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Toppers save best for last

"The turnout of Toppers who found their way out of the charities and churches was impressive. Fourteen of the lads both old and new, old and young turned up on the warm day to host the always competitive and entertaining Deep River Grinders from Northwest Indiana.

"The competition is always generous in cheers and good-natured ribbing between these two rivals. And for eight innings that was about all the local lads could brag about as their striking and running were as hard to see as an early morning mist. For seven innings the visitors had the measure of our boys taking a five to zero lead into the top of the inning.

"Perhaps it was the disparaging remarks of the umpire or the snickers of the crowd, but something got into their bats and legs and the Toppers finished the match by scoring two runs, one run, then seven runs in the last three innings while holding the Grinders to the five they earned early on.

"It is hard to point to one individual as the star of the match. But Scooter Allred surprised and pleased his teammates and himself with his ball handling skills in the infield. Pops Wiegmann threw out a Grinder runner at third by stopping the ball with his body, falling on it, rolling around and over and finally flipping the ball to Lightfoot Cox covering the third bag.

"Once the boys started they didn't stop and only a player who shall be not named being called out for failing to strike in his turn prevented more runs on the part of the home team. (In all fairness, sometimes a call to nature just cannot be ignored.) The umpire for the day was the Honorable Judge Young and he was glad to report only two ballists needed to be fined. Weege Bugge was find for waving his arms over his head as he ran from second to third in a silly manner. Beans Meyer was fined for carrying the heaviest bat in the Midwest as he ran to first thus endangering the Grinder 1st bagman.

"All in all it was a grand day for base ball. Perhaps this is the turning point in the year for the club. We shall find out as the next match is this coming Saturday with teams coming in from Cincinnati, Ohio and Wyandotte, Michigan. First game is at 1 p.m."

The Champion Hill Toppers are a vintage baseball team based in Huntington. They play games at Olde Republic Field, by Lake Clare in Huntington.