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GAMEDAY SIX (Wed. August 18th)

KNI 6-7 F.C. – James Goodman: CG, 9 HA, 6 R/4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2/4, 2 RBI
ALL 11-5 K.C. – OF Royal Altman (ALL): 2/5, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
SHA 8-9 STJ (10 Inn.) – OF Nelson Townsend (STJ): 3/6, 4 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB

For the second game in a row Flour City’s offense produced when needed, and the result was a walkoff victory. In the bottom of the 7th a double by Lorenzo Bradford drove in a run to tie the game 6-6 and two innings later a sac fly by Ralph Knight won the game, meaning that a fine effort by James Goodman did not go to waste.

Alleghany was ahead 9-1 by the end of the 4th – the key hit being a three-run homer by Altman in the top of the 3rd – and it was a case of overkill given that John Henry was pitching. SS Gerald Strong was 3/6, 2B Carl Ippolito was 2/4 with a pair of runs & RBI each, and Kings County was left in the ditch.

St. John’s moved up to an even 3-3 with a thrilling comeback win over Shamrock in Providence. Down 8-5 in the 9th, a Passed Ball, Konrad Jensen sacrifice, and a Wild Pitch saw St. John’s tie the score and force extras. In the 10th, Anderson MacGyver walked with the bases loaded to win it. If Shamrock does not win the cup, they will look straight at this game.

The results of Gameday six meant Alleghany & Shamrock were tied for the lead at 4-2.

GAMEDAY SEVEN (Thu. August 19th)

K.C. 3-10 KNI – CF Charlie Greaves (KNI): 3/5, 2 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI
STJ 8-4 ALL – OF William Johnson (STJ): 2/4, 2B, 3B, 2 R, 2 SB
F.C. 0-5 SHA – P Thomas Smith (SHA): CG SHO, 4 HA, 0 BB, 2 K

Knickerbocker piled the misery on Kings County – ahead 10-1 after the 7th before allowing a couple of consolation runs to K.C. in the 9th. Greaves & OF William Gehringer, in for the injured Luc Billon, had three hits for Knickerbocker, while Knicker #2 Herman Easley did not allow an Earned Run in an easy victory for the home side.

St. John’s scored all eight of their runs over the first four innings and had a simple task from there, as #2 P Frank Keeler did well against the NBBO’s second-best offense. Four members of the St. John’s lineup had multiple hits – Johnson, John Baddley, Konrad Jensen, & Leopold Peiffer – and they stole five bases.

Thomas Smith fixed whatever had caused him to allow 23 hits & ten runs over his first fifteen innings of work in the TWC to pitch a gem of a game against Flour City. That said, it was still a close contest as the score was 2-0 before Shamrock broke it open with three runs in the 8th on a pair of singles and a sac fly.

The results of Gameday Seven left the competition very close, with five teams separated by two games:

TEAM			W	L	 R	RA	 RD
SHAMROCK		5	2	61	53	 +8
KNICKERBOCKER	        4	3	58	40	+18
ST. JOHN’S		4	3	58	53	 +5
ALLEGHANY		4	3	53	51	 +2
FLOUR CITY		3	4	33	45	-12

Kings County’s home loss to Knickerbocker left them 1-6, eliminating them from cup contention.

GAMEDAY EIGHT (Fri. August 20th)

SHA 5-9 ALL – 1B Collin Henderson (ALL): 3/4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB
KNI 8-9 STJ – 2B Anderson MacGyver (STJ): 2/4, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB
K.C. 7-9 F.C. – 1B Julius Bailey (F.C.) – 2/3, 2B, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB

John Henry put in another fine performance and moved to 4-1 in the TWC, as Alleghany scored nine times over the middle innings to beat Shamrock and their star #1 Tom Ricks, whose ERA flew up to 5.94 over 36.1 innings during the cup. Henderson was the key man in the Alleghany lineup, but SS Gerald Strong & CF Joe Thatcher also had multiple hits.

It was an absolute classic in Providence. St. John’s was up 6-1 before Knickerbocker plated seven in the 8th thanks to a series of singles, but the hosts got up and fought back. In the bottom of the 9th, after sub Cathan Morgan hit a sac fly to bring the score to 8-7 fellow sub Peter Caliguri singled in MacGyver & Leopold Peiffer to win a thriller for St. John’s.

Flour City did what was needed and beat hopeless Kings County to move to 4-4, although they did have late difficulty. Ahead 9-3 going into the 9th, James Goodman let the K.C. batsmen take four runs off him before he was able to get 3B Leen van Rooij to ground out and allow everyone to let out a large sigh of relief.

The results of Gameday Eight meant the five teams were even closer than they were the previous day:

TEAM			W	L	 R	RA	 RD
ST. JOHN’S		5	3	67	61	 +6
ALLEGHANY		5	3	62	56	 +6
SHAMROCK		5	3	66	62	 +4
KNICKERBOCKER	        4	4	66	49	+17
FLOUR CITY		4	4	42	52	-10

This was the closest the TWC had been so late in the competition since the famed 1865 edition, in which each of the top five teams was still in contention to win outright or force a playoff on Gameday Ten.

GAMEDAY NINE (Sat. August 21st)

F.C. 6-7 ALL – OF Royal Altman (ALL) – 2/5, 3 RBI, SB
K.C. 2-13 STJ – CF William Johnson (STJ) – 3/4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB
SHA 5-9 KNI – 1B Paul LaGuerre (KNI) – 3/5, 2B, 2 R, 1 RBI

It was agony for Flour City and ecstasy for Alleghany, as the hosts turned a 6-5 deficit into a 7-6 win over the final two innings in Pittsburgh. With two out in the bottom of the 8th Altman singled in Walt Anderson to level the score 6-6, and in the next inning little-used sub OF William Grider singled in Joe Thatcher to win it and put Alleghany at 6-3.

St. John’s knew this game would be their best shot at a win in the cup, and their aim was true as they easily dispatched Kings County. Johnson and five other members of the St. John’s lineup had multiple hits, he and four others scored multiple runs, and Johnson along with three other St. John’s players had multiple RBI.

Knickerbocker was well-aware that a home win over Shamrock was needed to keep up with the leaders, as they could not at all count on losses by Alleghany or St. John’s. They beat Shamrock thanks to seven runs over the 5th, 6th, & 7th innings. LaGuerre was PotG, but he, Edward Huntley, and four other Knick players had multiple hits in the big victory.

The standings after Gameday Nine:

TEAM			W	L	 R	RA	 RD
ST. JOHN’S		6	3	80	63	+17
ALLEGHANY		6	3	69	62	 +7
KNICKERBOCKER	        5	4	75	54	+21
SHAMROCK		5	4	71	71	--
FLOUR CITY		4	5	48	59	-11

The heartbreaking loss at Alleghany eliminated Flour City, which meant the season of the second-best team in NBBO history had effectively come to a close. Four teams could still either win the cup outright – Alleghany & Shamrock – or force a playoff – Knickerbocker & Shamrock – on the final day.

With everyone playing at the same time on Gameday Ten, anything could happen. Alleghany would be playing at Shamrock, while St. John’s would spend the day at the Elysian Fields battling Knickerbocker. Two combinations of results meant someone won the cup outright, one set of results meant there would be a one-game playoff at Red House, and if both home teams won there would have to be a four-team playoff to decide who would lift the cup in 1869.

GAMEDAY TEN (Sun. August 22nd)

F.C. 12-5 K.C. – OF Burkhard Winter (F.C.): 5/6, 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI, SB
ALL 9-4 SHA – P John Henry (ALL): CG, 9 HA, 4 R/2 ER, 0 BB/2 K, 2 RBI
STJ 4-5 KNI – P Peadar Daly (KNI): CG, 8 HA, 4 R/2 ER, 1 BB/1 K, 1/3

Flour City ended the cup on a high note in the game that had no bearing on who would be the champion. Winter was excellent, Obelix Tsiaris was 4/5 while scoring three runs, and James Goodman pitched the whole game while striking out three to finish the cup a fine 5-2 with a 3.76 ERA. For Kings County, the end could not come quickly enough.

In the first of the two games to determine whether a playoff would be needed, Alleghany beat Shamrock in Boston thanks to a seven-run rally in the 8th inning. Two-run singles by CF Joe Thatcher & P John Henry were the key hits there, with the result making Henry 5-1 for the cup while Alleghany was 7-3 and waiting to hear about the outcome of the other game.

At the same time Alleghany was winning in Boston, St. John’s was playing at Knickerbocker. If St. John’s won there would be a one-game playoff on Monday. If Knickerbocker won then Alleghany would bring the cup to Pittsburgh for the first time. What would happen?

The game at the Elysian Fields was surprisingly heavy on pitching – St. John’s had eight hits and Knickerbocker just five as John Brown was excellent. However, with the score 4-3 to St. John’s in the bottom of the 7th their season-long bugbear of defense showed itself again. With two out and men on base, consecutive errors by St. John’s fielders allowed Daly to score and tie the game 4-4. Then, a Passed Ball sent Edward Huntley speeding home to put Knickerbocker ahead. From there Daly, who was excellent, held St. John’s scoreless even though there were men on 2nd & 3rd in the top of the 9th.

When the telegrams came through to Boston, the celebrations began. Alleghany had won the Tucker-Wheaton Cup, their first in eight attempts at postseason glory. Alleghany had officially joined the Cup Winners Club that included Kings County, Knickerbocker, Shamrock, St. John’s, & Orange BBC.

It was now Pittsburgh’s turn to celebrate as the newest city to host the champions of base ball.