Sixth Calvary Cup to be decided on Saturday

The two local clubs in the Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball will battle for the Sixth Cavalry Cup this Saturday.

The Mountain City Club of Chattanooga (8-0) and the Lightfoot Club of Chattanooga (3-5) will meet at the polo field on Barnhardt Circle in Fort Oglethorpe at 12 noon on July 15 to play for the cup for the second straight season.

The inaugural Sixth Calvary Cup was captured by the Lightfoot in last year’s game after the Red-and-Blue won a 10-inning thriller, 7-6.

It will be the second meeting of the season between the two Scenic City-based squads. Mountain City stayed perfect on the year after beating the Lightfoot, 8-3, in a match at the Tennessee River Park on June 17. Mountain City trailed 3-0 through four innings, but plated five runs in the top of the fifth, en route to the win.

The Sixth Calvary Cup follows in the prestigious footsteps of a variety of military sports championships played when the Army Post at Fort Oglethorpe (1902–1947) was here. Horse shows, polo matches, baseball, football, basketball and shooting competitions were a way of life for the Army, which entertained the enlisted man and civilians alike for over 40 years.

The Sixth Calvary Museum offers Free Museum Saturday for vintage base ball matches played on the polo field and has convenient parking and restrooms available. Vintage base ball is always free to attend and open to the public. Matches are played in open fields so there is no bleacher seating. Spectators are reminded to bring lawn chairs or blankets.

Since its inaugural season in 2013, the Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball has grown to include 12 vintage base ball clubs in Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga.

As revived iterations of Tennessee’s historic base ball teams, TAOVBB member clubs combine living history with sport, organizing bare-handed, Civil War-era base ball games to educate and entertain their communities. TAOVBB ballists, or base ball players, adhere to rules and customs of 1864, wearing periodappropriate uniforms and using historically-correct equipment.

All regular season matches of the TAOVBB are free and open to the public.

The TAOVBB is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization supported by donations and organized by dedicated volunteers.

To learn more about Vintage Base Ball visit tennesseevintagebaseball. com. For local information, visit 6thcalvarymuseum.com or call 706861-2860.