By Ray Shaw

It had been less than a month since the Newtown Sandy Hooks had visited southwestern Massachusetts on their much heralded assault on the Belchertown Civil War reenactment site where the Newtown contingent punished the Essex Nine in a 1861 match of base ball.

On Saturday they peddled to the neighboring community of Westfield (the Victorian home of the buggy whip and Columbia bicycle) to take on the Wheelmen who had upset the local ballists in the Pittsfield Tournament in late May.

Both squads were light on manpower but, thanks to much after hours negotiating (by Tony ‘Mudcat’ Albano and Dennis ‘Muhl’ Snyder), a confident nine appeared at the Stanley Grounds for the afternoon test.

The record heat and humidity of the previous week had mercifully subsided as the two clubs met under bright skies on the undulating all grass pitch just west of the downtown center. Unlike the Sandy Hook’s foreboding Asylum Grounds home field in Newtown, the ample, well-appointed park and arboretum provided a picturesque and comfortable location for young and old and a compliment to the vintage game.

Due to the unavailability of players, two new members wore the stripes for the first time for the Sandy Hooks. Mike ‘Casey’ Casey from Newtown was posted in center field and Brian ‘Bull’ Jacobs from West Hartford anchored the third sack.

As ‘Pops’ O’Maxfield called both clubs to the field ‘Muhl’ Snyder in his usual role, manned the box for Newtown and, as is generally the case, the jittery Hooks offered three easy aces to Dan Genovese’s merry men in the first frame. But, before you could say Ignaz Schwinn the aggressive Sandy Hooks where whipping-up mischief all over the diamond as ‘Sparks’ Marcucilli launched his first of what would be four base hits in the game, stole second and put himself in position after a fielder’s choice and singles by Albano and ‘Rock’ Zulli to score the first of two runs in the bottom of the first. Wheelmen three to Sandy Hooks two.

Snyder and the Hooks blanked the Wheelmen in the second inning then went back to the task of punishing the pugnacious Westfield pitching in the bottom of the frame with back-to-back singles by Marcucilli, ‘Rambo’ Rambone and ‘Pops’ Pendergist followed by a awesome display of run scoring singles by Albano and Zulli.

But, just as the mayhem was reaching full crescendo Zulli, running hell bent for third, got tangled in an unforeseen undulation (depression in the turf) just east the third sack and dropped into a perplexed pile of flesh just in time to be tagged out by a surprised and amused Wheelman. Unsure of whether this mainstay from the original Hooks and today’s ninth man had torn a muscle, broken a limb, or something more serious the Newtown faithful held their collective breath as ‘Rock’ righted himself and jogged gingerly off the pitch. All hands down – five to three Sandy Hooks.

In the fifth stanza, the Wheelmen’s ‘Hitman’ Hewins and Captain Genovese mounted a rally of their own. Two runs had crossed the dish and with a Wheelman straddling second the Westfield striker launched a lazy skyball to short right. Second baseman Ryan ‘Express’ Pendergist jumped to attention, tracked the ball into ‘no man’s land’ and amazingly made an over the should catch to extinguish the rally and the frame.

Back to his old tricks in the bottom of the fifth, and showing no ill effects from his previous grand pirouette, ‘Rock’ Zulli punched the third of his three hits for the day to left center and proceeded to steal second and third base before scoring on a tremendous double by newcomer and third sacker ‘Bull’ Jacobs. Being unfamiliar with the ‘gentlemanly’ ways of vintage ballists, the jubilant Jacobs commenced to lead off second when the Westfield second sacker greeted him with the ‘hidden ball trick’. All hands down. Tie score six to six.

After the Hooks scored a go ahead run in the sixth, thanks to more Marcucilli/ Pendergist shenanigans, they held on to a tenuous 7 to 6 lead until the bottom of the eighth when the never say die Newtown nine, precipitated by a ‘Bull’ Jacobs base hit, mounted a four run effort highlighted by a sneaky two strike drag bunt by ‘Muhl’ Snyder. The ‘Muhl’, either exhausted by his 135 pitch effort or just sick of the Wheelman hurler’s side armed, high and tight delivery, slapped a perfect bunt as the dumbfounded cyclists tried to react. A blood-thirsty ‘Mudcat’ Albano, suffering from his own form of exhaustion from having to field 135 of ‘Muhl’s’ pitches, responded with a base clearing double that closed out the scoring for the visitors. Hooks 11, Wheelmen 6.

After giving up a run in the ninth, Snyder called for replacements and ‘Pops’ Pendergist shocked the bewildered and equally exhausted Wheelmen with his freewheeling, unorthodox pitching style to punch out the side and save the game for Snyder and Newtown.

The final result, 11 to 7 for the Sandy Hooks, was to be the first ‘1886’ win in the Sandy Hook’s two-year existence.

Huzzahs were exchanged by both sides and the Hooks retired to a downtown watering hole for a celebratory brew before a scenic ride home to horse country.

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