[tm1681]

GAME ONE (Glenwood Field in Philadelphia)
StJ 4-12 AME – James Burke (CF, AME) 4/6, 2 2B, 3 R, 4 RBI, 6 TB

American opened their title defense in style with an eight-run home win.

The opening innings were even, with both teams scoring in the first two innings and American exiting the 3rd ahead 4-3. However, a four-run American 4th, the key hit being Burke’s run-scoring Double, spelled the visitors’ doom as Burke began the series in spectacular fashion and 30-game winner John Henry gave the APBL #1 solid pitching to make sure the result was never in doubt.

GAME TWO (Glenwood Field in Philadelphia)
StJ 6-5 AME – Nelson Townsend (RF, StJ) 4/5 (all 1B), 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB

Whereas Game One was all American after the third inning, this was an extremely even game throughout.

St. John’s had a 2-1 lead after the opening inning, but a run by St. John’s and two by American in the 3rd cancelled that out and made it a 3-3 game. Both teams scored twice in the 5th to make it 5-5, and after a scoreless 6th it remained tied going into the late innings.

In the top of the 7th Rudolph Decker led off with a Double, and after Townsend singled him over to third Konrad Jensen drove him in with a Sacrifice Fly to give St. John’s a 6-5 lead. That would be the game’s final score. American went down 1-2-3 in the 7th, could only muster a Single in the 8th, and Franklin Petty’s Double with two out in the 9th was followed with a Fly Out, and the series was even.

GAME THREE (Olneyville Field in Providence)
AME 12-13 StJ – Falco v. d. Vaart (C, StJ) 3/5 (all 1B), 3 R, 1 RBI

Game three was more of a back-and-forth affair than Game Two.

After a scoreless opening inning, the hosts scored three times in both the 2nd & 3rd to take a 6-4 lead. American then scored eight times over the 4th & 5th, with two-run hits by Willie Davis & Raynard Steinbach in the 5th being the key moments, to take a 12-6 lead.

The St. John’s comeback began in the bottom of the 5th, when a one-run Single by sub 3B Frank Darcy made the score 12-7. In the bottom of the 6th a run-scoring Double by Nelson Townsend and a Sacrifice Fly by Konrad Jensen would make the score 12-9. St. John’s then won the game in the 7th when a Triple by sub 2B Domenico Branca, Sac Fly by PH Jonathan Atwood, a run-scoring Error, and a Mario Fusilli Double plated four runs to put St. John’s ahead 13-12. Harold Burns provided excellent pitching after that, and St. John’s had a 2-1 series lead.

GAME FOUR (Olneyville Field in Providence)
AME 9-8 StJ – Franklin Petty (RF, AME) 2/4, 3B, 2 R, 0 RBI, BB, 2 SB, 4 TB

It was three one-run games in a row and a 2-2 series after the end of Game Four.

The 2nd was the deciding inning in Providence. American came to bat and scored six runs on a combination of four Singles and a two-run Double by superstar James Burke to take an early 6-0 lead. From there St. John’s was forced to play catch-up for the rest of the game. American scored single runs in the 3rd, 4th, & 6th to take a 9-4 lead, and after St. John’s scored in the 6th & 7th to make it a 9-6 game they plated two runs in the 8th before their attempt at an extended rally fizzled out, with a scoreless 9th guaranteeing the win for American.

GAME FIVE (Olneyville Field in Providence)
AME 8-11 StJ – Konrad Jensen (LF, StJ) 2/3 (both 1B), 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, SB

And it was St. John’s who found themselves one win from the APBL title after late heroics won the day in Game Five.

American opened strong with four runs in the top of the 1st, but St. John’s had evened the score by the end of the 4th. Undeterred, American plated four more runs over the 5th & 6th to take an 8-4 lead, but then St. John’s came right back at American.

In the bottom of the 6th St. john’s scored twice on a Single by Jensen to make it 8-6, and in the bottom of the 7th they scored four runs on a pair of two-run Singles by Mario Fusilli & Theodore Kohlberg to take a 10-8 lead. After an insurance run in B8 made it 11-8 American went down 1-2-3 in the 9th, and St. John’s had a 3-2 series lead.

GAME SIX (Glenwood Field in Philadelphia)
StJ 2-14 AME – Willie Davis (LF, AME) 2/4, HR, 4 R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 SB

American crushed St. John’s to take the Founders’ Cup to a seventh game for the second straight season.

Their backs to the wall, American scored half a dozen runs in the bottom of the 1st and never looked back, with the visitors putting up little resistance – they had five Hits – and Davis putting in a classic performance. In addition to Davis’ splendid day, William Busby was 3/5 with four RBI, Franklin Petty was 2/4 with two Runs and an RBI, and both James Burke & Martin Prince were 2/5 with two Runs.

And now all attention turned to tomorrow’s winner-take-all game for the APBL championship.

GAME SEVEN (Glenwood Field in Philadelphia)
StJ 15-16 AME – James Burke (CF, AME) 4/6 (all 1B), 3 R, 2 RBI, SB

Game Seven was an all-time classic; a contest that will be talked about for years.

St. John’s opened the game red-hot, with ten runs over the first three innings giving them a 10-3 lead. After an uneventful 4th the American comeback began, with four runs in the 5th making it a 10-7 game. Two runs by St. John’s and one by American in the 6th left the score 12-8 going into the final innings of the APBL season.

In the top of the 7th, St. John’s increased their lead to 13-8 on a Single by Theodore Kohlberg. Then, in B7, American got to work. After run-scoring errors made it a 13-10 game, Lorik van Unen came to bat with the bases full and hit a three-run Double to tie the game at 13-13.

In the top of the 8th St. John’s took the lead again, with Mario Fusilli’s two-run Single, his fifth hit of the game, putting the 6x champions ahead 15-13. However, in the bottom half American came right back. After substitute P Allan Jordan led off with a Single he was moved over by James Burke, and then after Willie Davis was hit by a pitch Martin Prince singled in Jordan to make the score 15-14. William Busby then offered up a rare Sacrifice Bunt to move the runners, and Franklin Petty proceeded to deliver the most important hit of the season: a Single that drove in Davis & Prince to give American a 16-15 lead after the end of eight innings of play.

In the top of the 9th Falco van der Vaart led off with a Single and was replaced by pinch-running speedster Jonathan Atwood, who then stole Second Base and was moved to third on a Single by Ben Gagliardi. However, St. John’s could move the runners no further as a hard-hit groundout and two popouts stranded the runners, and American were back-to-back APBL champions after what was the most memorable game in the league’s three-year history.

FOUNDERS’ CUP MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
James Burke (CF, AME) – .528 (19/36), 1.208 OPS, 13 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 12 RBI, 1 BB, 5 SB, 0.9 WPA, 0.6 WAR

James Burke followed up a certain Batsman of the Year campaign with perhaps the best single series by a batsman in postseason history. He was everything that American needed him to be, and he came through every time American found themselves in trouble. It was an extraordinary end to an extraordinary season.

Not to be overlooked in defeat was St. John’s 1B Mario Fusilli:

Mario Fusilli (1B, StJ) – .452 (14/31), 1.083 OPS, 7 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 12 RBI, 2 BB, 3 SB, 1.2 WPA, 0.5 WAR

Fusilli was brilliant during his first postseason action of any kind in six years, and his 5/6 outing with three RBI in Game Seven was an incredible performance in a must-win game. Unfortunately for him and his St. John’s teammates, the amazing talent that American had at its disposal finally won out.

FOUNDERS' CUP SUMMARY