Season Record 10W-14L-2T
October 15th
Dirigo closed out its season in a historical re-enaction matchup against the Sunrise Club of Brunswick. The Sunrise Club has developed into quite the team. They jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and did not allow us to score in the first four innings. After going ahead 5-1, we battled back for 6 and 2 runs in the 6th and 7th innings respectively to take the 9-5 win, but it was a very competitive game with great defense being played on both sides. It was a well attended game as roughly 75 spectators showed up to watch. We look forward to continuing this traditional matchup in Brunswick.
October 1st
Dirigo took on the New Hampshire Granite at the Ballpark at Old Orchard Beach. Dirigo defeated the Granite in the first game, 12-8, which was played by the rules of 1864. Fine hitting from our young team, and solid defense, proved to be too much for the Granite, who made a nice comeback in the late innings, falling short in the top of the 9th.
In the second game, a game played by the rules of 1887, which included overhand pitching and a harder base ball, the boys from Maine jumped out to a sizeable 12-2 lead early on, only to give up big innings in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th (11 runs scored by the visitors in the 5th) to lose 19-12 in five innings. New Hampshire hit very well and played solid defense. The game was a bittersweet victory for New Hampshire as one of their traditional stalwars, Collin Miller, is returning home to New York after playing for the Granite the past several seasons. Good luck, Collin, and congratulations on your win in your final game as an official member of the New Hampshire Granite.
September 17th & 18th
Fantastic weekend for the Dirigo Base Ball Club. We played four games against awesome teams. Such good guys (and a few gals as well). Dropped our first game to Brandywine BBC of Westchester, PA, 21-11. Next, we played the hosts, the Athletic Club of Philadelphia and dropped a competitive game to them, 14-5.
On Sunday, we came back and played a very talented team in the Mohican Club of Kennett Square, PA, and lost 10-0, but we were able to salvage a win on the weekend by defeating the Mutual Club of New York, 12-11, holding off a furious 5 run rally by them in the bottom of the ninth. We saw fantastic play out of our friends Logan and Liam, a couple of local Philly high schoolers that wanted to give the game a try. New player Ricky "Nemo" Ravilla had an incredible weekend in the field and at the plate and was a catalyst in our win over the Mutuals. Adam "Mountain Man" Newell pitched three games on Sunday, including the festival All-Star game, and showed great progress in this position. A great time was had by all.
September 11th
In a pair of games that started with a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks of 2001, the Dirigo boys took on their in state rivals the Sunrise Club of Brunswick. There were a few new faces in the crowd for Dirigo including Eric "Gold Rush" Lee, who had only previously played for Dirigo once before, Lee Smith in the outfield and Ricky Revilla in the infield who made their Dirigo debuts on the day.
In the first game, Dirigo shot out to a sizable lead and never looked back, using solid defense and pitching from Bob Hubbard to quell the Sunrise boys. The game ended after seven innings with Dirigo prevailing, 14-0.
In the second game, the captains opted to introduce a livelier ball that resulted in hits traveling further and more runs being scored for both sides. The Sunrise boys scored five runs early, but it would not be enough to hold off Dirigo who has been known to score in bunches this season, whether in winning or losing. Dirigo would go on to win the game, 22-5.
Coverage of the games can be found here: http://knox.villagesoup.com/p/vintage-baseball-games-prove-timeless-for-players-spectators/1572987
August 27th
Fantastic pair of games today as Dirigo traveled to Biddeford to take on the Essex Base Ball Organization. Dirigo fell behind early in game 1 by a score of 10-0 after just a few frames. The Dirigo club ever resilient battled back by scoring 10 runs of their own to knot the score and eventually pushing 1 across to take an 11-10 lead into the top of the 9th. Unfortunately the Dirigo club could not hold in the 9th and gave up 3 runs, unable to get anything going in the bottom of the 9th the Dirigo squad fell 13-11. Dirigo was buoyed by the strong outfield play of Devan "Redwood" Eaton to keep things close early and to give them a chance. The bottom of the lineup battled throughout the first game to give the boys of Dirigo a chance. Special recognition to Shep "Old Testament" Brown, "Malibu" and Brian McLaughlin for their timely hitting from the bottom 1/3 of the lineup.
The second game was not so kind to the boys from Dirigo as they fell by a score of 14-5, highlights included 1-0 and 4-3 leads but as the day wore on the Essex club placed the ball where the Dirigo fielders were not and cruised to a victory.
Coverage of the games can be found here: http://courier.mainelymediallc.com/news/2016-09-08/Neighbors/Vintage_baseball_raises_money_for_mustangs.html
August 21st
Dirigo traveled to North Andover, Massachusetts for the Doc Adams Invitational. Dirigo dropped two on the day to the New Hampshire Granite and Boston Beaneaters, despite scoring a combined 51 runs for the two games. In the third game, Dirigo players Jacob Newcomb and Eric Lee helped the New England Picked Nine combined squad to defeat the Boston Beaneaters in a game that was played by the rules of 1886.
August 6th
Dirigo traveled to Georges Island in Boston Harbor to take on the Lisbon Tunnelmen and their friends from Mudville, Dirigo dropped their first match to the Tunnelmen but rebounded with a ferry-shortened tie against Mudville that included a game ending double play that helped Mudville preserve the tie.
July 23rd
After a 4 week layoff caused by a cancellation due to inclement weather the Dirigo squad took the field while traveling internationally to face off against our OLD friends of Mudville. An impressive squad gathered their passports and trekked up to Halifax, Nova Scotia to spread the beautiful game to the Maritime provinces. The game began rather gloomily for the boys from Dirigo as Mudville opened their half of the 1st inning with a leadoff HR into the right center gap and the runs kept flowing for the gentlemen from Mudville as they stormed to an early lead. Everytime Dirigo pulled close through the first 7 innings Mudville would answer in the bottom of the inning extending their lead. Dirigo came storming back in the top of the 9th plating the go-ahead run after trailing by as many as 9. The Dirigo club could not hold the lead as a pop-up over the drawn in infield scored the Mudville runners from 2nd and 3rd for walk-off victory to add to our collection of exciting finishes between these fine teams. Luckily for Dirigo, Chip Reid and the CBS Evening News did not catch the finish and broadcast their disappointment for the entire country to see, a feeling that Mudville knows all too well.
June 25th & 26th
Dirigo in conjunction with the boys from Essex hosted the New England Vintage Base Ball festival in beautiful Cornish at the historic trotting park. Dirigo won their first match over the Bristol Blues by a score of 11-10 but dropped the afternoon match to Essex by a score of 15-2. Despite ending the first day on the tournament one the short end of the stick the Dirigo boys were pleased with the success of the first day of action in what they are hoping becomes a yearly event!
On the second day of action at the New England Vintage Base Ball Festival the boys of Dirigo dropped two close matches the first by a score of 11-10 to Flemington and the second at the hands of the Mechanics of Andover by a final tally of 11-9. Despite finishing the festival a disappointing 1-3 the Dirigo club was pleased with the success of the first annual NEVBBF and look forward to growing the event in the future.
June 18th
Taking part in the celebration of historic Hippach Field the Dirigo made the trek to Farmington to meet Maine's newest vintage base ball Club the Sunrise Club of Brunswick. The Sunrise club looked solid and were led by the leadership of Dirigo team founder Mark Rohman and longtime Dirigo stalwart John Coray. The bats came alive for Dirigo in this match up as they scored runs by the bucketful tallying 28 in total while holding the Sunrise club to 10. It wasn't all sunshine and buttercups for the Dirigo squad as they lost an all star and all around great guy Scott "The Professor" Hastings to a busted finger in the middle innings. Kevin "Irish" Sullivan further cemented his spot as pitcher with some great pitching that provided countless opportunities for the Sunrise club to put the ball in play and test the defense of Dirigo.
May 29th
Fantastic pair of games today as Dirigo traveled to Boston to take on the Beaneaters at Cleveland Circle. In the first game, Dirigo's bats came alive and the club played great defense in a 12-4 win playing by the rules of 1864. Kevin "Irish" Sullivan was solid in his pitching, and the outfield, composed of Gordon "Gordo" Paul, Brian "Shakes" Reeves, and Nate "Niner" Gobeil, made plays that left many a Beaneater shaking his head. It would not be sufficient to list good batters as all batted well in the first game. Captain Jacob "Shoeless" Newcomb, somewhat surprisingly to his teammates, added to his team lead in stolen bases, flummoxing his opponents as he slid into base after base. In the second game, Dirigo, who does not often play by the rules of the 1880s, found themselves in a very deep 10-1 hole in the first few innings, only to battle back from the depths of hell to tie the game in the second to last inning 12-12. Steady pitching from Bob "Badger" Hubbard, a heroic effort from catcher Justin "Bulldog" Kirk and acrobatic plays from Brian "Shakes" Reeves helped Dirigo stay in the game, but their efforts came up short in the end as the Beaneaters outlasted our nine from Maine, 13-12. As a side note, it was good to see Dirigo's friend Chuck Ciccarello in uniform for Boston, and it should be additionally noted that Shep Brown's new nickname of "Old Testament" seems to be catching on, much to the delight of Dirigo, their opponents, and the fans of the team, and rumor has it to the chagrin of Mr. Brown's wife. Great time had by all!
May 22nd
The Dirigo squad traveled to challenge the New Hampshire Granite in beautiful Portsmouth, NH in an 1864's match-up for border supremacy. The fielding and bats of Dirigo missed the memo of the mid-morning start time and staked the Granite to an early lead but behind the steady pitching of Justin "Bulldog" Kirk and fine defensive display of Shepard "Old Testament" Brown making his season debut at 2nd base the Dirigo squad stopped the bleeding and battled back in a well played game. Jacob "Shoeless" Newcomb showed off his heads-up baserunning while taking 4 bases over the course of the match including putting himself in position to score the tying run to complete the Dirigo comeback and finish the match in an 11-11 tie. The two squads then engaged in a short 1884's exhibition due to time constraints, in a 3 inning abbreviated match the Granite of New Hampshire escaped with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 3rd frame to emerge as victors. As always the Dirigo club enjoyed their morning spent with their friends south of the border and look forward to their upcoming match-ups during the 2016 season.
May 1st
With the second day of the tournament came much grayer skies with the threat of rain. This did not stop the Dirigo club as they matched up with the tournament hosts Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn for the opening game of the second day of action. Despite coming away on the wrong side of the scoreboard once again the Dirigo club showed some offensive life while falling to the very talented club from Brooklyn by a score of 13-6. All members of the Dirigo line-up had a productive day at the plate during the first game with highlights coming from the hitting and pitching of Kevin "Irish" Sullivan and the bats of Bob "Badger" Hubbard.
Feeling encouraged by the awakening of their bats Dirigo looked toward coming away with the victory in their second match-up versus our mid-Atlantic brothers from the Diamond State Club of Delaware. In a back and forth battle of evenly matched teams Dirigo escaped Long Island with their lone victory by a score of 15-13. Despite facing an early deficit the boys from Maine buoyed by the strong striking of Jacob "Shoeless" Newcomb and the confidence of Nate "Niner" Gobiel stormed back to build a 6 run lead that they nursed to their victory holding off a late match charge by the feisty Delaware squad. Providing the final margin of victory was Kyle "Gimpy" Feltis with the farthest struck ball of the weekend deep to center field driving in 2 runs while he limped into second base.
Despite leaving rainy Long Island with a 1-3 record against some of the best clubs on the east coast the Dirigo Base Ball Club leaves pleased due to the friendships created and relationships built while taking part in this wonderful tournament. We look forward to a jam-packed 2016 season and seeing many of the teams once again either this year or in the future!
April 30th
The boys from Dirigo opened their season down in beautiful Long Island taking part in the Atlantic Base Ball Festival hosted at the Smithtown Historical Society.
The opening match-up between the Eckfords of Brooklyn and the Dirigo club ended in a 13-2 defeat. The boys from Maine were a little rusty in the field and the Eckfords hit the ground running swiping multiple bases and putting together some timely hitting. Dirigo's lone runs were scored by Andy "Legs" Knox and Ryan "Le Grand Francois" Michaud after being driven in by Devan "Red" Eaton and Justin "Bulldog" Kirk respectively.
The second match-up on a beautiful Long Island afternoon brought the Providence Grays to challenge Dirigo. The Dirigo bats still had not awoken from the winter lay-off as they failed to push across a single tally while our friends from Providence took advantage of some well placed hits and superb fielding to win by a score of 14-0.
The members of Dirigo were happy to meet new friends and look forward to meeting both teams again hoping to give them a far better match in the near future. Dirigo now looks forward to the second day of the tournament to shake loose from their offensive hibernation and fielding woes.