The Clodbusters will travel to Rising Sun, IN this Sunday, October 16th to take on the Belle River BBC in the final matches of the season for our boys. There are scheduled to play a double header with the first game to start at noon.

The Clodbusters travelled to the Old West (Fest) Sunday and took on our good friends, the Cincinnati Red Stockings. The weather could not have been better for the match as the Clods struck first with one run in the top of the first inning. Unfortunately, the boys in brown could not keep the Red Stockings off the basepaths in the remaining innings as the Red Stocking were able to score a total of 24 aces on the day. The Clods were able to make a bit of a comback in the last couple of innings but fell short and took home a defeat of 24-10.

The team would like to thank the Old West Festival and the Cincinnati Red Stockings for inviting us to this great event and we hope that we can be invited back for next year.

Sunday, October 9th the Clods will travel to Williamsburg, OH to take on the Cincinnati Red Stockings at the Old West Festival. Game time is 1:05 pm.

As the game started the sun came out to watch the Clodbusters take on the Akron Black Stockings in game one of the twelfth annual Akron Cup. It was a great defensive battle with the Clods scoring the first ace in the fifth inning. The Black Stockings pushed across two in the sixth, the Clods tied it in the seventh at two before Akron took the lead again in their half of the seventh, with a 3-2 lead. The Clods once again tied the game in the top of the ninth, but couldn't hold the lead as the Akron squad pushed across two more to take the match 5-3.

In game two of the day the Clods faced off against Fulton Mules. The heat of the day was with the Mules bats as the scored four aces in the top of the first and two more in the second. The Clods finally pushed across their first ace in the third and three more in the fifth, but couldn't overcome the deficit as they scored twice more in ninth but fell 10-8.

After an hour break the Clods matched up against the Cleveland Blues for their final match of the day. The sun and heat took its toil on our boys as the Blues scored six aces in the first three innings. The Clods got their second wind however as they were able to hold the powerful Blues scoreless the rest of the way. With the bats, the Clods pushed across two aces in the fourth and three more in their last three at-bats, but with clockwork defense the Blue were able to hold on to their slim lead to give the Clods their third loss of the day with a final score of 6-5.

Overall, our boys in brown played with the clockwork defense they are known for, but just couldn't string enough strikes together to overcome the early deficits.

In the fourth annual meeting of the Indianapolis Blues and the Clodbusters, in a storm damaged McBride Stadium, the Blues were finally able to conquer the Mighty Clods in four games in Richmond, IN. The game was in question after a storm passed through on Monday evening, however after further inspection there was no danger to the cranks or players and the match was allowed to proceed.

After the Blues started the game with fours aces in their first inning and the Clods were able to get two back in the top of the second. Unfortunately, the Blues were able to get three more in the third and the Clods struggled to string together enough strikes to stay with the Blues. The defense was able to hold the Blues to two aces for the rest of the match but they were unable to overcome the deficit in which they were in.

Huzzah to the cranks that came out to the match, both teams truely enjoy playing for you and it is a highlight of the schedule every year!

Read the Palladium-Item's account of the match:

• "Blues end frustration with 9-4 victory over Clodbusters at McBride Stadium" - Palladium-Item - (7/14/11)

Clodbusters will travel to Richmond, IN for our annual match against the Indianapolis Blues in historic McBride Stadium on Wednesday. If the weather does not cooperate, Thursday is schedule as the rain date. Here are some articles about the upcoming game:

• "Blues end frustration with 9-4 victory over Clodbusters at McBride Stadium" - Palladium-Item - (7/14/11)
• "Vintage game still a go tonight at damaged McBride" - Palladium-Item - (7/13/11)
• "Vintage Base Ball game is on despite damage to McBride Stadium" - Palladium-Item - (7/12/11)
• "Vintage game returns Wednesday" - Palladium-Item - (7/12/11)
• "Kiwanis helps kids through Vintage Base Ball fundraising game" - Palladium-Item - (7/10/11)
• "Blues Search for a win against vintage Base Ball rival at McBride" - Palladium-Item - (7/9/11)
• "Learn about the game" - Palladium-Item - (7/6/11)
• "Vintage Base Ball teams play like it's 1864" - Palladium-Item - (7/2/11)

Playing for the Shumsky Company Picnic, the Clodbusters and the Canal Jumpers squared off for a friendly match in the confines of 5/3rd Field in Downtown Dayton. The Canal Jumpers were able push across the first two aces before the Clods' bats came alive in the fifth inning with them tying the game at 2. In the sixth inning the Clodbusters were able to push across another ace to take the lead. But the Canal Jumpers wouldn't let the Clods runaway with the game as they came back in the top of the seventh to tie the match at 3. In the bottom of the seventh, the Clods were able to take the lead for good after scoring two more aces to push the score to 5 - 3. The Canal Jumpers threatened in both the eighth and ninth but the Clods defense held strong to win the game. A mighty huzzah to Shumsky Enterprises for allowing us to play for the company picnic! Also a mighty huzzah to the Canal Jumpers' Chad "Ace" Beam for setting up this great opportunity! Hip Hip Huzzah!

At the 3rd annual Heritage Festival at Carillon Park, the Clodbusters put on a demonstration to show the attendees how the game was played in the 1860s. Kids of all ages were able to strike the ball and run the bases. Kids as young as three were excited to swing with Clods and with the way some of them were able to strike the ball it looks like the Clodbusters will have some strong recruits in the years to come. Thank you to all that came out, a good time was had by all. (Photo taken by Dayton Daily News' Chris Stewart)

The game against the Spiegel Grove Squires has been cancelled due to standing water on the field.

The Clods loaded up the coaches and headed west to Indianapolis for the 6th annual Blues Fest. They were scheduled to take on the Vermillion Voles, the Indianapolis Blues and the Indianapolis Hoosiers.

In the first match against the Voles, the Clodbusters came out striking early and often, plating at least two aces in each of the first three innings. The Clods were also showing off their fine ginger with the highlight being a one-handed, leaping catch by "Half Chisel," who was making his Clodbuster debut. When the match came to a close the Clodbuster were victorious with a score of 16-7.

In the second match, the Clods took on the Indianapolis Blues. Unfortunately, the Clods bats were not as powerful as they have been the previous two matches of the season. But as quiet as the Clodbusters bats were the Blues were very loud. The Blues were able to plate five aces in the 1st inning and continued to hit the onion hard and often, many times putting the ball over the Clodbusters outfielders. The lone highlight for the Clods was a grandslam off the bat of Brian "Polecat" Dziekan. The final tally was the Blues 18, the Clods 6 and the first loss of the season for the boys from Dayton.

In the final match of the day the Clodbusters faced off against the Indianapolis Hoosiers. With the storm clouds approaching the field, the Clods were able to find the hits that had eluded them the game before. It didn't take long before the Clods had the lead and did not look back as the were able to coast to a 14-7 victory and improve to a 3-1 record.

With a very wet spring, Mother Nature was kind enough to give a us a great night to open the season versus our friends to the north, the Tippecanoe Canal Jumpers. Being the first game of the season one could expect the teams to be a little rusty, but within four strikers the Clods had a pushed across two aces. But the Canal Jumpers would not let the Clods run away with this match as they continued to battle and keep things close. However in the 7th inning, the Clodbusters were finally able to put the game out of reach by pushing across another five aces. The match ended with the local boys prevailing 19-11.

A hardy "Huzzah" goes out to Chris "Weasel" Buckner for being elected the new team captain. A team vote was held after Nate "Frenchie" Buckner decided to step down as captain this off-season. Also the team elected a new team manager, John "Cement" Everett, when "Weasel" took over as the team captain. Huzzah to both gentlemen!

The Clodbusters will have their annual Spring Training and Team Tryout on Sunday, April 3rd at 12:00pm at Carillon Park. If you are interested in playing vintage Base Ball come out and they will be willing to teach you how the game was played in the 1860s.

The initial schedule has been released with more games coming soon. The Clodbusters will again be traveling to Richmond, Indiana for our annual matchup with the Indianapolis Blues in Richmond Stadium as well as to Columbus, Ohio for the Ohio Cup, which is the largest collection of vintage base ball teams in America. Hope to see you out at the games.