vs. Port Huron
Past Matches
Independents visit Welkins Club of Port Huron
Saturday, June, 30, 2007 | +
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Lincoln Park, Port Huron – The Bay Citys packed up their horseless carriages and headed south for a return engagement with the Welkin Club in Port Huron. If readers recall, just a short time ago it was the Welkin Club who had made the trip north to Bay City in order to celebrate our beautiful town’s sesquicentennial and now it was the Independent’s turn to reciprocate. The past match saw the gentlemen from Port Huron fall to the Bay City nine in rather convincing fashion, but they had hopes that a home field might be to their advantage in this contest.

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The Welkin dreams of gaining a competitive advantage in this match seemed to materialize from the very start. The Port Hurons won the coin toss, and wisely chose to strike first. Thanks to a series of finely placed balls, the Welkins were able to tally 4 runs in the first innings, and they may have had more had it not been for a finely made throw from the Bay City second sacker, Dean “Sawmill” Koch, that caught the Port Huron runner, “Chains”, between the bases of third and home. After receiving the throw from second sack the Bay City catcher, Jayme “High-Stepper” Johnson, flipped the ball back to the third sacker, Trevor “Big Wood” David, who completed the play by tagging the runner. It was a bully play to say the least, and the first of many which would be made by the Bay City nine.

The Independents would fire a return volley aimed squarely at the Welkins, and would tally twice themselves before the conclusion of the first innings. The runs came behind the fine striking of the aforementioned Mr. David who led the inning off with a sharp safety down the right field line. Mr. David would be helped home by consecutive howitzer shots by Justin “Doc” Garcia and Jason “Buttons” McInerney. Each of these blows to the long field would allow the previously spoken of Bay City strikers to gain their second. When the action had concluded the Bay Citys found themselves in a tight scratch with the Welkins, as the score stood at 4-2 in Port Huron’s advantage.

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The second and third innings would see nothing in terms of scoring, but much in defense, again with some fine ginger being displayed by the Bay Citys. In the second innings, with a runner on first, Port Huron’s captain, James “Chops” Fisher, came to the plate and struck a fine ball to the short stop, Branden “The Rope” Revette, who then flipped the ball to Mr. Koch at second sack for one out, who then tossed a ringer to first sack to get two hands on one play.

In the fourth innings the Independents would strike nearly through their order and scored 6 aces before losing their third hand. The blow of record for the innings would belong to Mr. McInerney, who would make his second safely for his first two consecutive turns at the plate. The tide had now seemed to have turned in the match as Bay City now understood how best to strike in this quaint, Port Huron field. The ledger now stood at 8 runs to 4.

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After a hail of aces to begin the contest, the Port Hurons would repeatedly be turned away by the Bay City nine, and the whitewashing would continue until the eighth innings. The Welkin Club would strike for two aces then, but alas the match was all but lost for by that time the Independents had added runs in the fifth and sixth innings to bring the lead to 11-6. By the time they finished striking in their eighth innings the Bay City nine had run the total of their aces to 19. The defining blow for the innings saw Mr. Koch circle the bases for a home run that also brought home Mr. Revette to place two runs on the ledger at one time.

The Welkin Club would be skunked again in the ninth innings, and Bay City would tally 3 more to bring a conclusion to the match. The final score would stand at 22-6, but would seem much closer than that, as the Welkin Club had made many a stride toward achieving respect on the ball grounds. Perhaps these two clubs will meet again before season’s end as they are both currently set to take part in the World’s Tournament to be held on Aug. 4 and 5th in Greenfield Village.

In a side note the score sheet from the prior contest of these two clubs, having been thought misplaced, had in fact been borrowed by the Welkin Club so that they could duplicate the information for themselves and has now been returned. It seems that Mr. Johnson’s honor is now restored, as the score sheet that he was thought to have lost is found, and he has finally tallied an ace for the season. Huzzah!

Independents hosting Welkins Club of Port Huron
Saturday, June, 16, 2007 | +

Bay City 28, Welkins 5

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Carroll Park, Bay City – It was a warm, hazy day that saw the Welkins Club saunter in from their long trek north. This would be the first time that the Port Huron gentlemen would sample the hospitality of the Bay City nine, and the home town crowd was busy with anticipation. Bay City would win the coin toss that was watched over by none other than “Honest” John Gravlin, and they elected to take first cracks at the old onion before the seams could be weakened and its innards turned to mush.

Striking first was shown to be a wise decision, as the Bay Citys pelted the pill for 6 aces in the first innings. The Welkins club would not be put away quietly either, and they struck for 2 runs of their own, thanks in part to a home run from a young country boy whom this writer could not put name to. Regardless, at the conclusion of the first innings the score would stand at 6-2.

The Welkins Club, having shown fine ability in their first opportunity, was determined to put up a good fight in only their 3rd match in existence, but the newly crowned, State Champion Independents were just getting started. In the second innings the Bay Citys would push across 4 more tallies, and one of those came from a single stroke of the willow by Scott “Umpy” Umphrey who gathered the first home run laurels in his club membership.

After much glad-handing the home town nine would lay down some whitewashing on the Port Hurons, and then went back to striking the sphere with much ferocity. The innings would not end until Bay City had put up 11 runs, and at the conclusion of the Welkins turn in the third innings the score would stand at 21-3.

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Both club’s striking would dissipate as the sun rose higher and the temperatures climbed past the sweltering point. The Welkins would tally twice more, with one coming in the eighth innings, while the Bay Citys would add 7 more to their total with 5 coming in the final two innings of play.

In all it was a fine showing of striking ability for the Bay City nine, and an admirable effort for the first year Welkins Club. Although the striking was fine during the day, no official striking record exists, as the official score sheet has disappeared. Many suspect the Bay City captain of the theft for in the club’s first six contests for the year he has failed to tally a run. Hiding the evidence is no way to shield you from shame Mr. Johnson. Others point to photographical evidence that shows the Port Huron catcher, “Pappy”, was the last ballist to lay hand on the sheet. Wherever it may be, let this account be a lasting record of the events. These two nines will meet again in Port Huron for a return engagement on June 30th, and a celebration of Port Huron’s sesquicentennial.