[tm1681]

MASS. BAY STAYS IN 1ST THANKS TO DUKE
RF HAS FIVE HITS & FOUR RBI TO STAY TIED W/ SHAMROCK & DROP CO-LEADERS NIAGARA TO 2ND

BOSTON, MASS. (June 19, 1881) - Massachusetts Bay & Niagara, part of the long-running three-way tie atop the Colonial Conference standings with Shamrock, completed their important three-game series at Oceanside Park in Boston on Sunday afternoon. Thanks to outstanding batsmanship over the 5th-7th, Mass. Bay took the series and retained a share of first place.

Niagara drew first blood in T1 thanks to an Error by Mass. Bay 2B Arthur Fisher, but Fisher began B1 by reaching via Error and that led to a pair of Runs that gave the hosts a 2-1 lead at the end of the opening inning.

That was the score until B5, when Mass. Bay broke the game open with a six-run rally to take an 8-1 lead, the Runs scoring via Triple by Fisher, Double by SS Jonathan Quarles, Singles 1B Gerhardt Berg, RF Kevin Duke, & CF James Johnson, and an Error. Mass. Bay scored four more times in B6 via run-scoring Hits by Berg, Duke, & C Lane Garvin to take a domineering 12-1 lead. The hosts then responded to a pair of Niagara tallies in T7 with another four-run rally that featured another run-scoring Hit from Duke, and with a thirteen-run lead (3-16) the win was in the bag.

Mass. Bay had five multi-hit players on the afternoon, including P Theobold Knapp, but the only one to have more than two was RF Kevin Duke, who finished with five.

• B1: 1-run Single past SS off T. Mukai
• B4: Leadoff single to RCF off T. Mukai
• B5: 1-run Single to RF off T. Mukai (R)
• B6: 1-run Infield Single to SS off T. Mukai (R)
• B7: 1-run Single to LCF off H. Easton (R)
• TOTAL: 5/5 (all 1B), 3 R, 4 RBI – 89 GmSc (B: T-4th)

Duke, a first-time All-Star last year, isn’t having such a good season in 1881, but the performance did raise his Average to .299 (.712 OPS) with 31 Runs & 34 RBI through seven weeks of play.

The big home victory kept Massachusetts Bay in a tie with Bostonian rivals Shamrock atop the Colonial Conference with a 26-16 record. Niagara is now one game back at 25-17. Defending A.P.B.L. champion St. John’s is two games back at 24-18.