The local vintage nine opened their '09 home slate at McLaughlin Vineyard on Saturday as they hosted the New York Gotham nine from the 'great city' for two nine inning 1864 matches on the ancient ground that hugs the Housatonic. The day was warm and bright and the hillsides sparkled as the southerlies kissed the verdant maples that encircle the irregular stonewalled pitch.

The New Yorkers brought an impressive contingent of ballists and cranks to meet a makeshift group of local players mustered for the event. To call this pick nine 'Sandy Hooks' would be dishonest as two thirds of the regular squad chose June 6th to take a leave-of-absence. This fact required the Newtown captains, in the period leading up to the event, to supplement the normal nine with various elements from neighboring clubs in a long-held tradition that hearkened back to the once invincible Newtown Athletic Club that combined clubs from Newtown and Sandy Hook, late in the 19th century, to challenge clubs from Stratford, Bridgeport, Danbury and beyond.

In game one, as 'Geezer' Shaw arbitrated the goings on, both clubs went to work sizing each other up. To this scribe's dismay, much of the sizing-up seemed more like a church social then a full-blown athletic competition with neither club showing any distinct advantage over the other.

"Mister' Edwards, coming off of great success in Central Park against the Neshanock club a fortnight ago, hurled masterfully for Newtown while 'Coach' Piela equaled his efforts inning for inning. The locals, being fully aware that a Gotham based video crew was capturing all the activity for a yet to be announced documentary, showed signs of stage fright throughout the contest. Ballists who could generally be relied upon to drive the ball to all corners of the yard seemed stymied by the pace of the Gotham pitching.

In the sum course of nine complete, the Newtowners showed little talent with the bat while 'Trolley' Schlapp's tenacious New Yorkers chipped away with strategic hits, unbridled base stealing to render a final verdict 5 to 2 for the visitors.

If it were not for the electrifying hitting and fielding exploits and baserunning skullduggery of Waterbury's Laperriere and Gentile, the lethargic Newtowners might have ended losing by a larger margin, with assorted goose eggs on the board.

In a highlight of game one action, captured on film for all to see, the amiable Gotham catcher 'Scratch' Alexander found himself caught in a third to home pickle, which was something to behold. The scoring attempt fell short of its intended consequence when Edwards, Snyder and Weiner put their decades of base ball experience to work to snuff-out the potential ace.

	Gotham shortscout holds Wheat between second and third.

Between games, the Newtowners hosted a full-course buffet under the shade of the maples while the home side considered their game two strategy. The fact that numerous bottles of McLaughlin's recent Rosé offering was in ample supply seemed to ignite the Newtowners resolve while providing a soothing affect on their much traveled opponents.

In match two, the rejuvenated Newtown squad took their lead from 'Noodles' Laperriere and began pushing copious aces across the dish with sure hits to all fields punctuated by monumental blasts by Toomey, Snyder and Wheat to the far reaches of the ball yard and into the lush hillsides leading to Cady Mountain. While in the field, the Newtowners combined to make heroic saves of well-struck Gotham hits, including 'Noodles' acrobatic feats in left and Brad Greene's majestic uphill play in right as he jumped high in the air to save the elusive orb that held a potential Gotham rally.

In a critical juncture in the ebb and flow of the game, '80 Proof' Gentile, always motoring at 110%, batted his way into scoring position only to make an ill-timed attempt for home base. As he attempted a head-first slide to avoid a tag from the Gotham hurler Piela, the resulting dive, looking for all intents and purposes like a wounded duck making a last ditch effort to snare a perch, landed face-first an arms-length from the dish in a cloud of dust and grass clippings. As the hurler applied the tag, the momentum of Gentile's ill-fated collision forced his lower extremities to wallop the unsuspecting Piela in the side of the head leaving the hurler bruised and woozy, and the opponent less than 50 proof.

After a short break for smelling salts and ice, the stout-hearted New York gamer resumed his duties at the line. The Newtown hitters, feeling no compunction to pity their battered opponent, took full advantage of his state to tee-off on pitch after pitch to manufacture an insurmountable advantage of 14 to 4.

As Aussie-Brooklyn native 'Wombat' Dyte called the final out of the day, the two sides honored each other with traditional 'Huzzahs' and retired to the tree line to toast one another's exploits, play a little pepper, and commemorate a perfect day for a ball game in the Connecticut countryside.

On Saturday June 20 the Sandy Hooks meet their down county rivals, the Bridgeport Orators, for an 1886 match at Rogers Park in Danbury as part of Danbury Baseball Daze, an all-day baseball celebration. Game time is 6:00PM - just following the NECBBL Danbury Westerners verses Lowell All Americans match.

All base ball cranks and friends are welcome to join the party and see the future stars of major league baseball followed by the game as it was played in the 19th Century. Go to: http://www.danburywesterners.com for further details.

	Brad Greene goes high to snuff-out potential extra base effort.

	'80 Proof' attempts to steal home while inadvertently kicking the pitcher in the forehead.