, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB
KNI 9-14 SYR – CF Carson Law (SYR) – 3/4, 2 2B, 4 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB

Excelsior & St. John’s opened Gameday Four with a tight contest in Providence. Runs via singles by Nelson Townsend & Konrad Jensen in the 3rd and a Thomas DiMola sacrifice in the 4th gave the hosts the three runs they needed to get the bet-ter of the Brooklyn champs. Lee Ingle held Excelsior to five hits and the St. John’s defense committed two errors.

Alleghany’s pitching was roughed up once again in a double-digit loss at Shamrock, a game in which the hosts scored seven times in the bottom of the 1st inning and all twelve of their runs over the first three. Everyone in the Shamrock lineup, P included, had hits, and this game was seemingly over minutes after the fans sat in their seats.

Syracuse became the last team to win, and in the process broke the Inland Championship’s fourteen-game losing streak in Tucker-Wheaton Cup play that had gone back to 1864. Three runs in the 2nd, six in the 3rd, and three more in the 6th were enough as they managed to score nine runs off Peadar Daly while the Knickerbocker defense committed a rare ten errors.

GAMEDAY FIVE (August 12th)

SHA 8-2 KNI – P Tom Ricks (SHA) – CG, 4 HA, 0 ER, 0 BB/3 K, 1/4, 2B, 2 RBI
STJ 6-7 SYR (10 Inn.) – OF Nelson Townsend (STJ) – 4/6, 3 R, 4 SB
EXC 8-7 ALL – P Jim Creighton (EXC) – CG, 9 HA, 2 ER, 1 BB/7 K, 1/3, 3B, 1 R, 1 BB

Shamrock was able to do damage against John McGowan & Knickerbocker early in Manhattan, scoring five runs over the 2nd & 3rd. That was more than enough as an excellently-pitched game by Tom Ricks and fine defensive work by his Sham-rock teammates prevented the Knickerbocker attack from doing much of anything.

Syracuse decided it was their turn for a ten-inning home win, becoming the second team to beat St. John’s in extras so far in the cup. Down 7-6 in the 9th CF Carson Law singled in Leslie Rabel to tie the score, and then in the 10th PH Henry Stone singled in Arthur Mays to win the game. The outcome spoiled another fantastic performance by Nelson Townsend.

Excelsior was able to squeak by Alleghany in Pittsburgh thanks to yet another outstanding all-around effort from mighty Jim Creighton, who has been doing everything in the three games he has played. He was aided with two R.B.I.s from 3B Wesley Leone and a 2/5 performance from 1B Dan Henderson with three runs. Alleghany had the tying run on third base with two out when an Arran Duffy fly ball to the first baseman ended the game.

The standings after Gameday Five of the Tucker-Wheaton Cup were as follows:

TEAM			W	L	 R	RA	 RD
SHAMROCK		4	1	36	22	+14
ST. JOHN’S		3	2	34	24	+10
EXCELSIOR		3	2	27	21	 +6
KNICKERBOCKER	        2	3	39	36	 +3
SYRACUSE		2	3	39	43	 -4
ALLEGHANY		1	4	25	54	-29

The distribution of the teams was back to more of the standard of years past, and not last year’s version where there were five 3-2 teams and a winless whipping boy.

Shamrock had the best Run Differential, but they were still on top thanks to a pair of ten-inning home wins. At the same time, a pair of ten-inning losses was separating 3-2 St. John’s from an undefeated start. Excelsior was looking invincible when Jim Creighton pitched and…vincible otherwise. Knickerbocker was fantastic over the first two games before hitting the skids hard over the next three. Syracuse was the polar opposite of Knickerbocker. Alleghany was being walloped.