Vermilion Versus Chicago

When it comes to baseball, Vermilion usually took on teams from the local area. Occasionally, a team from Saskatoon, Edmonton or Lloydminster came out.

Arguably the team that may have come the farthest to play in Vermilion were a women’s team from Chiacgo.

On Aug. 14, 1926, the Vermilion Senators took on the Chicago Athletic Girls Baseball Team. A huge crowd came out to see the game. It was called the best-attended game of the entire season.

Unfortunately, it was a tough game for the Senators, who had several errors in the game that gave up four runs to the visitors.

Frank Pilkie of the Senators was the pitcher and did a great job in the six innings that he was on the mound. While he held the Chicago team to a few runs, the bats of the Vermilion Senators were just not hitting the ball enough. Perhaps it was nerves playing against a team from so far away, but the hitting and fielding lagged behind from their previous games.

By the end of the sixth inning, it was 6-5 in favour of the Vermilion Senators.

The Chicago Athletic Girls Baseball Team had four men on the team, two pitchers, a third base player and a shortstop. Among the women on the team, May Novah played first base and was one of the best players on the field. She fielded well and did well up at the plate. Her skilled play held the Vermilion runners in their place, preventing them scoring if they even got on base.

In the seventh and last inning, with the home team winning, the Chicago team came out hard and scored two runs to go ahead 7-6, partly due to errors by Vermilion in the field.

When it came time for Vermilion to tie or win the game in the bottom of the seventh, they just couldn’t do it. The local team lost but everyone enjoyed the game.

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