Old-time baseball was up at the plate July 27 at Glamorgan Castle in Alliance, during the Greater Alliance Carnation Festival’s Vintage Baseball tournament. Teams took to the field for “matches,” or what we today call games. Players, known as “strikers,” wore old-style uniforms and played in the field without gloves, and swung at pitches without the modern safety batting helmets. The strikers were on teams from throughout northern Ohio, with a local team called Alliance Crossing Rails. Also playing July 27 were the Canal Dover Redlegs, Akron Black Stockings and Cleveland Blues. The teams are all members of the Vintage Base Ball Association, a national organization that plays games in towns around the country. The games are called matches, and runs are “aces.” Pitchers send the ball to the strikers in an underhand motion. And, there’s rule that would delight any little league player – balls can bounce once before an out. The Carnation Festival officially kicks off July 31 and will run through Aug. 10, with a variety of events almost every day. Check out the schedule at carnationfestival.com.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Vintage baseball takes the field in Alliance