Congratulations to the Buffalo Gap Chips Base Ball Club on winning the 3^rd Annual Texas Forts Trail Vintage Base Ball Tournament.  The club fielded 2 nines for the tournament, matching up against the Farmers Branch Tanners and the Boerne White Sox.

In the first game of the tournament the Abilene 407s matched up against the Farmers Branch Tanners.  Led by the strong pitching of Warren “Spider” Simpson (gave up only 14 hits and 1 run), the strong defense of Darren “3^rd Grade” Kieschnick (with 8 assisted outs and 2 unassisted), and the strong bats of Scott “Sparks” Douglas (3 singles), Don “Ranger Don” Connell (2 singles and 1 double), Darren “3^rd Grade” Kieschnick (3 singles and 1 double), and Alex “Roscoe” Orosco (1 single and 2 doubles), the 407s were victorious by a score of 5 to 1.

In the second game of the tournament the Buffalo Gap Chips matched up against the Boerne White Sox.  The Chips continued their winning tradition by besting the White Sox 16 to 10.  The Chips were led by the strong pitching of Wade “Ghost” Goolsby (gave up only 19 hits and 10 runs), the strong defense of Paul “Pops” Garrett (6 assisted outs) and Peter “Coalminer” Newman (6 assisted outs and 1 unassisted out), and the swift bats of Preston “Flour” Haynes (4 singles and 1 double), Clay “Stick” Shelton (5 singles), Scott “Sudden Sam” Horn (5 singles), and Scott “Sparks” Douglas (1 single and 3 doubles).

As winners of both early games the 2 nines from the Buffalo Gap Vintage Base Ball Club advanced to the championship game.   In order to increase the participation from our visiting teams, Joel Brant made a management decision to declare the Championship for the Buffalo Gap Vintage Base Ball Club as a whole and to play a 6-inning “All Star” game between the Chips and the visiting teams.  The Chips prevailed once again by a score of 3 to 2.  The Chips were led by the stunning pitching of Warren “Spider” Simpson (gave up only 9 hits and 2 runs) and the powerful bats of Paul “Pops” Garrett (3 singles) and Peter “Coalminer” Newman (1 single and 1 double).

Individual honors garnered by the Chips went to Scott “Sparks” Douglas as Most Valuable Striker (5 singles and 3 doubles) and Warren “Spider” Simpson as Most Valuable Hurler (gave up only 23 hits and 3 runs in 2 games).  The players from all the teams should be proud of their play and for making the tournament a success.