Sandy Hooks Crush Roxbury Nine 21-10

The Newtown Sandy Hooks Vintage Base Ball Club defeated the Roxbury Nine, an intimidating assemblage of artisans, farmers, and stone masons from the far away Catskills, 21-10 on the sun parched turf of the Smithtown Historical Society in Smithtown, Long Island this past weekend.

The game was a seven-inning 1898 affair, a staple of the Roxbury club but one the Newtowners had never experienced. The ’98 game is essentially the forerunner of today’s game, with minor adjustments to the pitching motion and the availability of a pancake mitt and fielder’s gloves.

In spite of that fact, the old school Sandy Hooks chose not to don fielder’s gloves and chose a split-fingered glove behind the plate. Muhl Snyder was selected to hurl for the Sandy Hooks and Tristan Toomey toiled behind the plate.

Owing to the fact the Newtowners were accustomed to the intense heat while their opponents were still recovering from their four hour plus trip from the mountains, Captain Adam Wheat’s men took full advantage of shaky pitching by the Roxbury starter

The Sandy Hooks placed two quick runs on the scoreboard in the first frame. Jay “Papi” Ortiz drove a sharp single to center, stole second, and scored on a double by Pete Friedman, then Toomey drove in Friedman with a bullet to right.

In the second, while Snyder was still acclimating himself to the pitching limitations as well as the umpire’s strike zone, Roxbury answered with two runs of its own to knot the score at two.

In the third, still struggling to find his command, the Roxbury starter retired the first Newtown batter then went on to give up ten straight runs in an error, wild pitch and walk populated inning that saw 14 Newtown batters come to the plate.

Snyder experienced a similar fate in the bottom of the third when six Roxbury base runners crossed the dish to narrow the score to 12-8.

As the match advanced, Newtown added to its lead. Ortiz, John Donnelly, Friedman, Toomey and Wheat led Newtown strikers with key hits and heroic baserunning that befuddled the Roxbury hurlers and caused havoc all over the field.

In the remaining four frames, the Sandy Hooks tacked on nine additional runs while Roxbury, dazzled by Newtown pitching and frustrated by rock-hard defense, was only able to muster two.

Toomey’s work behind the batter was impeccable while Friedman, the Hooks’ preeminent southpaw, pitched the remaining three innings and saved the game for Snyder.

The Sandy Hooks return home for a Saturday July 7 game at Fairfield Hills against another icon of vintage base ball, the 1884 Providence Grays. Game time is 9 am.