By Ray Shaw

The Newtown Sandy Hook Vintage Base Ball club took a significant first step on Saturday, June 4, taking on the Hartford Senators in two ‘exhibition’ games under brilliantly blue skies in Bloomfield. The day consisted of an 1876 match followed by an 1886 match.

The hosting Senators held nothing back in showing the rookies all of the nuances and ‘tricks’ of both eras. And the Sandy Hooks responded with ginger and amazing defensive skills (with and without gloves) as ‘Tex’ Casey and ‘Pudgey’ Dieckman hurled for the visitors and ‘Rock’ Zulli played way beyond the call of duty.

Huzzah! to Grit Moran and the Senators who made the locals feel welcome and showed the team how the game ‘is meant to be played.’ Huzzah! also to the Sandy Hooks for taking a giant step in their first season of vintage base ball.

Surviving the Hartford powerhouse with no broken bones is a task in itself.

The Sandy Hooks will travel to Glastonbury for a 3 pm match on Saturday, where they will take on the fabled Mudville Nine out of Boston in an 1870-era game. They hope to have all hands on deck as well as full uniforms for this contest … and if last weekend is any example of the skills of this club, it should be a very exciting opening game for the Sandy Hook lads.