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St. Croix’s defeat Osceola in Cameron, Wisconsin
August 25, 2012
The St. Croix’s again found themselves playing in the state neighboring Minnesota for the second week in a row. This week the St. Croix’s crossed bats with the Osceola Onions in Cameron, Wisconsin.
This match featured the return of a St. Croix player who had not worn the uniform for a couple of years, Mr. Don “PZO” Hammer. Mr. Hammer traveled south from his home on the North Shore of Lake Superior to join his former teammates in a match game of base ball.
The club was also honored to have Mr. Robert Rogers as the umpire for the match. Mr. Rogers proved to be a fair and consensus umpire for the days match.
The St. Croix’s won the toss of the stone and sent the Osceola club to strike first. The Onions failed to tally in their half of the first inning and the St. Croix’s struck quickly and often, scoring four aces in their half of the inning.
The St. Croix’s continued with some hard hitting with two more tallies in their second and another four in their fourth inning. The Onions got going in their third with one tally and another two in their sixth, but the St. Croix’s continued to hit the sphere hard and long with eight tallies in their sixth, another once tally in both the seventh and eighth innings. The Onions tallied two more in their seventh and one in their ninth – not enough to match the strong hitting of the St. Croix’s on the day.
The final score of the match was St. Croix’s 20 aces to the Osceola’s 6 aces.
For the St. Croix’s, Mr. Hammer’s appearance must have been the flint that lit the flame in their bats. Mr. Cagley tallied five times while Mr. Hammer and Mr. Ebnet tallied three times each.
To view photos of the match, follow the link for "2012 Photographs" below.
St. Croix’s Play Afton in Osceola
August 18, 2012
The St. Croix Base Ball Club traveled north along the beautiful St. Croix River on August 18th and stopped in Osceola, Wisconsin to cross bats with the Afton Red Socks.
The day was filled with the National Pastime. The Osceola club playing the Quicksteps at the 1:30 time and afterwards the St. Croix’s were present to play the other club in the festival, Afton.
The match got going a bit after 3pm when Umpire Simonet called the first striker to the line. The Afton boys had their hitting shoes on, hitting some long sky balls and well placed daisy-cutters to come away with six aces in their half of the inning. The St. Croix’s tallied twice in their half and after the first inning the cranks knew it would be a match with many aces being scored.
The next inning the Afton strikers tallied another ace while the St. Croix’s mustered two more of their own. After only two innings of play the score stood at the Red Socks 7 and the St. Croix’s 4. In the third, Afton tallied another five aces running their total to twelve aces, and the St. Croix’s, still in the hunt for the victory tallied one of their own making their total at five aces.
There was no scoring in the fourth inning but the St. Croix strikers tallied four times in their fifth.
Afton tallied once in their sixth, but the St. Croix’s came back to tie the match in the seventh with four more aces. The score stood at 13 aces each. The score stayed that way until the tenth inning when an Afton striker sent a sky ball the furthest anyone had seen that day and the Afton club tallied three times. The St. Croix’s, who had the last at bat, failed to match the Afton aces and lost a close match to the Afton club 16 to 13.
For the St. Croix’s both Mr. Sjogren and Mr. Cagley tallied three aces and Mr. Nelson tallied twice. The match was well played and both clubs hoped to meet again later in the season to cross bats again.
St. Croix’s lose early lead – fall to the Silver Stars
June 23, 2012
The St. Croix Base Ball Club crossed bats with the Northfield Silver Stars in Scandia, Minnesota on Saturday June 23rd in a match game of vintage base ball.
The weather was overcast, a steady breeze helped the players keep cool as the toss of the stone was made at home base by Umpire Thomas Simonet. The Silver Stars won the toss but deferred to the St. Croix’s who invited the visitors from the south to strike first.
In their half of the first inning the Silver Stars threatened to score but failed to tally an ace. The St. Croix’s pushed across heavy striker Mr. Pfundstein and after one complete inning the St. Croix’s were leading 1 to nothing.
No scoring took place until the fourth inning when the Silver Stars with some fine hitting along with St. Croix miscues in the field allowed them to tally three times to take the lead in the match 3 to 1 after four innings.
The Silver Stars tallied twice more in their fifth and another three times in their eighth innings while the St. Croix’s mounted an ill-fated comeback try in their half of the eighth with two aces of their own. The final score being the Northfield Silver Stars 8 aces to only 3 to the St. Croix’s.
Besides the early ace tallied by Mr. Pfundstein, the other aces for the St. Croix’s were tallied by Mr. Foss and Mr. Nelson. After the end of the match all were invited to the nearby schoolhouse to indulge in some cool beverages provided by the home club.
To view photos of the match, follow the link for "2012 Photographs" below.
St. Croix’s play in Columbia Heights
June 16, 2012
The St. Croix’s traveled to the friendly community of Columbia Heights to cross bats with the Baltics of Mankato and the Quicksteps.
The day was overcast and wet, but the matches went on as scheduled. The St. Croix’s were first to meet the Baltics whom they had played less than a week earlier, although some St. Croix players were absent for this match, the club still put on a strong showing.
The St. Croixs were sent to strike first and after some exciting base running by Mr. Jurek of the St. Croixs, they were put down in order. The Baltics tallied twice in their half of the first inning on some strong batting and good base running. The St. Croix’s answered with two tallies of their own in their second inning to tie the score at two aces each after two innings. The St. Croix’s pulled ahead by scoring one ace in their third. The Baltic’s tied the score in their fifth and took the lead for good with two in their seventh. The St. Croix’s threatened in their eighth by tallying one ace, but that was answered in the Baltics half of the inning which finished the scoring for the match. The Baltics defeated the St. Croix’s 6 to 4.
The next match for the St. Croix’s was against the Quicksteps. The St. Croix’s losing some of their players needed a stand in from the Quicksteps. After no scoring in the first inning the St. Croix’s scored one ace in their second, which was matched by the Quicksteps in their third. After three innings the score was tied one ace apiece. The Quicksteps tallied one in their fourth and another in their sixth. The St. Croix’s also tallied once in their half of the sixth and after six innings the Quicksteps had the lead 3 to 2. The St. Croix’s lost one of their infielders due to injury and played with only eight men in the field. The St. Croix’s took the lead in the seventh by tallying three times, but the Quicksteps tied the match up in their half of the inning with two aces of their own. The Quicksteps then tallied twice in the eighth to finish the scoring for the match. The Quicksteps were victorious by the score of 7 to 5.
Mr. Jurek lead the St. Croix’s with three aces for the two matches followed by Mr. Sjogren with two.
St. Croix’s play at Afton
Sunday, June 10, 2012
The sky’s were clear and the breeze in the air made it all that more inviting to play base ball as it was meant to be played at Pettit Park field in Lake St. Croix Beach on June 10, 2012.
The St. Croix’s crossed bats with the LeCrescent Apple Jacks for the first timed match of their afternoon. It was going to be a close match with a strong opponent from southern Minnesota. Both clubs loaded the bases in their first inning, but neither could tally an ace. The St. Croix’s came out in their second with some strong hitting coupled with a few miscues by the Apple Jacks and tallied 8 times. The LeCrescent club came back with one in the bottom of their second, but that would be all the aces they would tally the rest of the way. The St. Croix’s continued some hot hitting in their third with some finely placed daisy-cutters and some long fly balls that would lead to five more aces tallied for the club. Although a couple more innings were played, this would end the scoring for both clubs with the St. Croix’s defeating the Apple Jacks 13 to 1.
The second match the St. Croix’s played was against the Baltics of Mankato. The St. Croix’s were the first to strike and tallied two aces, but the Baltics came back with four aces in their half of the first inning – taking the lead 4 to 2. The St. Croix’s were able to tie the score at four with two more aces in their second. A scoreless third inning for both clubs lead to the fourth inning where the St. Croix’s tallied eight times and took a commanding 12 to 4 lead after four complete innings. The St. Croix’s added four more aces in their fifth but the Baltics tallied another two aces when time had run out on the match. The St. Croix’s were declared the victors in the match by the tally of 16 to 6.
Mr. Jurek, for the St. Croix’s, tallied five aces over the course of the two matches and Mr. Cagley tallied four times to lead the St. Croix batsmen during the afternoon of base ball.
St. Croix’s Defeat Red Socks in First Match of the Season
Under a gray and damp sky, the St. Croix Base Ball Club traveled to Lake St. Croix Beach to cross bats with the Afton Red Socks.
After a bit of practice both in the field and at the plate, the toss of the coin took place. Officiated by Mr. Simonet, the day’s judge, the Afton club won the toss and sent the St. Croix’s to bat first.
The St. Croix’s had some strong swings in that first inning with a few Afton miscues – the first four St. Croix batters came around to score. At the end of the first for the St. Croix’s, they had tallied six times. The Afton club responded with one ace of their own in their first.
The visitors continued the heavy hitting making four aces in the second, and three more in the third and fourth. The Afton club, a very strong club, fought back with an ace in their third and five more in their fourth. At the end of four innings the St. Croix’s had the lead, 16 to 7.
The final few innings saw some excellent work in the field by both clubs. Running catches and fine throws by the infielders kept the clubs from tallying many more runs and when the last out was made in the ninth inning the St. Croix’s were victorious by the score of 19 to 7.
Among the leading hitters for the St. Croix’s included Adam “Meister” Smith who tallied five times and Dan “Basher” Cagley who tallied four times.
To view photos of the match, follow the link for "2012 Photographs" below. If you have a love of baseball, a sense of history, can run 90 feet, throw a ball and swing a wood bat, and, most of all, you are looking for something to do during the spring, summer and fall months, consider 1860 rules vintage base ball with the St. Croix Base Ball Club. Write or call Captain Brent "Skinny" Peterson of the Washington County Historical Society for details and see the "About" pages below for more information.
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