Providence Sweeps Union, Faces Westfield Today
Providence vs. Boston Union, July 25, 1864
Game One
Last Saturday’s twin bill served as opening day for the
Union club in this odd season. Boston led off the top of the first with that
first-game energy, scoring twice off Grays’ pitcher Bones Henson in one at-bat,
a homerun across the short porch in right field for the early Beantown lead.
Providence got one back in the bottom of the first when Captain Brian Travers
doubled, took third on a passed ball, and scored on a Kai Henson (CF) sacrifice.
After a scoreless top of the second for the Union, the Grays added four in the
bottom, with three runners reaching on errors as well as singles from Travers
and left fielder Jamie Maynard. Boston added one in the top of the third,
matched by the Grays’ single tally in the bottom for a 6 to 3 Providence edge
after three.
The Grays defense behind Bones’ pitching held the Union club
at bay through the middle innings as the Rhode Island bats came alive. Boston
was refused the home dish in both the fourth and fifth innings, plating one in
the sixth. The Grays recorded only one error throughout this first match. Providence
scored three times each in both the fourth and fifth innings before coming up
emptyhanded in the sixth. Three aces tallied in the fourth as Travers, catcher
Johnny Carlevale, and Maynard doubled, and short stop Mike Duggan singled. In
the fifth, pitcher Henson singled and scored when third baseman Ryan “Loggy”
Logsdon doubled. Duggan reached based once again, this time on a first baseman
error, sending Loggy home. Duggan scored on another Travers’ double before the
third hand was achieved. Boston held the Grays scoreless in the sixth to settle
the score at 12 to 4 Providence heading into the final stretch.
The Union scored one more run in the eighth inning while the
Grays plated one each in the seventh and eighth respectively. Loggy and second
baseman RJ Zimmerman each recorded singles in the seventh frame, and Travers
and Kai Henson added to their offensive output, each with a base knock, to keep
the margin out of reach for the club from the Commonwealth. Game one final
score: Providence 14, Boston Union 5.
Game Two
The matinee round started with the Providence club taking
first swings, and the Rhode Islanders jumped out to a quick three-run lead with
four consecutive singles off the bats of Travers, K. Henson, Carlevale, and
Maynard. The Union remained determined and bought back two runs in their
opening frame off Grays’ pitcher Travers. Both squads posted zeroes in the
second inning before the Union built a lead across the third, fourth, and
fifth, scoring twice in the third, once in the fourth, and two more time in
fifth inning. Meanwhile, the Rhode Island bats grew silent, with a lone single
from Maynard in the third, and no aces tallied through the fifth, to put the Union
ahead 7 to 3 going into the sixth inning.
Right fielder Zimmerman led off the pivotal sixth for Providence,
reaching base on an error in left field. Second baseman Bones Henson singled
and scored off a Loggy sacrifice to center. Dave “Taco” Watson (1B) singled and
scored on a Travers’ at-bat. Duggan singled from the top of the order before center
fielder Kai Henson singled in Travers, then stole second and third and scored
on an error. When the dust cleared, the Grays had tallied a total of five aces
in the frame while holding the Union scoreless to take an 8 to 7 lead going
into the final three frames.
Boston answered back immediately in the seventh, blanking
the Grays in the top, then scoring one run to knot the score at 8 all with two
innings remaining. Providence again failed to score in the top of the eighth,
but the solid pitching of Travers and astute defense of the players behind him
held the Union to zero as well. With three outs left to pull out a victory,
Providence went to work in the top of the ninth. Captain Travers led off,
reached base on a second baseman error, then moved to third when Kai Henson
doubled. Travers and Henson scored when Maynard reached first on an error to
give the Grays a 10 to 8 lead going into the final frame. Boston threatened in
the ninth, with one on and one out, a Union runner attempted to steal second
but was tagged out off an excellent throw from catcher Carlevale. Providence
recorded the final out on a routine grounder to second to secure the victory:
Providence 10, Union 8.
Providence vs. Westfield, August 1, 1886
The Grays travel today to the outskirts of Springfield to
wage a campaign against the top-notch Westfield squad in one game following the
National League rules of 1886. These teams consistently offer high level
competition as two of just a handful of clubs in the region who play by 19th
century rules that allow overhand pitching. Follow all the Grays’ action on
Facebook and Instagram.
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