By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
Vintage Base Ball Clubs from the Southern California League and the San Francisco Bay area traveled to San Luis Obispo on March 16 and 17 for two days of exhibition matches on the Central Coast.
This year’s Coast Classic featured the Crestline Highlanders, the SoCal League back-to-back champions, who played against Barbary Coast (aka Coasters) and the San Francisco Pelicans. The Riverside Smudge Pots, who were previous SoCal Vintage Base Ball League champions in 2021, traveled with the Highlanders to the Central Coast Classic.
The Central Coast Classic games were played at the Sinsheimer Stadium in San Luis Obispo. The games were played by 1887 rules, with replica uniforms, replica equipment, balls and gloves. “This was a fun exhibition series, where we met many new friends and had a wonderful time as well as played some great games,” said Chris Dodd of the Crestline Highlanders.
On Saturday, the SF Pelicans played the Smudgepots at noon; the Pelicans defeated the Smudgepots, 6-4.
The Coasters played the Highlanders in the afternoon exhibition game. The Highlanders won 4-3. None of the teams had played for months since it has been winter. The Coasters versus the Highlanders was a hard-fought game with no runs scored until the bottom of the fourth inning of the seven-inning game, when the Highlanders scored the first two runs. In the top of the sixth inning the Coasters scored three runs, putting them ahead. The Highlanders replied in the bottom of the 6th inning with two runs themselves. Since the Coasters scored nothing in the top of the 7th inning, the score remained 4-3 with the Highlanders winning.
On Sunday, March 17 at 11 a.m., the Smudgepots started the day off with a loss to the Coasters 6-8. These games do not affect league standing as they are pre-season games but do offer the teams an opportunity to try out their players in different positions and test out pitchers before the new season begins.
Then the Highlanders faced the Pelicans, beginning at 1:30 p.m. The Highlanders played their usual high hitting game by starting off with 13 runs scored in the top of the long first inning with the Pelicans only scoring one run, but then the Pelicans blanked out the Highlanders in the top of the second inning, while the Pelican scored five runs in a come-back attempt, for a score of 6-13 at the end of inning two, with the Highlanders still ahead.
The exciting game continued with runs crossing home plate each inning, with the Highlanders scoring another four runs in the third inning, then five in the 4fourth inning and another one in the fifth inning, for a total of 23 runs. The Pelicans did fight back with one run in the third, a strong six runs in the fourth inning and gaining another five in the fifth inning, but they were still behind at 4:30 p.m. at the end of three hours of play because of the long first inning. Since, by 1887 rules, they only play for three hours, the ending score was 23-18 in favor of the Highlanders at the end of five innings.
The Crestline Highlanders took their championships banners to hang at the field in SLO during the tournament games.
“If the game had gone on any longer, we would have brought in James ‘Slider’ Cassidy to close out the game for a win. We had allowed some of our other players an opportunity to pitch that day,” explained Dodd.
With their two wins, the Highlanders the respect of the Bay Area teams. They hope to be invited back next year to play in the Central Coast Classic again.
The new season for SoCal Vintage Base Ball games will begin May 4 with the opening game played down the mountain, as the weather is often still cold in early May and Harich Field may not be quite ready for play.
“The other teams in the league, from Temecula to Riverside and the coast cities, enjoy coming to the mountains to play during the summer when it is sizzling down the hill and is really nice in the mountains,” added Dodd.
The Highlanders like to remind their fans that the games are always free to attend at Harich Field on Grandview Drive in Twin Peaks. The Highlanders want to thank the Crestline Chamber of Commerce for being the sponsor of the team and for allowing them to display their trophy in the chamber office, enabling the public to come in and see it. The Highlanders have plans to march in the Jamboree Days parade on July 6 in Crestline, again showing off their SoCal Vintage Base Ball League championship trophy to the whole town.
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