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TOWNSEND SETS NINE-INNING RECORD WITH 7 HITS!
STAR ST. JOHN’S SLUGGER STRIKES SEVEN SINGLES SEASIDE IN MAINE; TEAMMATE KUOPIO BATS 6/7

PORTLAND, MAINE (June 19, 1870) – St. John’s has a long history of spectacular offensive performances and what occurred on Sunday goes right to top of the list, due to what two players did while they beat Portland by a staggering 22 runs:

St. John’s received a lot of help via Portland’s embarrassing fourteen miscues in the field, but their batsmen still made history at William King Field.

The man of the hour in Maine was 7x All-Star Nelson Townsend, who set a new NBBO record with seven base hits in a nine-inning game:

• T1: Single past SS off J. Dressman (CS)
• T2: Single past SS off J. Dressman (R)
• T4: 1-run Single to LCF off O. Erickson (R)
• T4: 1-run Single past 2B off O. Erickson (R)
• T6: Single past 2B off P. Marston (R)
• T8: 2-run Single past SS off P. Marston (R)
• T9: Single to RCF off P. Marston (R)
• TOTAL: 7/7 (all 1B), 6 R, 4 RBI, SB, OF AST, 126 GMSC

When Townsend came to bat with two out in the top of the 9th what was left of the initial crowd of roughly two thousand people waited in anticipation to see if he could become the first player with seven hits in a nine-inning contest. Townsend did just that with a solid single to the outfield, and he received a lengthy ovation from the crowd. He then came around to score on a Tarmo Kuopio single to become the first player in the NEL this year to score six times in one game.

There have been two other seven-hit outings in NBBO history – Archie Stewart in 1859 & Theo Cooke in 1864 – but those were both in extra-inning games.

Speaking of Kuopio, batting right behind Townsend in the St. John’s lineup meant he had plenty of good chances to do damage with the bat, and Kuopio duly delivered:

• T2: Leadoff Single past 2B off J. Dressman
• T3: 1-run Single past 3B off J. Dressman (R)
• T4: 1-run Single to LCF off O. Erickson (R)
• T4: 1-run Double to LCF off O. Erickson
• T6: 1-run Single to LF off P. Marston
• T8: Ground Out to SS
• T9: 1-run Single to RCF off P. Marston
• TOTAL: 6/7, 2B, 2 R, 5 RBI, 7 TB, 93 GMSC

In the end, Townsend & Kuopio had the best day for a lineup partnership in NBBO history:

• TOTAL: 13/14 (.929), 1 2B, 8 R, 9 RBI, 1 SB, 1 OF AST

Lost in the history made by Townsend & Kuopio, St. John’s pitcher Thomas Smith had himself quite an afternoon as well:

• BATTING: 3/5, 3B, 5 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB
• PITCHING: CG, 12 HA, 5 RA (2 ER), 0 BB, 2 K

The result improved Smith’s record to 15-5 with a 2.64 ERA so far in his maiden season with St. John’s after Shamrock let him go, and in the process he also became the first pitcher in the NBBO to score five runs in a single game this season.

All totaled, it was an extraordinary afternoon for St. John’s, who raised their record to 26-9 and once again have a stranglehold on the New England Championship.