TOURNAMENT REVIEW: 1877 SCOTTISH COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP
Undefeated in the first two years of the Scottish Counties Championship, Lanarkshire entered this year’s tournament seeking a third successive title but with a difference in their line-up, as Govan newcomer Gordon Mossman was preferred to Airdrie’s Bruce Fraser as starting pitcher. He allowed two hits in the first inning against Renfrewshire, but escaped without allowing a run and from that point on settled into the game well. White Cart’s John Byrne was also pitching well for Renfrewshire and the game was scoreless into the fifth inning, where Mossman himself came to bat with a runner on first base and two out. He aided his own cause with a two-base hit to give Lanarkshire the lead, and was followed by Tollcross man Walter Challinor hitting a home run to extend that advantage to 3-0. Renfrewshire missed an immediate chance to strike back when they wasted two baserunners in the sixth, before Lanarkshire turned up the pressure with three baserunners and nobody out in their half of the sixth. With Mossman pitching well, Renfrewshire needed to escape the inning with no further scoring and recorded two outs on force plays at home plate, but with one more out needed Allan Duxbury of Lanark-Renfrew found a two-base hit to score all three runners. Lanarkshire now led 6-0 and once more Mossman added to his pitching efforts with the bat, another hit bringing Duxbury in to make the score 7-0. Renfrewshire had no reply, and the champions moved through to a third successive final.
In the other semi-final tie, pitching was again largely dominant although Fife missed a good chance to score in the second inning when they had two men on base with only one out, and Edinburghshire did likewise in the third. The game was still scoreless in the sixth, when the deadlock was broken by a home run from Drew Pugh of Arthur’s Seat. Haymarket’s Fraser Cash followed that with a hit of his own and he was then brought home by Wilfred Ross of Dunfermline, putting Fife in control with a 2-0 lead. Edinburghshire wasted two baserunners again in the seventh, but in the eighth their first three hitters all reached base, giving a real chance to Hector Margrie, who plays south of the border with Worksop. His hit brought in two of the runners to tie the score, After recording the next two outs, Fife seemed set to escape the inning level but Andrew McHendrie of Arthur’s Seat managed to beat a throw to first base and extend the inning, allowing The Grange’s Walter Conway to score and put Edinburghshire on top 3-2. Edinburgh pitcher Joseph Scholey, who plays for East of Scotland League newcomers Vallum Antonini, eased through the last two innings to complete the comeback win and take Edinburghshire through to the final.
The final was played in Edinburgh after champions Lanarkshire incorrectly called the coin toss for home advantage, and just as in the semi-final it was Lanarkshire pitcher Gordon Mossman who helped his own cause with the bat. His hit in the third inning was the first of the game for either team, and was followed by a two-base hit from Walter Challinor which brought Mossman round to give Lanarkshire the lead. Edinburghshire were struggling to create any sort of scoring chance against Mossman, with single hits in the third, fourth, sixth and eighth not enough to advance a runner past second base. Lanarkshire missed a chance to secure the win in the ninth when they failed to get a runner home from third with two outs, but Mossman survived another hit in the Edinburghshire half of the ninth to complete his second successive shutout victory and maintain Lanarkshire’s undefeated record in the championship. For the second year running, a one-run margin in the final was enough for victory. In the award voting, an unprecedented turn of events saw Gordon Mossman chosen both as Best Pitcher and Best Player, having thrown two complete game shutouts and recorded four hits from just six attempts with the bat.
