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GAME ONE (Willow Grove Cricket Grounds – ATT: 6,228)
QV 7-6 PBCC – 1B Graham Haine (QV): 3/4 (all 1B), 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB

So much for a sweep. As he did in last year’s L.B.C., Robert Benson struggled, allowing ten Hits and six Earned Runs before exiting after the top of the sixth. P.B.C.C. tied the game with three runs in B6 – a two-run Triple by Wilbur Graff & a one-run Single by Frederick Pike – but Queen Village took the opener when Haine singled in Jeoffrey Brown in T9.

GAME TWO (Willow Grove Cricket Grounds – ATT: 6,231)
QV 3-9 PBCC – P Robert Benson (PBCC): CG, 6 HA, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 2/4, 2 R

Surprisingly, Benson took the ball again for Game Two, and he made up for his poor work in the series opener with a Complete Game in which he also hit a pair of Singles. That said, the outcome was in doubt until B7, when P.B.C.C. came to bat with the score tied 3-3 and put up a five-run rally on a series of Singles to even the series

GAME THREE (Fitzwater Field – ATT: 3,924)
PBCC 1-10 QV – SS William Holcomb (QV): 3/5 (2B, 4 TB), 2 R, 1 RBI

If Queen Village’s win to open the series was a surprise then their nine-run victory in Game Three was a stunner. Their offense racked up nine Hits against Arthur Lipscomb over 6.2 innings, and P.B.C.C. committed ten Errors during a game whose result was never in doubt. Q.V.’s two runs in B2 were enough for the win, but they scored in five other innings.

GAME FOUR (Fitzwater field – ATT: 3,922)
PBCC 16-2 QV – LF Walter Kirby (PBCC): 3/5, 2 R, 5 RBI, SAC BUNT

With their backs to the wall P.B.C.C. pummeled Queen Village, although it took a bit for their offense to get started. After the first three innings ended scoreless, P.B.C.C. scored twice in the fourth and proceeded to score in each of the five innings after that to turn a scoreless tie into a fourteen-run win.

There would be a Game Five, and it would be at Willow Grove.

GAME FIVE (Willow Grove Cricket Grounds – ATT: 6,281)
QV 9-10 PBCC – 2B Perry Collier (QV): 5/5 (all 1B), 1 R, 2 RBI, SB
C Harrison Hearst (PBCC): Series-winning hit in B9

Game Five at Willow Grove was an all-timer.

After both teams scored a run in the first, Queen Village jumped out to a 5-1 lead with four runs in T2 thanks to three Singles and an Error. P.B.C.C. responded with a pair of runs in the second on a Moody Steiger Single and two more in the third on a Double by Charles Hunt to tie the game 5-5.

After scoreless middle innings, the final frames of the P.C.B.L. season began with a run-scoring Single by Graeme Haine that gave Q.V. a 6-5 lead. P.B.C.C. responded with two in B7 on a Sac Fly & Wild Pitch to take their first lead of Game Five, 7-6. P.B.C.C. then added two more runs in B8 on a Leroy Moore Single to take a 9-6 lead.

Queen Village came to bat in T9 and, against all odds, tied the game. A one-run Error made the score 9-7, and with one out a Single by Joseph Barbati drove in two runs to even the score 9-9. The next two batsmen hit weak balls to infielders, and it was time to see how P.B.C.C. would respond.

The best team in the league responded quickly. After a Double by Frederick Pike to lead off B9, Pike was moved over to third on a grounder by Walter Kirby and, with one out, Harrison Hearst came to bat and hit a line-drive single between the Queen Village 3B & SS to bring home Pike, win the game, and give Philadelphia Baseball & Cricket Club their second Philadelphia championship in three years.

It took two more games than most were expecting, but the best team in the P.C.B.L. during the season had won the Liberty Bell Classic.

LIBERTY BELL CLASSIC MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
2B Frederick Pike (PBCC) – .348 (8/23), .812 OPS, 8 RBI, 7 R, 3 2B, 2 SB, 0.5 WPA, 0.2 WAR

Nobody hit .400 or better during the five-game series, so M.V.P. went to the man who had the most impact with the bat and in the field combined, and that player was Pike, who hit roughly .350 with excellent fielding at Second Base.

Some argued that with a lack of star batsmen during the series the M.V.P. could have gone to Harrison Hearst since he had the series-winning hit in Game Five, but others felt his 7/23 batting with five RBI wasn’t good enough. There were also shouts that Robert Benson should have taken M.V.P. since he overcame his opening-game struggles to earn the Win in his other two appearances and also hit 4/10, but in the end it was Pike who was given the honor.

LIBERTY BELL CLASSIC SUMMARY