The Saint Croix Base Ball Club traveled to Anoka County, in the city of Columbia Heights, and crossed bats with the Quicksteps and the Rum River Rovers.
These clubs are very familiar with each other and there were some wonderful plays in the field as well as on the bases. The St. Croix’s first played their match against the Quicksteps and then with the Rovers.
The St. Croix’s again this week were undermanned and needed the assistance of several other people or players in the area. The Quicksteps jumped out to a large lead in the match scoring six aces in their first two innings. The St. Croix’s found their groove by tallying six times over the course of three innings but the Quicksteps too charge by scoring two aces in their fourth and another two in their ninth. The St. Croix’s losing a close contest by the score of 10 to 7. For the St. Croix’s Mr. Sjogren and Mr. Pfundstein tallied twice with, Mr. Ebnet, Mr. Cagley and Mr. Tholkes all crossing the home base once.
The match against the Rum River Rovers started out with fine fielding by both clubs neither tallied in their first. The Rovers had some excellent base running and tallied six times between the second and fourth innings. The St. Croix’s finally tallied an ace in their seventh which was matched by the Rovers in their half of that inning. The St. Croix’s had two more men cross home base in their eighth but t he Rovers had some long flys in their ninth and tallied six more times. The final score was the Rum River Rovers 13 and the St. Croix’s three. For the St. Croix’s, Mr. Pfundstein, Mr. Sjogren and Mr. Ebnet tallied aces in the match.
The day was very muggy and there was a threat of rain during both matches but the skill and gentlemanly manner in which all clubs showed made the event memorial for all those that witnessed it.
St. Croix’s played steady ball in Barron County
The Saint Croix Base Ball Club travel to the far reaches of Barron County in the state of Wisconsin to cross bats with other clubs from the rural areas of that state. Although the field was finely dressed, the weather caused it to be a bit slick and the cranks were few.
The first day of the matches pitted the St. Croix’s against a relatively new club called the Rum River Rovers from the state of Minnesota. The St. Croix’s struck first and had some fine long flys and well placed daisycutters that confused the Rovers. The St. Croix’s finished their first with eight aces crossing the home plate. The Rovers, who are a young, strong hitting club, scored six of their own and at the end of the first inning the St. Croix’s were ahead by the score of eight to six. The St. Croix’s tallied one in their second and another in their fourth having a total of ten aces at the end of the match. The Rovers scored a number of times but came to bat in their half of the fifth and scored nine aces to defeat the St. Croix’s by the score of 19 to 10.
The second and final match of the first day, the St. Croix’s crossed bats with the Menominee Blue Caps of Wisconsin. The St. Croix’s again tallied aces in their first inning, this time only three. In the fourth inning, the St. Croix’s pitcher, Mr. Tholkes, hit a strong daisycutter which was mishandled and allowed Mr. Tholkes to travel the entire bases tallying an ace for the St. Croix’s. In the fourth inning the Blue Caps tallied four times to take the lead in the match seven to four. The St. Croix’s then tallied six aces in the next two innings and one in the final inning to finish with 17 aces to the Blue Caps seven.
The second day of matches found the St. Croix’s short on players. The St. Croix’s took the field with only seven players and one player from the other club, the Milwaukee Cream Citys. Although at a significant disadvantage in the field the St. Croix’s struck first and tallied three aces. The Cream Citys, with a full contingent of players, also tallied three in their first inning. The St. Croix’s continued to fight and tallied another two aces in their second while the Cream Citys tallied five times after hitting the sphere where there were no St. Croix’s. After four innings of play the score stood nine to six in favor of the Cream Citys but the St. Croix’s tallied twice in their fifth and sixth innings to tie the score at ten aces apiece. The Cream Citys in their half of the sixth pushed across an ace to give them the match, winning 11 to 10.
Even though the St. Croix’s came to Barron County with less than nine players, it was a good showing of base ball and the most gentlemanly participants the club has encountered this season. The St. Croix’s were happy to be playing with an old member of the club, Mr. Hammer, who played wonderfully in the field and also tallied several aces for his club.
A grand time was had by all and the St. Croix’s look forward to playing again next year at the Pioneer Village in Cameron, Wisconsin.
St. Croix’s Defeat Afton in first match of the season
The St. Croix Base Ball Club defeated the Afton Red Socks at Pettit Park in Lake St. Croix Beach, Minnesota on Sunday May 19th by the score of 21 to 6.
The day was overcast and threatening rain. The two captains of the club met with the umpire for the day, Mr. T. Simonet, who had the St. Croix’s call the flip of the coin. With the win, the St. Croix captain allowed the Afton Club to strike first and the St. Croix’s took the field.
The Afton hitters took advantage of batting first and hit some long flys and daisy cutters to tally four times before three hands were down. The St. Croix’s had their turn in their first inning and with a mighty swing by Mr. Sjogren, the St. Croix’s had tied the match at four each.
The next inning each team failed to tally an ace. In the third inning the St. Croix’s managed two aces to take the lead six to four. Again no aces were tallied in the fourth inning and the St. Croix’s batted well in their fifth for four more aces to make the score ten to four.
In their sixth, the Red Socks tallied twice but not without a challenge by the St. Croix Captain. The second ace scored by the Afton Club was a close play at home base with the St. Croix behind, Mr. C. Nelson, arguing that he had tagged out Mr. R. Hanson of the Afton club. After some arguing between the umpire and the St. Croix captain, a young daguerreotypist in the crowd produced an image that showed the Afton player safe.
In the seventh inning the St. Croix batters produced eight aces with strong hitting and ginger around the bases. The next inning the St. Croix’s tallied another three aces to end the scoring of the match.
Although the score shows a clear victory for the St. Croix’s there is no one on that club that would claim an overwhelming victory against the tough Afton Club. There were some miscues and well placed hits that helped the St. Croix’s to this victory and look forward to another competitive match against the most gentlemanly club, the Afton Red Socks.
Onions make St. Croix’s Cry
On a beautiful day in Northwestern Wisconsin, the St. Croix BBC crossed bats with the Osceola Onions, the finest Wisconsin vintage base ball club.
The day started out well, many cranks came to witness the match that was held on the grounds of the Pioneer Village in Cameron, Wisconsin. The St. Croix’s lost the toss of the coin and were sent to strike first. The St. Croix’s could not muster a hit of any kind and went down in order. The Onions took their strikes in their half of the first and tallied two aces.
The next inning saw the Onions add to their lead by having four players cross home plate. The St. Croix’s got on to the tally board by making one tally in their third, but the Onions made good use of miscues by the St. Croix fielders and tallied another two aces. The Onions tallied another two in their fourth making the score ten to one in favor of the Osceola nine.
The Onions defense made many outstanding plays in the field, receiving the much deserved “huzzah” from the assembled crowd. The Onions continued to hit the sphere hard – tallying another three aces in their fifth, two more in their seventh and another in their ninth.
The Minnesota collection of ball players finally had their hitting shoes put on in their seventh when they tallied twice and another three aces in their ninth – but too little to catch the hard hitting Onions. The final score of the match was the Osceola Onions 16 and the St. Croix’s 6.
For the St. Croix’s, Captain Peterson lead the way with three aces scored, Mr. Pfundstein tallied twice and Mr. Tholkes once.
St. Croix’s defeated in close match with Osceola
The St. Croix Base Ball Club traveled across the high waters of the St. Croix River on August 13th to cross bats with the Osceola Onions.
The match was played with threatening skies, which unleashed it’s water during the second and third innings, which only affected the players with slippery bats and hard hit daisy-cutters – but the skies then retreated and a full nine inning match was completed.
The St. Croix’s won the toss of the coin and sent the Onions to bat first. The Onions, made up of some of the finest ballists in the area, quickly struck and tallied twice. The St. Croix’s answered in their half of the inning with one tally of their own.
The bats continued to work for the Onions as they tallied several more times in the next few innings with help from some miscues in the field from the St. Croix’s. Meanwhile the St. Croix bats turned quiet as the rains came and they could not send any of their strikers across home base.
In the fourth inning, the St. Croix’s exploded out of their hitting slump and tallied four times to bring the score to 6 to 5 in favor of the Osceola club. Osceola tallied another three aces in their fifth to make their total of nine aces for the match. The St. Croix’s tallied another four aces in their half of the fifth inning to tie the score at nine each.
The sixth inning saw the Osceola club tally seven runs and the St. Croix’s could not tally any in their sixth or seventh. In the eighth the St. Croix’s tallied one ace and in the ninth, the St. Croix’s had five strikers cross home base with another striker standing only 90 feet away as the tying ace.
Now the excitement was high pitched and the cranks on the side were nervous as Scott “Bear Trap” Foss approached to strike. Two hands were down and the pitch was made, Mr. Foss, who had already tallied one ace in the inning took a mighty swing and the ball traveled into the air and nestled into the hands of an Onion fielder – ending the exciting back and forth match with the score of Osceola 16 and the St. Croix’s 15.
For the St. Croix’s, Mr. Jurek tallied four times, Mr. Peterson tallied 3 times, both Mr. Nelson and Mr. Foss crossed the home base twice, and Mr. Pfundstein, Mr. Cagley, Mr. Ebnet and Kid Liberty tallied once.
St. Croix’s Victorious Again in Stearns County
Captain’s Account of the Match
The St. Croix Base Ball Club traveled to the village of Melrose on a sticky Sunday afternoon for a match against the local picked-nine. Those in attendance of our ball club were Misters Maurer, Pfundstein, Cagley, Sjogren, Ebnet, Arpi, Ernst, Tholkes and Nelson.
The match was played in a beautiful green meadow with some puddles and many gravestones as a cemetery was visible in the distance. The deceased, and those present and alive, were treated to some fine striking in the first two innings by the men from Washington County with four aces, while holding Melrose to two.
Like the doldrums of this summer day, both clubs’ bats became quiet and only Melrose could muster one more ace in their fourth. After which, both clubs were fleet of foot in their respective fields preventing their opponents from touching the home plate.
The ninth and final turn at the line for Melrose proved interesting. The first hand down recorded was that of a Melrose gentleman striking a sky ball where the man made his second and then found himself meandering off his base whereupon Mr. Tholkes, who was in possession of the ball, alertly tagged this man while he was off his base. The second and third hands down were soon recorded and The St. Croix’s found themselves victorious four to three.
Tallying for our club today were one ace each by Misters Maurer, Pfundstein, Ernst and Nelson.
Many spectators and a band were present during the match. We enjoyed the folks from Stearns County and hope to have another match there soon.
St. Croix’s defeated by Silver Stars on Independence Day
by Captain Brent “Skinny” Peterson
The St. Croix Base Ball Club traveled to the fair city of Northfield, MN in Rice County to cross bats with the Silver Stars on Independence Day.
The sun was shining and old Main of St. Olaf College was looking over the match as a mother hen would do with her chicks. The toss of the coin was won by the home club and they sent up to bat the St. Croix’s.
Mr. Pfundstein and Mr. Cagley both had clean hits to the outfield and Mr. Ebnet drove his two team mates in with another clean strike of the ball. The St. Croix’s ended their portion of the first inning with two aces scored. The Silver Stars were not able to crack the defenses of the St. Croix’s in their half of the first making the score 2 to 0 in favor of the visitors.
The St. Croix’s could not score in their second but the Silver Stars tallied three times to take the lead 3 to 2 after the second inning. There was no more scoring until the fourth inning when Mr. Cagley tallied another ace for the St. Croix’s which tied the score at three.
In the sixth inning Mr. Peterson crossed the home plate for the St. Croix’s giving his club a 4 to 3 lead. In the Silver Stars half of the sixth inning they tallied three times, regaining the lead after six inning at 6 to 4. The St. Croix’s tallied twice in their half of the seventh to again tie the score at six apiece.
The Silver Stars in their half of the eighth inning, with two hands down and two players on base, had nearly the third hand out when a poor throw, coupled with several other poor throws allowed three Silver Stars players to cross home plate and moved into the lead 9 to 6. The St. Croix’s were not about to go down without a fight, after a great defensive play by the Silver Stars, St. Croix striker Mr. Cagley hit a hard daisy-cutter that forced a poor throw and allowed Mr. Cagley to score for his club. It was thought that the St. Croix’s might come back, but the defense of the Silver Stars stiffened and ended the match with the third hand being retired.
The final score of the match was Northfield Silver Stars nine aces to seven aces for the St. Croix Club.
Mr. Cagley scored all four times he was at the bat, Mr. Pfundstein, Mr. Arpi and Mr. Peterson accounted for the rest of the scoring for the St. Croix’s.
Captain’s Account of The Match
The St. Croix Base Ball Club took part in a match this beautiful Saturday afternoon against our adversary, The Northfield Silver Stars in the village of Columbia Heights. These men from the southern prairie are avid ballists and today was no exception.
The St. Croix’s attacked early with three tallies in the first frame, but were answered with two by the Silver Stars. The hurling of the sphere with prominence then took over for both clubs until the middle of the match when all seemed to change.
The Silver Stars in the middle frames then begun to strike the ball with accuracy and strength and soon thereafter, Northfield had tallied nine. It was not until the eight inning, when The St. Croix’s plated two. The final score of the match was Silver Stars nine, St. Croix’s five.
Aces tallied for the St. Croix’s were one each by Mr. Smith, Mr. Ebnet, Mr. Cagley, Mr. Stash and Mr. Pfundstein. Our club has graciously accepted a challenge in Northfield later in the year on our nation’s birthday.
Opponents and Bats Falter in LaCrescent
Amidst blue skies and purple lilacs, the St. Croix Base Ball Club travelled long to the city of LaCrescent for a day of base ball with our friends from Southeast Minnesota; The Rochester Roosters and LaCrescent Apple Jacks. Our picked nine for the day were this writer, “Basher” Cagley, “Twist” Foss, “Sugar” Sjogren, “Kid Liberty”, Mr. Lavigne, “Aces” Arpi, “Slow Trot” Tholkes and “Bear Trap” Foss.
The first match versus the Roosters was a successful one. Mr. Lavigne, a gentleman new to our club and a man of much height and strength, struck the ball with might and fielded his position with elegance and this seemed to inspire the men from Washington County to perform in a fine manner. When all was said and done, the St. Croix’s were victorious ten aces to three.
The second match was versus the Apple Jacks and included many well-placed daisy cutters and sky balls by our club. The weather was cool that day so the men legged their bases with ease eleven times, while the Apple Jacks had none.
“Slow Trot” hurled the sphere with accuracy and deception and is to be commended for his fine play. Tallies were kept by Mrs. Ohm, but the captain failed to recollect the number of aces recorded by each individual. What was etched into memory was the breaking of two St. Croix bats (one of which was owned by Mr. Cagley) by the young Mr. Foss on two separate occasions.
We enjoyed the fellowship of our opponents and look forward to an engagement with them later in the year in Rochester.
St. Paul, MN
The captain’s official game account:
St. Croix’s and Baltics hold a fine exhibition of ball at Midway Stadium
The St. Croix Base Ball Club played on the grass of Midway Stadium for the first time on Monday, May 23rd. The St. Croix’s have played at Midway before, but both times the field was covered in snow and the temperatures hovered around zero degrees.
The St. Croix’s showed some fine hitting and base running, and at the end of their lineup Mr. Rich “Aces” Arpi provided the bases loaded triple that scored three for the St. Croix’s which gave them four aces in their inning. The Baltics had some strong hits right at the St. Croix fielders, but also placed a few where the St. Croix defense could not get to. The Baltics tallied three times in their inning, giving the St. Croix’s the victory for the exhibition.
The match was held before the St. Paul Saints and Fort Worth Cats match of the Northern League. The St. Croix’s and Baltic’s will meet again on August 7th at the Washington County Fair in Baytown Township.
The four aces that were tallied for the St. Croix’s were scored by Mr. Jurek, Mr. Robinson Jr., Mr. Peterson and Mr. Nelson.