Season 7 Creighton Cup Series, Game 3

The teams split the first two games at the Haymakers' park and then moved to Resolutes territory for Game 3. It was a rematch of Game 1 on the mound, with Mickey Welch for the visitors and John Clarkson for the home team.

Joe Kelley, leading off in the top of the first, greeting Clarkson with a stand-up double. The next batter was Jesse Burkett, who hit a grounder right at first baseman Jake Beckley. In a moment that could only be described as Buckneresque, Beckley let the ball skip right past him. Burkett ended up on second, and Kelley scored easily. Cap Anson then plated Burkett with a single. Sam Thompson doubled, and after four batters the score was already 2-0 with no outs and runners on second and third. Before the inning was over, Roger Bresnahan and Bobby Wallace had also driven in runs to make it 4-0.

Clarkson, none too pleased with that state of affairs, came to bat in the bottom of the second. The league's best-hitting pitcher found the bases full of teammates -- Frank Grant, John McGraw, and Connie Mack, to be precise. He ripped a two-run single to cut the visitors' lead in half.

The teams continued to trade runs. In the top of the third, Haymakers second baseman Bid McPhee drove in Bresnahan with a single to make it 5-2. The Resolutes stormed right back in the bottom of the fourth, with Mack doubling in Grant, and McGraw scoring on groundout by Clarkson. The Haymakers held a scant one-run lead until the sixth, when McPhee tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Burkett.

The Resolutes lifted Clarkson after seven innings. Pinch hitter Jim O'Rourke drew a walk, and his compatriots promptly loaded the bases, but a double play saved Welch from disaster. Taking over for Clarkson was sidearm specialist Joe McGinnity, who ended up pitching two scoreless innings to keep the game within reach for the Resolutes.

Amos Rusie, the Haymakers' star closer, relieved Welch in the eighth. His mission was to record a six-out save. He retired the Resolutes in order in the bottom of the frame, but things got a little more complicated in the ninth. Mack led off with a walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Pinch hitter Sol White, however, grounded into a double play. Pete Hill singled to give the Resolutes another chance, but Hughie Jennings lofted a lazy infield fly to third baseman Deacon White, and the game was over.

With a 2-1 series lead, the Haymakers need just one more win to claim their fourth title in seven years!