Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1903-05-22
BASE BALL SEASON OPENS.
Wheel Club Beats Y. II. A. ~ to6-Band
Played and Big Crowd Saw the Game.

Wheel Club Beats Y. u. y. a. II 70 o-osho
Played and Big Crowd Saw the Game.
More than 500 persons were present
at Riverside park on the Island Satur-
day afternoon to witness the opening
game in the Brattleboro baseball league
series. The Wheel club beat the Y. M.
G. A. nine II to 5, in contest full OF
hard hitting and good plays. The First
Regiment band enlivened the occasion
with spirited melody and there was ev-
erywhere the element Of good humor:
The weather was ideal for the national
sport and the opening Of the league sea-
son was suspicious in every way.
The game started at B 80 but an hour
before that the streets took on lively
tone. Then came the opening notes OF
the band, marching from its headquar-
tiers to the rooms of the contesting
clubs. 1t sounded good and everybody
kept step. The march down street to
the grounds on tie Island attracted all
and the respective players looked tit
for fight to the finish.
The diamond was in good shape, hav-
ing been put in repair for the opening
game, and the grand stand was full
when time was called. The players
and their friends were all alert and
hundreds of spectators on the side lines
yelled final advice The band had
given an enjoyable half-hour concert,
but the crowd was impatient for the
fray.
Louis Allen, for the Wheel club, won
the toss, and chose the field. Now.
fellows" said he, "pht in and play
ball. If we get beaten this time Well
beat 'em next time. - There was run
to positions while the crowd applaud
ed, and then more cheering as w.
Brooks, the Y. NJ G. A. catcher, went
to bat and Mayor Blodgett took the box
to pitch the first ball. Umpire Sanders
was in place and all was ready. The
mayor hesitated a moment, getting a
line on the plate, and threw an easy
one, about shoulder high. Brooks
watched it intently,-he would have
given 80. 40 at Mays IN. Y. to knock
the thing over the mountain, but he
missed. His bat was at least a foot
wide when he made his swing. The
mayor smiled and everybody else
howled. Then the game really began.
The contest was lively from the very
start, and the game was full OF inter
est for the spectators, even though the
final score was so wide apart. Ellis,
for the Wheel club, pitched strong
game. He was rather wild at first but
soon settled down, as his friends knew
he would, and he kept his form. He
quite sustained his reputation as a
cool and calculating player. He was
handsomely backed by Louis Allen,
who was in the game from start to fin
sh and put up good ball all the time.
Ellis struck out nine men, and Eames,
of the Y. NJ. G. A., struck out two.
The batting Of the Wheel club boys
greatly pleased the crowd. They made
81 hits against eight for their oppon-
ents. Louis Allen and Tasker made
three baggers which brought bowls Of
approval and hits good for two bags
were so frequent that there was plenty
of fun all the time. Brasor played
third for the Wheel club and covered
himself with glory, both at the bag
and at bat. He will be one OF the
teams stars this season. Stolte at
short was beauty. His playing was
snappy and he lost no chances. He is
natural born ball player. Much
might be said of many Of the Others.
The men are all lacking practice, which
will bring them to fine edge as the
season advances, but their work Sat
urday was exceptionally good, all
things considered.
In the third inning, March, OF the
Y. NJ. G. A., lined out a grounder di-
rectly over first base. 1t rolled and
rolled and finally disappeared down the
hill, giving the player time to cover
the diamond for home run. Umpire
Sanders called it a foul and March and
his friends protested. A ten minute
wrangle followed but Sanders held to
his decision, as he should But there
was no doubt in the minds Of those who
sat on the scorers bench that the hit
was fair. In the sixth the Y. M. c.
A. put in B. Brooks to pitch, replacing
Games, but this did not seem to change
the luck, and he was hit freely. The
game was full of long fly catches and
good points and gave the crowd lots of
enjoyment for an hour and half. The
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