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GAMEDAY ONE (Wed. August 7th)

SYR 4-5 EXC (10 Inn.) – SS Henry Neal (SYR): 4/4, 3 2B, R, 2 RBI
KNI 12-6 STJ – OF Hugh Harris (KNI): 4/6, 2B, 2 3B, 2 R, 2 RBI
ALL 2-3 SHA (12 Inn.) – P Tom Ricks (SHA): CG (12.0 IP), 5 HA, 2 R/1 ER, 1 BB/2 K

For seven innings Jim Creighton held Syracuse off the scoreboard, but the visitors broke through in the 8th and then scored three times in the 9th to erase a 4-0 deficit – Henry Neal’s third double of the afternoon tying the game. After Creighton held Syracuse scoreless in the 10th, an error allowed John Withers to score the winning run for Excelsior in the cup opener.

Knickerbocker opened the cup with a statement win in Providence over St. John’s. By the middle of the 7th they were ahead 12-3, and from there it was just a matter of finishing things up. Harris was their key batsman, but four other Knick players including pitcher Peadar Daly had multiple hits against the St. John’s pitching.

Alleghany at Shamrock was the first twelve-inning game in cup history. It looked like Shamrock would wrap up the win in the standard nine, but light-hitting Inland playoff hero Ed Brown came up big again and hit a game-tying double to force extra frames. From there, it was not until the bottom of the 12th, when substitute 2B George Coffman singled in Walter Williams, that the game was decided.

GAMEDAY TWO (Thurs. August 8th)

STJ 16-3 EXC – OF Nelson Townsend (STJ): 3/5, 2B, 3B, 3 R, 2 RBI
KNI 10-3 SHA – OF Albert Jones (KNI): 3/4, 2B, 3B, 2 R, 2 RBI
ALL 3-2 SYR – P Fred Richards (ALL): CG, 4 HA, 2 R/1 ER, 2 BB/1 K

Jim Creighton had to give up the ball for Game Two, and the result was a drubbing of Excelsior by St. John’s. Excelsior scored the first two runs, but by the end of the 6th the score was 13-3. The St. John’s outfield trio of Townsend, Johnson, & Jensen combined to bat 9/16 with seven runs, six RBI, and three steals.

Knickerbocker tallied statement win #2 with a seven-run win at Shamrock on the second day of the cup. 11-year Knick veteran Jones was their key player, but Hugh Harris & Kenneth Harvey also had three hits while Jerald Peterson had three RBI. Knick #2 Grover Anderson had an easy game, allowing ten hits and a pair of Earned Runs.

Syracuse, once again the NBBO’s best team in close games during the season, followed up their one-run loss to open the cup with another one to Alleghany. The 6th inning made all the difference, with Alleghany scoring three runs on a wild pitch, an Arran Duffy double, and a Walter Anderson single.

Just like last year, Knickerbocker was the only 2-0 team after Gameday Two, Syracuse was the only 0-2 team, and everybody else was 1-1.

GAMEDAY THREE (August 9th)

STJ 5-10 KNI – 3B Jerald Peterson (KNI): 5/5, 2 2B, 2 R, 5 RBI, SB
EXC 5-10 SYR – SS Henry Neal (SYR): 2/3, 2 2B, 1 R, 5 RBI
SHA 4-3 ALL – P Tom Ricks (SHA): CG, 8 HA, 3 R/0 ER, 3 BB/0 K, GW HIT

Knickerbocker’s first home game of the cup was a five-run victory over St. John’s, the closest of the three games they have played so far. The score was 5-5 after six innings, but the fearsome Knick attack took control over the 7th & 8th while Jerald Peterson had a fantastic day with the bat. Peadar Daly earned his second win of the cup.

Syracuse pulled off a stunner for their first win of the cup. In the bottom of the 3rd the Excelsior defense committed five errors behind Jim Creighton, leading to a seven-run inning and an 8-4 lead that the hosts would never relinquish. Creighton would allow just one Earned Run due to the defensive woes, while Henry Neal’s three-run double in the 3rd sealed the win.

Shamrock made it two one-run victories over Alleghany in three days with their result in Pittsburgh. Tom Ricks was the difference in the game. Not only did he pitch another brilliant complete game, but Ricks was also responsible for the game-winning hit when he singled in Jerrick Stoner during the top of the 7th to put Shamrock ahead 4-3.

There were no more winless teams after Gameday Three, but Knickerbocker was still undefeated.

GAMEDAY FOUR (August 10th)

EXC 6-4 SHA – P Jim Creighton (EXC): CG, 8 HA, 4 R/1 ER, 2 BB/4 K
KNI 11-7 ALL – OF Hugh Harris (KNI): 4/5, 2 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, SB
SYR 8-5 STJ – 3B James McNeil (SYR): 3/5, R, 2 RBI

Jim Creighton more than made up for the previous day’s disaster at Syracuse with an outstanding Complete Game victory at Shamrock. Excelsior scored four runs in the 4th on a trio of singles and a Benjamin Lovette triple, and from there they added runs in the 5th & 8th to earn the win. No single Excelsior player had more than one hit, run, or RBI.

Knickerbocker continued their run of double-digit scoring in Pittsburgh. The game was effectively over after the early innings, with the visitors having scored three times in the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd to take a 9-2 lead. Harris put in another PotG performance, and Edward Huntley was 3/5 with a triple to bring his cup average up to .421.

Syracuse hit St. John’s with a real shock to end Gameday Four. The visitors from Upstate NY raced out to a 5-1 lead after the 3rd, and from there St. John’s was unable to catch up even though they collected fourteen hits on the afternoon. Syracuse’s defense committed just two errors and P Eddie Morse walked one batter, keeping extra baserunners to a minimum.

GAMEDAY FIVE (August 11th)

KNI 10-1 EXC – OF Hugh Harris (KNI): 2/5, 2B, R, 4 RBI, SB
SHA 9-4 SYR – OF James Burke (SHA): 3/5, 2B, R, 2 RBI, SB
STJ 2-6 ALL – P Fred Richards (ALL): CG, 3 HA, 2 R/1 ER, 0 BB/0 K

Knickerbocker was up against Excelsior’s #2 pitcher at Carroll Park, and not surprisingly the result was a nine-run margin of victory. Harris put in his third PotG performance in five games, Kenneth Harvey was 3/5 with a pair of runs & an RBI, and the combo of Paul LaGuerre & Jerald Peterson was each 2/5 with a run & RBI.

Shamrock won the game at Syracuse in the middle innings. Ahead 2-1 after the 3rd, the Bostonians scored four times during the 4th-6th to take a 6-2 lead. The six runs were more than enough, but they tacked on three late runs for good measure. Burke’s PotG performance brought his cup average up to .435 with four RBI.

Alleghany moved back into the win column thanks to an outstanding effort from #1 Fred Richards, who allowed all of three hits against St. John’s and its record-breaking offense. The home team scored three times in the bottom of the 2nd, and due to Richards’ dominance the game turned out to be an easy outing from then on.

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

TEAM			W	L	 R	RA	 RD
KNICKERBOCKER	        5	0	53	22	+31
SHAMROCK		3	2	23	25	 -2
SYRACUSE		2	3	28	27	 +1
ALLEGHANY		2	3	21	22	 -1
EXCELSIOR		2	3	20	44	-24
ST. JOHN’S		1	4	34	39	 -5

Through five days, the Tucker-Wheaton Cup was looking like a Knickerbocker coronation. They had scored ten or more runs in all five games, their closest contest was a four-run victory at Alleghany on Gameday Four, and the best Run Differential aside from their incredible +31 (+6.2 R/G) was Syracuse’s +1.

Still, the biggest surprise of the competition just might have been St. John’s. Never had they been in last place in the cup’s Round Robin era halfway through the competition or later, and here they were at 1-4 and fresh off a three-hit performance in a loss at Alleghany. Their mighty offense was disappearing, and there was no good explanation for it.

If the standings after Gameday Five were going to see switches over the rest of the competition, something was going to have to change drastically. What Knickerbocker’s five rivals had going for them was that there were two days off to regroup.