Grays Ride 3-Game Win Streak to Rocky Point This Weekend
WARWICK, R.I. – The Providence squad traveled to Old Bethpage on Long Island for the Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival (July 31 & Aug. 1), winning the final three of the weekend’s four matches to improve to 9-13 on the season. The Grays dropped the opening match with the host Mutuals of New York (1864) on Saturday by a score of 9 to 3, then got rolling with a victory of the Monmouth Furnace in the matinee (13 to 2). The Rhode Islanders swept the day on Sunday with an early win over the Westfield Wheelmen (11 to 10) in an 1884 contest before defeating the Minnesota club 14 to 11 in the 1864 afternoon finale.
This Saturday and Sunday (Aug. 14 & 15), Providence will
host the 2021 Rocky Point Historic Base Ball Festival at Rocky Point State Park
in Warwick with a total of 13 games among nine different clubs on two fields
throughout the weekend. The festival will begin at 9:00 AM on Saturday as the
Dirigo BBC of Maine faces off with the Mutual BBC of New York in an 1864
contest. Admission to the festival is free, so pack your picnic baskets,
chairs, and sunscreen and come celebrate the early years of our National
Pastime in Ocean State style.
Doc Adams Day One Recap (Providence vs. New York &
Monmouth)
Providence jumped out to an early two-run lead vs. their
good friends from New York in Saturday’s opening match, as short stop Mike
Duggan and first baseman Captain Brian Travers each tallied aces at the top of
the order, with catcher Aidan Pirruccello-McClellan delivering with a single in
the three spot. New York found their way on top in the second inning, plating
three unanswered runs while holding the Grays scoreless through the fourth. The
Mutuals put up two more in the fourth and another three in the fifth while
holding Providence to just one more ace in the fifth inning, when Tony
McClellan (third base) slammed a double scoring his son Aidan. New York added
one more ace in the seventh, as the Grays’ bats fell silent. Final: New York
9, Providence 3.
The Grays rebounded well offensively from game one’s
lackluster showing at the dish, scoring seven runs in the first two innings in
the afternoon match with Monmouth. Tony McClellan’s pitching and the Providence
defense held the Furnace scoreless through the first three innings, before the
gents from New Jersey found some life and tallied one ace in each of their fourth
and fifth frames. Meanwhile, Providence added two more of their own in the fourth,
followed by four more runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach. Final
Providence 13, Monmouth 2.
Sunday’s early morning matchup between the Rhode Island club
and their overhand opponents from Westfield, MA, proved to be a back-and-forth
affair from the outset. Providence struck first and well, tallying three aces
in the opening frame, but the Wheelmen matched them run-for-run in the bottom,
as Grays’ pitcher Mike “Banquet” Swanson settled into his pitching duties from
the box. Providence bats stayed hot in the second, with three more runs scored,
before allowing Westfield to tie things up with two aces and then one more in
the next two frames for a 6 to 6 tie after three innings. The Grays continued
to build, adding five more runs in the fourth and fifth innings combined, while
keeping Westfield at bay, giving up three runs to the Wheelmen over the same
stretch to maintain an 11 to 9 lead. Westfield rallied late but managed only
one more tally, as Providence held off the threat for a Final: Providence
11, Westfield 10.
The weekend’s final match saw Providence square off with a
stellar group of ballists from the Great North – the Fungi BBC of Fillmore,
Minnesota. The match remained close through the early innings, with each squad
plating three aces over the first three innings, before the Minnesotans found
their stride in the fourth, scoring three runs in the frame of Bones Henson’s
pitching. The Grays kept themselves in the match, chipping away at Fillmore with
single aces in each of the middle innings, to settle the score at 7 to 6
Minnesota after six. The Gopher Staters went in strong in the top of the
seventh, adding four more tallies before Providence ignited for seven runs in
the bottom frame to jump out to a 13 to 11 lead as the day grew long.
Providence plated an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth before holding
Minnesota scoreless in their last licks in the top of the ninth. Final: Providence
14, Minnesota 11.
This Weekend: Rocky Point Historic Base Ball Festival, Warwick, Rhode Island
The Providence Grays present the Rocky Point Historic Base
Ball Festival on Saturday, August 14, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, August
15, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nine historic ball clubs from Maine to Maryland will
play games following rules from the 1860s, 70s, and 80s on two fields with
action throughout both days. Admission is free and all are welcome. Bring a
basket of food, chairs, and blankets, and join us for a glorious weekend
celebrating the history of our National Pastime.
Rhode Island welcomes the Atlantic BBC of Brooklyn, New York Mutual Base Ball Club, Connecticut Base Ball Club of Hartford, Dirigo Base Ball Club of Maine, Boston Union Vintage Base Ball Club, Rising Sun BBC of Maryland,
Elizabeth Resolutes of New Jersey, and the Lisbon Tunnelmen of Connecticut as
they join the Grays for this festival by the bay.
The Rocky Point Festival will take place on the site of the
erstwhile amusement park that hosted the only Sunday baseball games allowed in
New England from 1891-1917. Rocky Point also won renown in baseball history
when Babe Ruth played for the minor league Providence Grays. On September 27,
1914, in an exhibition at Rocky Point against the Chicago Cubs, Ruth pitched
the Grays to victory and hit a "tremendous wallop in the third session
clearing the hill in right field by half a furlong and bouncing into the water
on the other side.”
Providence will face off with the Atlantic BBC of Brooklyn
in an 1884 overhand match on Saturday at 1 PM, then will close out day one with
an 1865 game against the Rising Sun BBC of Maryland. On Sunday, the Grays will
get things started early with an 8 AM 1870 bout with the Resolute BBC of
Elizabeth, New Jersey, followed by an 1878 matchup with the Connecticut Hartfords
at 1 PM. Follow the action on the Grays Facebook and Instagram profiles as well
as checking out our website at ProvidenceGrays.com.
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Photo credits: Nicole Prancer LaCagnina
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