In the quarterfinals, Rockford jumped to a 5-0 lead after three innings and cruised to a 9-3 win over Atlantic, while Cleveland made it an all-Forest City semifinal by crushing Athletic, 9-0. Ezra Sutton had a home run and a double, driving in five runs.
In the beat-of-three Semifinals, it was case of Chick Fulmer and the Lucky Sevens. Fulmer homered in each game as Forest City put up seven tallies in each contest: enough to down Rockford 7-4 and 7-2, with You-Know-Who getting the win in the second game.
The Cup Final was yet another incredible base ball battle. In game 1 in Cincinnati, the two clubs tallied 21 runs on 30 hits through 8 1/2 innings...but it wasn't enough, not until Dan Brouthers' two-run single gave the Red Stockings a 12-11 win. Forest City and Creighton got revenge in the second game with a 9-4 victory, knotting the series and sending it to Cleveland. In the third game, the Reds' Guy Hecker drove in two runs and allowed only one in a 7-1 triumph.
Then came Game 4...ah, Game 4, which may well be the greatest game in Jim Creighton's -- or anybody's -- base ball career.
No, your eyes don't deceive you: the Red Stockings sent 27 men to bat, and all 27 came back to the dug out frustrated. It was literal
perfection...the first perfect game in Centennial Cup history, and only the second in NA history (Bobby Mitchell had twirled one for St. Louis against the Mutual Club back in '79). And what did Big Jim have to say about his amazing feat? "All it does is tie the series. We still have work to do!"
The work continued the next day in Game 5, and when Forest City scored three runs in the opening inning, many fans thought that Cincy would simply roll over...but the Red Stockings had other ideas, scoring four runs in the top of the eighth to turn a 4-1 deficit in an eventual 5-4 triumph, and a 3-2 series lead. Creighton was back in the pitcher's box for the sixth game, and although he wasn't perfect, allowing three runs on eight hits, Cleveland took advantage of seven Cincy errors to pull out a 4-3 win. Diamond Jim helped his own cause with three hits and a run scored.
