Editor’s note: The games in the Negro Leagues Diamond Gems Tournament are being played with Strat-o-Matic cards and dice. The designated hitter will not be used for any games. Injuries will only be used during the game when they occur.
It was an explosive inning that changed everything for the 1945 Cleveland Buckeyes as the team claimed the Negro Leagues Diamond Gems Tournament with an 11-3 win over the 1924 Hilldale Athletic Club.
Trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Buckeyes sent 14 batters to the plate and scored nine times to put the game away in front an excited throng of cardboard fans in League Park.
Sam Jethroe got the scoring underway with a three-run homer off Hilldale starter Phil Cockrell.
The onslaught continued as Buddy Armour had a two-run triple against Hilldale releiver Rube Currie. Johnnie Cowan greeted Hilldale hurler Wilbur Pritchett with a RBI double. Archie Ware added a RBI single before Parnell Woods capped the inning with a two-run single.
In his final two innings on the mound for the Buckeyes, Bill Jefferson didn’t give up a run the rest of the way although he gave up four of the 13 hits he allowed in the contest. He also walked three and had seven strikeouts in the complete game victory.
Despite being the only player in the lineup for the Buckeyes that didn’t have at least two hits, Jethroe knocked in five runs. He had a RBI ground out in the first and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth, which tied the game at 2-2 after Hilldale had taken the lead in the top of the fifth on run-scoring singles by Otto Briggs and Biz Mackey.
Hilldale grabbed the lead in the top of the sixth when Louis Santop led off with a triple and scored on a single by Hawk Thomas.
Briggs topped Hilldale with a game-high four hits, but that couldn’t compete with the 20 that was produced by the Buckeyes.
Ware, Woods and Armour had three hits apiece for Cleveland, while player-manager Quincy Trouppe, Avelino Canizares, Ducky Davenport, Cowan and Jefferson had two each.
Negro Leagues Diamond Gems Tournament
Championship Game
1945 Cleveland Buckeyes 11, 1924 Hilldale Athletic Club 3
Semifinals
1924 Hilldale Athletic Club 2, 1916 Chicago American Giants 1
1945 Cleveland Buckeyes 5, 1938 Kansas City Monarchs 4 (10 innings)
First Round
1916 Chicago American Giants 7, 1936 Pittsburgh Crawfords 5
1924 Hilldale Athletic Club 4, 1944 Birmingham Black Barons 3
1938 Kansas City Monarchs 7, 1922 Indianapolis ABCs 6
1945 Cleveland Buckeyes 6, 1931 Homestead Grays 1